Beneficial Bacteria's Survival With Filter Shut Down

[RCA]

I am no scientist but have a brain and have plucked up the courage to post in this section as I am keen to understand what is now known about the survival of the beneficial bacterial within a filter which has shut down?  I have read some conflicting information, that it will die within a few hours from Oxygen starvation i.e. without water movement through the filter, to it will survive if kept wet, to it will live 72 hours etc.
 
This is non-scientific but is a young man explaining what happened to his fish following his filter being shut down for about 6 hours, 
Very Bad News (Whitespot Ich) Uploaded on Feb 23, 2012
 
I did a quick search on the TFF and came across these Topics, which are now quiet old but could add to the debate.

• My Tank Needs A Change...and Your Help Started by Andypalf, Jan 03 2009 11:12 PM
• Exchange W/ Dr Tim Re Nutrifying Bacteria  Started by TwoTankAmin, Feb 03 2012 07:28 AM

I have yet to read the above in detail as this is the issue I am currently dealing with:
Tank: 215Litre Aquaone 980
Filtration: Overhead filter as per with the tank, plus All Ponds Solution (APS) 1400EF
Aquarium is planted, with a plant substrate and Unipac Senegal on the top and is primarily a Betta Sorority and can be seen here
 
Last night the APS was making a noise and on checking the spray bar nothing was coming out of it.  I removed the spray bar to check it was not blocked and still no flow coming into the aquarium.  I then gave the filter a bit of a shake to check there was no air lock and some bubbles did flow up the pipe, still no output.  I then turned it off and on again and the tank filled with grime from the hose but it did not maintain flow.  I then decided due to the unknown noise I would shut it off and deal with it in the morning.  Due to a dental appointment and meeting this afternoon, I am yet to begin this work, although could start (unlikely to finish before my meeting) in a few minutes if need be.
 
The filter was last serviced on 19 May, so therefore I would not have expected a problem with it so soon. 
 
My main concern is what I need to do in terms of the bacteria?

1. Do I need to do anything in terms of cleaning the filter bio-media any differently to normal, which is rinsing it in aquarium water and then dis-guarding it?  
2. Is it likely that there is a lot of now dead bacteria within the filter chamber, and if so do I need to do anything differently to point 1 to ensure that this does not enter the aquarium? e.g. I had read that you need to use de-chlorinated water and rinse the media thoroughly.

I feel on this occasion I need to also remove the pipes and ensure they are given a good clean due to the amount of muck that entered the aquarium when it was temporarily re-started.  Obviously I can test the water and do water changes as required, but do not want to experience Ich or anything else with my prized Betta girls and other fish.
 
I tend to add Evolution Pure Pond balls whenever I do maintenance on the filters.  I realise this is a whole other debate, and have already had some discussions on here on the Aquarium vs the Pond Balls.  Thus, I am really wanting to focus at present on the bacteria already in the filter, but felt you needed to be aware of this addition to my filters.
 
Any initial assistance on how to manage this filter failure in respect to the bacteria would be most welcomed.
Thanks in advance.

 

 

[techen]

Simply put and as far as am aware. The bacteria will die off around 10% a day SO LONG as it's in water.
 
I had a filter that sat in my room for 7 days in water and when I did start to use it, Of course 70% of the bacteria was gone I only needed to stock a few neons before it would kick start back up and suffer a tiny minicycle for a few days. After that I never had a problem with it.
 
I'll also state that APS filter seals are known to break very easily. If it does not leak then there is no doubt air being forced into the filter hence the noise. You could get in touch with APS and asked about it or buy a new seal for the filter.

 

[RCA]

Thanks techen for your swift reply.
 
In respect to the APS filter, funnily enough I put for the first time Vaseline around the seal as I understand this assists in preserving the seal.  I bought the filter second-hand with the tank and it was all virtually brand new except the filter's lock down handle was broken.  I have thus used a ratchet strap to close it shut @£2.50 vs £20 for new handles.  Will take a good look at the seal when I come to pull it all apart later.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The bacteria do not just die of at the rate of 10% a day. It is not that simple. The bacteria have methods for survivng adverse conditions in that they are able to sense when conditions change for the worse and they go into a state of dormancy. How long they can stay dormant, how many may survive extended periods of dormancy and how long those that survive will take to resume their activity and then to get back to full strength are dependent on a few factors. One of the most important is what condition they were in when they went dormant. Well fed healthy bacteria last the longest and recover the fastest.
 
