Well I did something stupid. I was feeding the fish last night and noticed some of the food was heading toward the filter intake. I quickly reached under the cabinet and unplugged the FX5 to keep from having food pellets stuck inside until next filter cleaning. With the Super Bowl on and having company over I forgot to turn it back on. I didn't notice my mistake until 12 noon today. I am guessing it was unplugged around 16 hours. The thing that tipped me off to my problem was the temperature had dropped on the tank by over a degree. The thermometer is on the opposite of the tank from the heater. I am guessing with lack of circulation the temperature had dropped on that side. I plan to test the water tonight when I get home and continue to test the remainder of the week to make sure I am in the clear. My question is who else had done something like this and how long do you think the BB would last in a canister like the FX5 unplugged before it starts to die off. Any thoughts?
How long will BB survive in a powered off canister.
- Thread starter Minnow
- Start date
FROM MY EXPERIENCE(and this is limited)BB dies off pretty quickly in a closed system... I WOULD SAY THAT CLEANING MEDIA... MIGHT be in order....it would be easy to get a BIG ammonia spike if BB IS DEAD.....see if you can find some media that is in use and add it too your can ...after rinsing existing media WELL...OTHERS MIGHT KNOW BETTER THAN ME ON A TIME FRAME
The most important thing is to keep air going into the water and having movement. BB can last days as long as there is water movement and air. When our power goes out I take the lid off my canister filters and put a bubbler in it. BB will start dying very quick if canisters remain sealed. This is just my thought
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A dirty canister will go toxic pretty quickly if left full of water and crap with no circulation, I'd give it a thorough clean out [in tank water] before doing anything in a situation like that. As for the BB, hard to tell really, but all you can do is clean it out and get it running again ASAP, hold the food and watch your parameters closely.
Best thing to do is to dump the water out of the canister and rinse the media. There should be enough beneficial bacteria still in the tank for you not to worry. I've dealt with a few long power failures throughout the years with no harmful effect on the fish after the filters have been shut off for hours.
Thanks everyone very much for your input. I have already turned the filter back on at lunch today. It was an oh S***! moment and I plugged it back in without thinking about how it might have become toxic inside. I will keep a close eye on the parameters and hope for the best. I truely hope it doesnt go south. I have a bunch of jacks EBJD's and BGJD's that we have been spoiling for a while now. The good news is it was not the only filter on the tank. I have a HOB Emperor 400 that was running the whole time. I also cleaned the FX5 about a week ago. It is filled with all Bio and a pouch of Purigen otherwise.
I left my canister off for 2 weeks in my planted discus tank and then turned it back on after it stopped leaking.
yea I'm sure you're fine.. Things will go right back to normal as soon as power is restored.. just like the third quarter power failure.
I know this first had. I had a canister filter that was running but not pumping water in my tank, for who knows how long. Without thinking I primed it and pushed all of the water into my tank, killing a $1000 Ray
