Just filled up my tank

[j-lor]

Ok i just filled up my tank and im using my old fx5 canister filter witch hasn't been running for the last 4 months or so. I never cleaned it and i still have old media in it. Is there enough bacteria to ad fish or do i have to recycle my tank again. Thanks for any infos

 

[matty246810]

if the bacteria dry's up im sure it dies im sure some 1 wil chime in and answer your question. GL

 

[j-lor]

The bacteria never dried up it still had a bit of water in the canister to keep the media moist.

 

[oswego]

I don't know if the bacteria is alive or not but you should rinse it out so that you won't pump a bunch of rotten crud into your tank.

Its best to assume that the bacteria is dead rather than depend on it.

 

[whatsepultra]

theres a possibilty some benificial bacteria has survived but m sure other harmfull bacteria and parasites have also started to grow in the stagnent waters of your canister my advice would be to clean the filter and cycle your tank again. (i had some weird worm things growing in an old filter once) also ive had lots of luck using dainos to cycle my tanks usally takes about 2-3 weeks it will also help to add some media from a current running cycled tank and that wil speed up the prosses good luck

 

[Fishermoe14]

if there is any at all it would be minimal.. there is no ammonia being produced while its just sitting there so the bb have nothing to feed on.. just wash it out and seed it with bb from another tank

 

[Noddy]

The bacteria willll have died and ammonia levels in the filter can kill your fish.
Clean the whole thing out, and start over.
Take your time to complete the new cycle and keep your fish alive!