Power Cut - Filters Off For 3 Hours ! Help

[saboy]

Hi,


as the title says, the elec was off since 4 pm this afternoon for me,

I am worried that all the bacteria has died off in the filters, what should I do ?


I have never had to deal with somthing like this before,

Im going to test for ammonia in a bit, on all my tanks



help !

 

[PaulEbs]

You could be alright, 3 hours isn't too long and hopefully hasn't killed off too much bacteria. Just keep everything running and keep doing water checks. I would of thought you'd be okay though

 

[saboy]

i have done ammonia tests on all tanks, all at 0 , will check again later, cause it has to build up if the filters have died,


But I would say it should be fine,

Could a mini cycle happen ?

 

[Tolak]

As long as the filter media stayed wet you should be ok. Any bacteria that was lost will regrow, I've shut down filters for longer than that, & just kept the media in a bucket of tank water.

 

[saboy]

THats Excellent, power was back on at 7:05, everything is as it was before power cut,


Thanks for you help !

FOr future reference, how would one deal with something like this if all the filter bacteria was to die ?

 

[Tolak]

If they were to die, your tank would recycle, starting from square one. The only way this would occur is if the media completely dried out, or had no source of food for several days.

If the power goes out for an extended time, put the media in the tank. This will keep it wet, and in contact with ammonia in the water. Take a clean bowl, and scoop water out of the tank & back in every hour or so, making sure some of the circulation hits the filter media.