how long can bacteria survive power outage
- Thread starter batang_mcdo
- Start date
jcardona1;3301261; said:got anything to back that up?
Although I do not agree with this as an answer to the intended question
If the beneficial bacteria is in the tank and the fish (ammonia source) is in the tank Then it is conceivable that the bacteria will/may be able to supply itself with ammonia from the fish for as long as the fish live
But in all reality, without proper water movement water will become stagnant cutting large portions of bacteria off from any ammonia supply thus starving it the bacteria that does have access to ammonia will be struggling to thrive as oxygen is now restricted
As mentioned in the beginning of this thread, the bacteria will immediately be affected will start to die off in small quantities in a matter of hours but with proper temps, manual water movement & oxygenation at least a large portion of the bacteria living in the tank can survive for quite some time, if not indefinitely.
Filters will have waste breaking down supplying ammonia, but will not have water movement distributing this ammonia nor will it have any form of oxygenation. Thus bacteria in filters will suffer greatly and die much faster than bacteria in the aquarium.
There are a lot of angles to consider and questions like this are never properly answered in one sentence responses I wish more people took the time to explain their answers and the logic behind them
Yeah,I had a situation where my pump was having problems. I had to shut it off for a couple of days.I kept it damp and dark. I dont know if anything died yet.It just happened and i got my pump started last night. I will keep yas posted.
I forgot to replug in an XP3 that was the only filter on a 55G for at least 3 days, maybe as much as 6. I tested right after plugging in and params were fine, tested a few days later same thing. The tank never kicked into a cycle.
I do have a lot of rock and sand in the tank and there was a powerhead running so that could have kept the levels in check
I do have a lot of rock and sand in the tank and there was a powerhead running so that could have kept the levels in check
Oolichan;3302458; said:
If the filter was not in use for 3~6 days... and the moment you plugged it in there was no sign of ammonia or nitrite...
Then this is proof that the vast majority of the bacteria in your system is in the aquarium, not in the canister filter...
Things like this make ya wonder how important bio media is doesn't it?
as long as the media has a source of oxygen ammonia and is kept damp the bb will be fine depending on the media there are easy ways of doing this it can be as simple as taking the media out of the canister and floating it in the tank if for a long pieriod of time if only a few hours just open it up not saying bb is bullet proof but not as delicate as alot think
