Posting Mature Media

[fry_lover]

I was wondering if i posted some filter media and keep it wet, would it be any use to anyone if they didnt receive until the next day, so, we are talking about 14-15 hours really. And thats if you post if just before 5pm and peep gets it 7-8am, what if the peep wasnt in the collect it straight away and we end up talking about 20-24 hrs?

I was going to offer someone recently some media, but we decided it really wasnt worth it, as all it would be after 15 hours would be a damp, dirty sponge? But was i being too pessimistic?

I once left a very mature Fluval 4 sponge sitting in a stocked tank for 2 days and when i went to use it for a new tank, it was next to useless, i had to cycle the whole filter almost from scratch again and this was IN a tank it was kept, just sitting on the sand, i thought it would be fine.

Am i right in thinking that without a throughput of oxygen, filter media becomes pretty useless after 8-10 hrs or so? Or does it depend on a lot of other stuff

PS - I've had filters go off for a few hours, and it makes no difference to tanks, i know its not like, everything dies straight away. I know filter bacteria can quickly double in size etc, but thats assuming a decent load survives in the first place surely?

 

[drewry]

I was wondering if i posted some filter media and keep it wet, would it be any use to anyone if they didnt receive until the next day, so, we are talking about 14-15 hours really. And thats if you post if just before 5pm and peep gets it 7-8am, what if the peep wasnt in the collect it straight away and we end up talking about 20-24 hrs?

I was going to offer someone recently some media, but we decided it really wasnt worth it, as all it would be after 15 hours would be a damp, dirty sponge? But was i being too pessimistic?

I once left a very mature Fluval 4 sponge sitting in a stocked tank for 2 days and when i went to use it for a new tank, it was next to useless, i had to cycle the whole filter almost from scratch again and this was IN a tank it was kept, just sitting on the sand, i thought it would be fine.

Am i right in thinking that without a throughput of oxygen, filter media becomes pretty useless after 8-10 hrs or so? Or does it depend on a lot of other stuff

PS - I've had filters go off for a few hours, and it makes no difference to tanks, i know its not like, everything dies straight away. I know filter bacteria can quickly double in size etc, but thats assuming a decent load survives in the first place surely?

 

[fry_lover]

LOL, whats that for? in case peeps missed it the first time?

 

[drewry]

I was wondering if i posted some filter media and keep it wet, would it be any use to anyone if they didnt receive until the next day, so, we are talking about 14-15 hours really. And thats if you post if just before 5pm and peep gets it 7-8am, what if the peep wasnt in the collect it straight away and we end up talking about 20-24 hrs?

I was going to offer someone recently some media, but we decided it really wasnt worth it, as all it would be after 15 hours would be a damp, dirty sponge? But was i being too pessimistic?

I once left a very mature Fluval 4 sponge sitting in a stocked tank for 2 days and when i went to use it for a new tank, it was next to useless, i had to cycle the whole filter almost from scratch again and this was IN a tank it was kept, just sitting on the sand, i thought it would be fine.

Am i right in thinking that without a throughput of oxygen, filter media becomes pretty useless after 8-10 hrs or so? Or does it depend on a lot of other stuff

PS - I've had filters go off for a few hours, and it makes no difference to tanks, i know its not like, everything dies straight away. I know filter bacteria can quickly double in size etc, but thats assuming a decent load survives in the first place surely?

was sure i read some were on this site a couple of hours for bactaria to suvive was the max but dont hold me to it ,some one with more experience will be able to give you advice more than me

 

[fry_lover]

yeh

i know Bacteria can survive enough to multiply quickly again for a good few hours, i have witnessed this myself through mishaps with various filters etc, and testing for ammonia and nitrite in the hours and days after the filter went off, and not having any ammonia or nitrite issues, even in heavily stocked tanks, but i am talking about 6-8 hrs Max AND external filters, where the media will be covered in water and some ammonia as a food source

I guess we know quite a bit of bacteria may die off in the post (12-20 hrs) i think would be the average postal waiting time.

Question is, and who knows for sure, but would there be enough / any ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria left to make it worthwhile

I am sure it wont really do any harm, UNLESS you receive media and expect it to be mature then use it in your newly stocked tank!

 

[Tolak]

I've shipped mature media a couple of times, probably two days in transit. You don't want to do it in the heat of summer, cooler weather is best. I add some frozen bloodworms, as they deteriorate they create ammonia, which feeds the nitrifying bacteria. Bloodworms are easy to see, so they are easy to rinse out. Being in transit moves the water enough to circulate the water, I triple bag, and the same as shipping fish, 1/3 water, 2/3 air.

I've also received cycled sponge filters, previous to receiving some fish, for quar purposes. These sponges came out of the breeders setup. This is done to prevent fish stressed from shipping, and prone to diseases, from being exposed to bacteria in my setup that may be harmless to healthy stress-free fish. These sponge filters worked great, and they are the only sponge filters I have running that I didn't make myself.

 

[fry_lover]

I've shipped mature media a couple of times, probably two days in transit. You don't want to do it in the heat of summer, cooler weather is best. I add some frozen bloodworms, as they deteriorate they create ammonia, which feeds the nitrifying bacteria. Bloodworms are easy to see, so they are easy to rinse out. Being in transit moves the water enough to circulate the water, I triple bag, and the same as shipping fish, 1/3 water, 2/3 air.

I've also received cycled sponge filters, previous to receiving some fish, for quar purposes. These sponges came out of the breeders setup. This is done to prevent fish stressed from shipping, and prone to diseases, from being exposed to bacteria in my setup that may be harmless to healthy stress-free fish. These sponge filters worked great, and they are the only sponge filters I have running that I didn't make myself.

thanks Tolak, thats useful to know