Filter Bacteria

[timolol]

Hi guys,

I have a cycled filter, but my heater has broken down and I can't get a new one for a few days. Just so you don't freak out - there AREN'T any fish inside Are the bacteria colonies inside the filter happy with the temperature dropping from about 25 degrees to room temperature? Will their numbers drop off at all? It's quite cold here (it's almost winter), so I just want to make sure that they don't die.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[LionessN3cubs]

Hi guys,

I have a cycled filter, but my heater has broken down and I can't get a new one for a few days. Just so you don't freak out - there AREN'T any fish inside Are the bacteria colonies inside the filter happy with the temperature dropping from about 25 degrees to room temperature? Will their numbers drop off at all? It's quite cold here (it's almost winter), so I just want to make sure that they don't die.

Cheers,
Tim

Im pretty sure that they WILL die if it gets too cold...if you absolutely can't replace the heater anytime soon, I'd suggest at the very least keeping it VERY warm in your house....someone else might have other suggestions tho hopefully..Im a newbie

 

[Bobtastic]

I'm new also, but depending on the size of ur tank u might beable to use some hot water from ur kettle to keep the temp up. Not sure how well that will work tho, just an idea.

 

[backtotropical]

The temperature drop won't kill your bacteria at all (I assume you mean around 19 - 21C?). What it will do is slow their metabolism and make them work slower.

However if your filter is cycled and there are no fish in the tank, you will need an ammonia source to keep the bacteria alive. Do you have a current ammonia source? Are you performing a fishless cycle?

If there is no ammonia source in the tank currently, it probably isn't cycled after all.

The other thing to remember is to keep the filter media in the tank water. If you let thye media dry out, the bacteria will die.

Hope that helps.

BTT

 

[timolol]

The temperature drop won't kill your bacteria at all (I assume you mean around 19 - 21C?). What it will do is slow their metabolism and make them work slower.

However if your filter is cycled and there are no fish in the tank, you will need an ammonia source to keep the bacteria alive. Do you have a current ammonia source? Are you performing a fishless cycle?

If there is no ammonia source in the tank currently, it probably isn't cycled after all.

The other thing to remember is to keep the filter media in the tank water. If you let thye media dry out, the bacteria will die.

Hope that helps.

BTT

Thanks backtotropical - that helps heaps My room gets to around 16 or 17 degrees at night i think. I'm sure the filter is cycled because it came out of a well established tank and has never dried out. It will be supporting some new fish in a few days when i get my new heater. I've kept some fish food in the tank as an ammonia source for the bacteria - is that ok?

Cheers and thanks for your help
Tim

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with BTT, the bacteria will be fine. The warmer temperatures we talk about here for fishless cycling are all about optimizing the growth speed, not about survival of the bacteria.

You have the right idea about "bridging" the bacteria with some rotting fish food until fish get there and start supplying ammonia. The only problem is that the time for heterotrophic bacteria to break down a significant amount of the fish food into ammonia may be about the same or longer than the period you're trying to get through. Therefor you may experience some bacterial population loss. If you have a good liquid based kit you can just check to see you get a mini-cycle from this and begin to see traces of ammonia and/or nitrite(NO2) in the tank water. If so you should perform water changes using good water change technique.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Rooster]

My rule of thumb is 10c or colder = dead filter !

 

[OldMan47]

That sounds like an extreme rule Rooster. Goldfish are allowed to winter outdoors in ponds that don' freeze completely. By spring the fish are usually doing OK and they are not living in an ammonia bath. I seriously doubt that any water in a pond will be over 1 or 2C by the end of winter. The bacteria may have severely reduced metabolic rates but I doubt they are killed off.