filtration life span

[dorse]

when i move house next week i was thinking i might leave my filters running into a large bucket so they are kept matured, as the fish tank wont be able to be set up for a while, how long can the filters be kept running like this? would a month or two be too long? what would i have to do to keep them like this, they are two large external canister filters btw
any info would be great
james

[ronrca]

Well, it depends! Bacteria require a food source. If you can 'feed' the bacteria, you can keep your filters going forever. Ammonia works great! You can also throw food like beefheart into the buckets that they slowly decay and provide food. Also aerate as bacteria do require O2 and aeration will also drive off the CO2 and keep the ph stable. And dont forget the heater! ;) Following this will allow you to run your filters a long, long time. You will have to do some water changes depending on the nitrate level!

HTH
;)