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Filter bacteria

Dave Pierce

Dave Pierce

Member
Joined
14 Jan 2013
Messages
195
Location
England
Hi,

If I was to disconnect my filter, leave the established water & filter media sealed inside the filter for a few weeks and then connect it to a brand new tank, would the filter bacteria still be alive?

Basically I'm asking this because in a few weeks I will be tearing down my old tank, moving it and then replacing it with a brand tank. Wondering how long the established filter media & bacteria would last if I disconnect it from my current tank, so I can use it with new new tank.

Cheers
Dave
 
Keen to hear about this too. I'm doing the same just as a backup for a friend, remember to keep it dark has you'll get green algae otherwise
 
No, the bacteria will not survive. Last month I did a water change before going on holiday. I remembered to switch the big external filter on but failed to notice that a small internal filter had not started. 11 days later its contents were slimy and smelled horrible.

The filter bacteria needs water movement/oxygen through it.
 
Hi
I don't think it will last more than a week.Tends to get a tad smelly meaning its off.
What you could do is just keep it running attached to a bucket or plastic tub with fresh clean water with some water surface movement.
Or let the filter media sponges dry out then put back into the filter.
hoggie
 
hogan53 said:
I don't think it will last more than a week.Tends to get a tad smelly meaning its off. What you could do is just keep it running attached to a bucket or plastic tub with fresh clean water with some water surface movement. Or let the filter media sponges dry out then put back into the filter.
Click to expand...

Great idea, you think this would work?
 
You could try putting the media in a bucket/barrel with an air pump bubbling up though it. That's what I had planned on doing for a long powercut that never happened. But I don't know if you might need to throw something in every now and then to feed the bacteria, eg a bit of ammonia.
 
Bacteria needs oxygen and thus flow to survive and need to be fed on ammonia. You can let the filter run in a spare tank or a bucket for the weeks you are taking to scape the new tank. There has to be flow over the bacteria otherwise it wont last for a day...

Good luck m8.
 
Hi all,
Don't add ammonia, or dry the sponges etc out. Just keep the media damp, in a bucket with just enough water to cover it and an air stone, or just store it in a planted tank. I have piles of ceramic rings and spare sponges in a lot of my tanks, they serve 2 purposes, one is thet provide a great refuge and grazing surfaces for shrimp and fry, and the other is when you need some new filter media they are ready to go straight away.

The idea that the bacteria will die without a source of ammonia is a myth and it just really isn't true. What the bacteria need is water, a supply of organic matter, it really doesn't matter how little it is, or the source of it, and oxygen. You supply these and it will tick over basically for ever. Microbial systems are much more complex (like the PFK article suggest) than the traditional explanation suggests. If you keep with the "tick over" analogy if you add more bioload (fuel), all that happens is the engine (our microbial biomass) runs more quickly, reduce the fuel it runs more slowly, but as long as it doesn't dry out, or become de-oxygenated, it will remain viable and responsive eternally.

cheers Darrel
 
Thanks Darrel, great advise.

In that case I will just pop them in a shallow bucket of water and stick an airstone in them. Or i'll keep the filter running with a bucket of water and some old plants.
 
Dave Pierce said:
Thanks Darrel, great advise.

In that case I will just pop them in a shallow bucket of water and stick an airstone in them. Or i'll keep the filter running with a bucket of water and some old plants.
Click to expand...

That would be the best option! Another one that some people I know used is squeeze the water out but leave them moist and put them in a bag filled with air. After placing them back in a filter in a month (fish only so no plants helping) they never had any nitrite peak whatsoever. Done a few time, seem to work. But safest bet is the method above!
 
Hi all,
Yo-han said:
After placing them back in a filter in a month (fish only so no plants helping) they never had any nitrite peak whatsoever. Done a few time, seem to work.
Click to expand...
I've never tried this, but assuming that the bacteria remain both damp and oxygenated it should work OK. One advantage of wet and dry trickle filters is that they remain damp and oxygenated for a long time during power cuts etc.
tim said:
still smelt great and their tests showed no ammonia/ nitrite on restarting the tank.
Click to expand...
I'd go much more on smell, I'm dubious about test kits, because even with analytical kit ammonia is really difficult to measure at low concentrations. Nitrite is easier, but even then it isn't really straight-forward. There is more explanation here: <Easylife profito suitable? | Page 2 | UK Aquatic Plant Society>.

cheers Darrel
 
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