How to move water from nano tank to 2ft tank without transferring cladophora algae?

[sthh]

Hello all,

I am in the midst of transferring my shrimps from a nano tank to a 2ft tank. I am thinking of bringing over water first from the nano tank over a period of 2 weeks. However the nano tank has cladophora algae. Is there a way of tranferring the water without bringing over the cladophora algae?
I am thinking of using a cotton cloth to sieve the water like the way they make coffee in coffee shop. Will this work?

sthh

[Xianghao]

algae probably is so small even a small bit escaping in your new tank is enough to give you an algae bloom given the right conditions.. i don 't believe using a cotton cloth with visible pores is able to filter algae away. why not use fresh water and just let it cycle?

[sthh]

algae probably is so small even a small bit escaping in your new tank is enough to give you an algae bloom given the right conditions.. i don 't believe using a cotton cloth with visible pores is able to filter algae away. why not use fresh water and just let it cycle?

I would agree with you in normal situation. However, I really need the water from the nano tank, as the sulawesi shrimps have lived in it for a long time without fatality. This is a stressful move, but I am taking no chances and is doing it over a period of 2 weeks.

As for cycling the new tank, I am using old filter media from my goldfish tank, so there should already be enough beneficial bacteria to colonise the new tank. I am still thinking of using the 4 pieces of cotton cloth (from a t-shirt) to sieve water at both ends of the syphon.

[Droicut]

You'd have better luck running it through UV.

[sthh]

I am just targetting cladophora, by trapping the filaments. Reason is because none of the algae eaters, (shrimps, otos and snails) will touch it, and they grow into messy clumbs. I don't really mind the other algaes, which actually provides food for my shrimps. Don't really have UV, so I think I will likely go ahead and sieve them using cotton.

[Wabi-Sabi]

As you have a 2-week buffer time, why don't you consider start up the 2ft tank now. Plant it heavily and use the filter pad of the nano tank for the new tank's filter. By the time you transfer the shrimps, the water condition is more or less matured.

If your nano tank is infested with algae, any amount of precaution you take will not give you a 100% security of not also transferring algae into your new tank.