I heard it's dangerous to have your canister stop...

[robinsnestmh2]

Hi Everyone: I have (yet another) question regarding water changes and my canister. I have a 150 gallon (31" tall) with a canister and sponge filter for my juv. discus. I read somewhere, that if your canister stops, then you restart it, it can cause bad bacteria to flow into your tank. When I do my daily water changes I go to the point just before the canister will stop (which is about 20-25%. Is this true? If so any suggestions on fixing this? Thanks again!:

[Larry Grenier]

It more "Dead bacteria" and ammonia buildup in the canister rather than "Bad bacteria". I'd say, take the "opportunity" to clean the canister if it's been off for more than 30 mins. Once the bacteria stop receiving oxygen, they begin to die. How-long can be debated but it starts pretty quick. Yet another reason for multiple filters rather than just 1.

[kris2341]

This is very misleading. It is definitely DEAD bacteria and detritus that is the problem and not exactly bad bacteria.

If you stop and start a canister, typically one that has been gunked up badly, will blow all your crap into the water. Bad for your fish, but your nitrifying bacteria will celebrate.

If you keep your canister relatively clean, this will not happen.

If you stop a canister for a considerable period of time, the bacteria definitely will die eventually but unless you take more than 30 minutes to get to servicing the thing, it shouldnt be an issue. Once you pull out the bio media trays, the media is surrounded by ample amounts of oxygen at that moment and will be fine while it is moist.

[Larry Grenier]

There ya go, same answer twice

[Whiskey]

I have 2 of mine setup to stop for a 3 min feed cycle, this happens 3 times per day for feeding. That has never been an issue for me.
I also kill one for about 15 min during the water change cycle, that has also never been an issue.

Whiskey

[robinsnestmh2]

Thank you all for your response...I feel much better, and more confident.

[kris2341]

Just keep your canister clean and you wont have any problems at all, good luck in your discus raising endeavors!

[manbearpig]

I usually turn mine off daily for 30-45 minutes when I do a WC and have never had an issue with ammonia spikes which would indicate I killed off a large portion of the colony. Just my experience for what it's worth.

[israelillo81]

The problem shows up when there is a blackout and then the canister remains unpowered for some hours . I would not recommend anyone to try to find the critical time


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[aovifo]

That what is written in Stenker site:
Failure of the filter pump
Do not simply reconnect the filter to the power supply because bacteria will die after only
15 minutes and a sludge will form which would damage your discus fish. The bacterial
culture will be destroyed by failure of the pump; rinse the defective filter thoroughly using
tap water to remove all dead bacteria and pollutants. Rinse the cleaned filter and
reconnect it and run it in. Within two weeks the filter will almost have reached its former
level of performance and a new bacterial culture will have built up. As a precaution
against this type of emergency, we recommend using two interior filters to ensure a
sufficient level of filter performance by the reserve filter should one filter fail.

http://diskuszucht-stendker.de/en/Wissenswertes/
Section 4 datasheet 7