bacteria in filter

[schizo_fish]

i've recently took my filter out of my tank and its stood in a bucket of old tank water. How long will the bacteria live like this?

 

[The-Wolf]

I'm not 100% sure
but the consencues on this forum is about 4 hrs

 

[FishDan]

I don't know that the consensus is 4 hours. There was a thread a while back where several of us agreed that your bacteria can live much longer than 4 hours. It was pointed out by someone that once the food runs out, most of the bacteria will "hibernate" until conditions return to normal. Of course some will die. You can probably keep a majority of your bacteria alive for a while. To keep them "awake" run and airstone and drop a few flakes of fish food in the bucket. Otherwise, your bacteria will hibernate and likely "come around" within a day or so of returning to normal conditions. Personally, it's probably easier to just feed them every so often.

\Dan