How long would beneficial bacteria last in a canister filter, removed & left full of water???

[Magnum Man]

just curious if the beneficial bacteria in a cycled canister filter, removed & left full of water, would stay alive for a while ( would it compare to a bottle of the bacteria you can add to your tank???

I bought a couple of these... https://www.amazon.com/Marineland-P...fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc&th=1

when I started up my tanks after a 20 year break, & I hated them... they functioned well, but I did not like them inside the tanks where I could see them... right now I'm setting up 2 new tanks for breeding Tilapia, & I pulled out these filters, just to circulate the water I put in the tanks to test for leaks, from my storage, they were still full of water, but had been on the shelf for a couple months... I'm wondering if I gained any beneficial bacteria into the newly set up tanks, running them in that condition & if it would be worth saving them in that condition when I put the new filters on the tanks, & these go back into storage... to use them again, down the road on the next tank to get set up, or if the bacteria dies right away, & there is no benefit, & I'd be better off storing them clean & dry???>

 

[Colin_T]

If the filter media is clean and the water was well oxygenated before the filter stopped, and the temperature wasn't too hot, the bacteria could survive for a couple of days. However, if the filter media was full of gunk and it was a warm day, you could lose all the bacteria in a matter of hours.

The beneficial filter bacteria are aerobic (requiring oxygen) and cool clean water holds more oxygen than warm dirty water. So a clean filter will allow the bacteria to survive a bit longer compared to a dirty filter.

 

[Magnum Man]

... in this case, the filters were removed, when they were replaced, & had a canister & filter floss insert ( not the paper micron filter in them )... so clean enough to be fully functional, but not disassembled, cleaned & refilled with water

so there is definitely something different in the bottles of bacteria they sell??? that may sit on a shelf for 3 -6 ??? Months in a sealed bottle with little to no air...

 

[Colin_T]

The bacteria in a bottle has been put to sleep and are dormant. They are also meant to be kept cold but not all shops refrigerate them.

 

[Magnum Man]

this would be kind of a rabbit hole, but would it be possible to the bacteria to sleep, that are in a filter... so you could always have one ready, if the need arises???

 

[Magnum Man]

I did just purchase this... to put in just prior to adding the breeders to the tanks

Amazon.com

but I had hoped my too busy lifestyle ( to properly deal with the filters, before putting them away ) would add "some" beneficial bacteria to new tanks as I restart them...

but I'm guessing if I just left these established filters running on an empty aquarium the bacteria colonies would diminish to nothing, if no fish were in the tank... however I could likely continue to feed the filters with an ammonia starter solution... & if they were in even a 5 or 10 gallon tank, it wouldn't take much solution to feed them???