The other important consideration, relative to any given tank etc., is how well established the bacteria are. They do not just grab onto the hard surfaces where they live. They, and many of the other types of good bacteria in tanks create a bio-film in which they live. This bio-film is attached to the hard surfaces and the bacteria cohabit in it. Once attached, it takes a decent current to dislodge the biofilm which is why it all doesn't simply get blown around in tanks. This bio-film provides the bacteria living in it all sorts of protection against a lot of thing. This includes chlorine (no it doesn't make them immune but it helps keep them safe from lower level or shorter exposures and protects much more against chloramine). It can also provide protection against some antibiotics that might otherwise kill it.
 
What confuses folks is our tendency to humanize things. If we do not eat for some time, we die, If we don't get other essential elements like oxygen or carbon, we die. So we assume the same applies to the bacteria. However, the bacteria have their own strategies for survival. It is how how they have endured on the planet for millions of years.
 
The upshot is there is simply no way to state that X% die every day etc.
 
If anybody has a bit of a scientific bent and is really interested in this subject, here is a link to an in depth scientific look at how the ammonia oxidizing bacteria survive poor conditions. This is a paragraph from the conclusion section:

From this review it is clear that AOB possess several physiological traits that can be advantageous for their survival under conditions of variable substrate and oxygen supply. Moreover, AOB possess a number of enzymological and molecular mechanisms that allow them to maintain the state of their cells under starvation such that ammonia oxidation can start within minutes and at high rates after substrate or oxygen depletion. Furthermore, within the AOB groups, differences exist in adaptation to and competitiveness under conditions of high or low ammonia or oxygen concentrations. In addition, they seem to be able to communicate through cell-to-cell signalling and to move towards a more favourable environment.

(Note- "substrate" is the scientific term for the ammonia the bacteria consume. Nitrite is the "substrate" for the second type of nitrifying bacteria we have in tanks.)
From http/onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00170.x/full
 
Who knew that bacteria communicated? I wonder if they text..............

 

[RCA]

 TTA, that is very helpful and I will attempt to read and digest the full article in due course.
 
An update, the filter noise seems to be coming from the impeller and I have started a new topic to discuss this further, 
Noisy Impeller Fix : What Do You Know About Oils?

 

[snazy]

I haven't read TTA's article and maybe it's the same stuff but there was a scientific article I read once experimenting if the filter bacteria dies straight away when it meets unfavourable conditions and it basically said that it does not, at least not for the two weeks duration experiment they did.
But the longer it stays in "dormancy" the longer it takes for it to recover. I remember the article did say that if it's just 24-48hrs, then it recovers fairly quickly, way faster than anyone believed.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The link I provided is not direct research, rather it is a discussion of the issue citing a lot of the durect research. So it does two things-- it paints a pretty good picture of what is going on and then it provides links to more studies than any of us care to read. But if you have any Qs about the ammonia oxidizing bacteria and how they survive hard times, this should answer all your questions.
 
There are lots of papers on this subject and every one of them will tell you that the bacteria can survive. Only the fine details will vary.

 

[Geoff-]

My main concern is what I need to do in terms of the bacteria?

1. Do I need to do anything in terms of cleaning the filter bio-media any differently to normal, which is rinsing it in aquarium water and then dis-guarding it?  
2. Is it likely that there is a lot of now dead bacteria within the filter chamber, and if so do I need to do anything differently to point 1 to ensure that this does not enter the aquarium? e.g. I had read that you need to use de-chlorinated water and rinse the media thoroughly

 
1. No, maintain your normal maintenance routine.
2. If there is, so what.  It's not like dead bacteria is toxic, it's a cell with no life in it... it'll eventually get consumed by a fish or trapped in the filter.
 
I actually think the worst thing you can do is panic and obsess and try and do too many things to the tank to "compensate" (I have been guilty of this before!).  Like compounding a power outage with an enormous water change this will only stress your filter bacteria and fish further.
 
I had a power outage of 10 hours a week ago, and I did nothing ahead of time to prepare for it (it was a scheduled outage, they were doing some electrical repair work in the street).  All I did before I left home was flick of all the main circuit breakers, and throw a blanket over the tank to try and keep it warm.  I've even been pretty lazy with tank upkeep and was due for a water change.  When I got back home after work I took the blanket off, turned the power on and that was it.  I haven't even done a water change since then (will try and do one tonight though) and my fish have been fine - even got clown loaches in there and they didn't get Ick, I don't have an ammonia problem (at least, the fish all appear fine) and the only thing that happened was the tank temperature dropped by a couple of degrees without the heaters on.  It soon recovered back to normal once I got home and turned everything on again.