Bio Filter Resiliency

[afriend]

I have an established 75 gal with 4 adult discus (set-up and running for more than 3 years). The bio filter is a canister type with an external water pump. The canister holds about 2 gal of water and light-weight porous cubes that are about 1/2 inch on each side (acting as the medium for the bacteria). In the event that the pump fails for some reason, about how long will the bacteria survive in the canister without the water circulating thru it? Are the bacteria hardy enough to survive a day, or will they die after just an hour?

Perhaps someone who has experienced a power outage can assist with this question. Any help with this would be appreciated.

[ref0716]

I had a good experience with a filter with similar set up on a 100 gallon display tank with gravel and artificial plants containing angels and discus. We were expecting a big storm, so I quit feeding two days before. When power went out, I disconnected the filter and drained almost all of the water. I put the cover back loosely, so that some air could circulate, but not so much as to dry out the media. I did not feed the fish, and there was no heat and no artificial light, so everybody pretty much chilled out (temp was mid 70's). Water changes were not possible because there was no power for the well. I tested for ammonia each day, and none was ever detected. Bottom line, all fish survived just fine.
When power returned, I made a 75% WC and put the biofilter back into service. Fish were fed lightly for the next few days. No ammonia was detected, so the filter must have survived its ordeal. And so did I.

[Darrell Ward]

As long as the media can get air for the bacteria, it can survive several days fully intact easily if the bacteria colony is firmly established.

[dbfzurowski]

What Darrell said ^^^

When I was researching for my diy sumps I came across one post of how someone experimented with turning off their canister filter. After 3 hours there was an ammonia spike inside the canister. Bacteria needs air!

[afriend]

ref0716:

Good data point. What I get from this is to drain the water from the bio filter to let in air, but not so much that it will dry out. The bacteria will survive for some time even though the temperature drops significantly. Can you tell me how many days you were without power?


Darrell and dominik:

Your point is that bacteria needs air to survive. Good to know this since the medium in my canister is normally completely covered with water. It seems then that the bacteria in my system get the air from the water that is pumped thru it.


dominik:

Are you sure that only 3 hours had passed before the ammonia spike occured? My gut feeling is that it would take longer, but I could be wrong since have nothing to back that up with. Did the bacteria survive after the water flow was resumed?



Perhaps there are others that could add insight to this. What I would specificaly like to find out is this: if the water flow is shut off and water completely covers the medium, how many hours can the bacteria remain in this condition and still recover after the water flow is resumed?


Paul

[ref0716]

Paul- We were without power for 5 full days. Evidently, a bio filter needs air, but stagnant water will cause it to go anaerobic and die. That's been my experience, anyway.
Richard (ref0716)

[jimg]

I read a good article one time that stated after 15 mins to an hour with no air the bacteria actually change and start producing their own oxygen which in turn raises nitrite.
I've heard on here before how some will let it air dry, I have never tried that but I know keeping in in o2 deprived water is the worst

[afriend]

Paul- We were without power for 5 full days. Evidently, a bio filter needs air, but stagnant water will cause it to go anaerobic and die. That's been my experience, anyway.
Richard (ref0716)

Good data point, thanks. I live in Arkansas where we get an ice storm every few years that will disrupt power for days. I'll keep this in mind next time this happens and drain by bio filter canister. One good thing for us is that we have a backup source of heat that will keep the house warm.

[afriend]

I read a good article one time that stated after 15 mins to an hour with no air the bacteria actually change and start producing their own oxygen which in turn raises nitrite.
I've heard on here before how some will let it air dry, I have never tried that but I know keeping in in o2 deprived water is the worst

You don't happen to know where I can find this information, do you? Thanks for the reply.

[afriend]

I'm wondering what would happen if power was interrupted overnight while we were sleeping. I'm pretty sure my discus would survive the night and recover, but what about the bio filter? If the bio filter were to crash, there's no way I could reestablish it in less than a month and I would probably loose all my fish. I could of course make water changes, but does anyone have experience with this circumstance? Am I likely to crash the bio filter overnight if it is covered with water? Also, is it possible to maintain low enough levels of ammonium with water changes alone? If so, how much water change daily would be necessary?

[Sean Buehrle]

All bio filters are the same as far as this question goes.

Take a bio wheel filter for instance.
You can put the bio wheels in a bag in the fridge for a few weeks ime and they work just fine. they just need to be kept damp and have oxygen.

That's all that matters.

[Darrell Ward]

I've had power outages for 8-9 hours in the past with canister filters when no one was home. When the power came back on, and I returned home, did a water change and nothing out of the ordinary happened at all. It's always a good idea to keep extra bio media cycling in one of your active tanks just in case you need it. For what it's worth, I've torn down tanks in the past, and kept bio media alive for months in them by reducing the water level to less than half, dumping the bio media in the bottom, and adding a couple of air stones. You only have to throw a little flake food in there occasionally to let it break down and feed the bacteria. Of course you'll want to remove the media and clean the tank before you reuse it to remove rotting food, but the bacteria in the bio media will be fine.

[afriend]

All bio filters are the same as far as this question goes.

Take a bio wheel filter for instance.
You can put the bio wheels in a bag in the fridge for a few weeks ime and they work just fine. they just need to be kept damp and have oxygen.

That's all that matters.

Good data point. Evediently the bacteria are very resilient provided they have access to air. Even drastic changes in temperature will not kill them. Thank you very much for your reply.

[afriend]

I've had power outages for 8-9 hours in the past with canister filters when no one was home. When the power came back on, and I returned home, did a water change and nothing out of the ordinary happened at all. It's always a good idea to keep extra bio media cycling in one of your active tanks just in case you need it. For what it's worth, I've torn down tanks in the past, and kept bio media alive for months in them by reducing the water level to less than half, dumping the bio media in the bottom, and adding a couple of air stones. You only have to throw a little flake food in there occasionally to let it break down and feed the bacteria. Of course you'll want to remove the media and clean the tank before you reuse it to remove rotting food, but the bacteria in the bio media will be fine.

Sounds as if the bacteria are practically indestructible. Since you have direct experience with going thru a power outage, I feel that I can rely on this in the event of a similar event and don't have to worry about it. I really appreciate your input.

[Sean Buehrle]

I've read that bacteria colonies double every 24 hours or something like that, so even if some die off you at least have a good starting point.

What sucks about starting a working bio filter is the time it takes for the first bacteria to grow enough to start giving off nitrite to start the next type of bacteria that use the nitrite, it takes forever it seems.

It's nice to have extra cycled filters laying around.