Ive always kind of wondered this when doing water changes or filter maintainence...for example on my 125 I have 3 filters (2 xp4s and 405)..I obviously never clean them at the same time...when I do clean one I take out all the baskets and then put the biomedia in a small bucket and run tank water over it...the baskets are then put back in (dry) and stay that way for a few minutes or more until I can reconnect the filter...my long drawn out question is (lol)...when does the beneficial bacteria die or does it when dried out for awhile? I have so much filtration on the tank that I have to clean my filters often or my nitrates are skyhigh...but im worried all the cleaning doesnt give the BB enough time to "re-seed" in the filter...any thoughts?
when does beneficial bacteria die?
- Thread starter vr6fan
- Start date
i don't have a detailed answer but i think you're bb is allright as long as the media doesn't dry out completely .
The scenario you described is pretty much what I do when I clean my filters. The biomedia never really gets dry, per se and I would not anticipate any problem with the bb getting reinvigorated when the water starts flowing again. However, I do thoroughly clean the sponges and rinse them in tap water, which certainly klils off at least some of the biofilm. I always add 250 ml of Seachem Stability to my tank after I turn the filters back on just to "take the edge off".
brianp;4678753; said:
Running anything under tap water will kill the BB, given the chlorine, etc.
OP - if your nitrates are "sky high" your BB must be doing its work. I suggest more water changes...
Yup, if your nitrates are high, it means there is sufficient BB in your tank/filter. Increase the frequency of your water change or (if you have the money to spare) get a denitrator
Actually takes more time and abuse to kill off BB than you would think.
Quite resilient little buggers.
Can even stand up to tap water rinses, if not overdone or you have incredible amounts of chlorine/chloramines in your tap`s water.
Tap water that could do your BB real damage during quick rinses would not be very good for you to drink either.
No big need to “baby” your media.
Making sure it is cleaned of organics could help some with nitrates as well.
Quite resilient little buggers.
Can even stand up to tap water rinses, if not overdone or you have incredible amounts of chlorine/chloramines in your tap`s water.
Tap water that could do your BB real damage during quick rinses would not be very good for you to drink either.
No big need to “baby” your media.
Making sure it is cleaned of organics could help some with nitrates as well.