Bacteria Living Out Of The Filter.

[fatheadminnow]

How long can the beneficial bacteria live out of the filter?

Say if you take the foam insert out of the filter and set it down; how long will the bacteria live?

No, I did not do this...lol. Just trying to learn a few things.

-FHM

 

[OldMan47]

If I need to break down my filter for some reason or have the impeller fail and it will take a day or two to replace it, I put the media right into the tank water and run an air pump to stir the water. The water circulation allows the bacteria to stay alive and even gives them the ability to deal with the ammonia in my tank. The flow path is not quite as efficient but if the water flows across the media, the reactions will still take place. If you leave it like that long enough, whatever part of the tank gets the best circulation will end up being the place with the main bacterial population but for a day or two there is no problem keeping the colony alive and functioning.

 

[backtotropical]

In water, but with no ammonia source to use as food, bacteria will die off at a rate of somewhere between 3 - 12% per day, so quite slowly really.

Out of water, it is much quicker, and the vast majority of the bacteria will be dead within a few hours. Once the media has dried out, all the bacteria are dead.

BTT

 

[fatheadminnow]

Thanks a lot for the replies, this is exactly what I was looking for!

-FHM