I bought a used 125 G that has 2 Fluval 4X filters. They are my first canisters. I need a day or two to install 4X4 support posts under the tank floor. Will the B B last a day or two? is there something such as soaking the media inserts into conditioned water & feeding ammonia or fish food that would better maintain the colony? ??
How long can a cycled Fluval 4X not run & maintain B.B?
- Thread starter Jacky82020
- Start date
You shouldn't loose ALL of the BB in two days if the media stays dark and wet, you will loose a lot, dark wet and well oxgenated you'll loose less. I kinda like the idea of running them off a rubbermaid or something in the meantime.
What and when are you putting in your new tank?
What and when are you putting in your new tank?
The seller did mention running them in large bins when I suggested buckets, adding it could be a mess as in flooding water all over the place. He says best not & just let the BB die. Most will, he says & then to basically recycle them in the tank & expect a high ammonia spike & wait it out until I see nitrates and then do a water change. I will be moving my fancy goldfish and Shibunkin goldfish into the 125. My pair of severums will be moved to the 110 where the goldfish live now.
Yeah, canister filters can do that, why I don't run mine anymore, and why you should place yours in a drip tray in your final set up.
But! You are already running filters for your goldfish, and I'm assuming you're not getting ammonia spikes? So if it was me I'd set up the 125 with both the new and old filter and run both for a couple weeks to a month. Now you have two tanks worth of cycled filters ready to go.
But! You are already running filters for your goldfish, and I'm assuming you're not getting ammonia spikes? So if it was me I'd set up the 125 with both the new and old filter and run both for a couple weeks to a month. Now you have two tanks worth of cycled filters ready to go.
Might be right, if you're not trying to save the BB it's likely best to give the new filters a good cleaning first.
So long as the biomedia is kept wet, nitrifiers (‘beneficial bacterial’) should typically last for weeks to months before going dormant or something similar, and then even longer before they materially die off.
So you are absolutely fine with keeping the media inserts soaked in conditioned water to keep the nitrifiers alive. Don’t even need to dose ammonia or add fish food or anything.
Thank you! You’ve made my day. I did add ammonia before seeing this post and hope it won’t cause problems. I am good at efficient water changes, so hopefully it won’t. Some guy suggested aeration. Here they are bubbling away.
No probs with dosing ammonia, nor the aeration. It won’t harm anything, just is not necessary - but yeah especially if it makes you feel more certain or safer then absolutely is fine.
