Lifespan of BB in a canister filter?

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decoy50

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 25, 2012
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I'm having my house rewired which is a huge PITA, but is also good(more elec means I can get more tanks - hello discus). My electricity will probably be off for 12 hours.

I have battery powered air pumps, so my fish will be fine, but I'm worried about the beneficial bacteria in my filters. I run AC110s and Rena Filstar filters. For my ACs my plan is to take the lid off & keep the water line over the media. What should I do about my canisters? Leave them sealed or open them up? Any ideas/experience? thanks.
 
Take all the media out of the filter and put it in a mesh bag and put them directly into the tank. This will keep all the bb alive.
 
I did that once before, when I was taking a tank down for a couple weeks and didn't want to lose the bio. I used a mesh lingerie bag from Walmart haha. I was trying to avoid that b/c detritus stuck on my bio balls got all inside the tank and clouded the water. Also, the filter would only be off for around 12 hours. I guess I'm just looking for other ideas...thanks for the response though.
 
150 & a 90gal. The back and sides are insulated & they have lids. I'm not worried about heat loss, all the fish are hardy CA cichlids that survived worse during Huricane Sandy.
 
If you don't want to stick the media in your main tank because of the mess, have you got a small quarantine tank or fry tank?

If you have got a small tank stick the media in a mesh bag, fill the small tank with water from the main tank and add an airstone under the media.
 
I guess I'm just being lazy and didn't want to break down the canister for only 12 hours. I suppose that's what I'll have to do...its a Rena Filstar and is a huge PITA to restart. Its just got the bio balls in it, so its not too bad. Its been a couple weeks since I cleaned it anyways...
 
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