Sharing - Keeping bacteria alive while changing water

Originally Posted by Penn

i have never heard of BB dead during WC.

true that there is no conclusive answer. but the general concession is if your tank is truely matured and properly cycled, the dead of BB is the least you should concern

Me too, it's unheard of, even during a few hours of power failure, I've never experienced any ammonia spike the next day, so I guess the bbs are still alive then. But I'm not sure about enclosed filters like canisters, according to some text it says they died quickly.

[Robinfoo]

Hi all, just to share... before I have a sump I have been using this way for 20 years.. use 2 hoses 1 to siphon the other at the same time fill water from the storage tank this way u don't have to on/off ur pump, ur pump wouldn't wear off easily.
If u don't have a storage tank u can also use direct tap water doing this way by...
1) If u change about 20% water first siphon the water and see timing how long it take..est about 6mins.
2) Then u can use 2 hose the way to wc up to 6 mins.

.

Originally Posted by John

spotted, how long can they survive ?

couldnt find a conclusive answer so far.

i thought if the sump is matured it will be jam packed with bacteria and once oxygen is cut more will die ? thats why the more matured it is the more i worry . if no bacteria nothing to lose !

I changed the setup of ohf and it took me about 2hrs to do that with water pump off. So far so good.

The only thing I realised after one hour plus, the tank water tends to have some fishy smell.

i do not think that switching off the circulation would kill the bb - i have a small pond and it takes some 4 hours to clean my filter compartment. i normally switch it off and its still ok

Originally Posted by amiidae

Happy reading.

Link to the sci paper -- > Bacteria coping with nutrient and oxygen fluctuations

Superb information bro. Learned really a lot of things from it. Thanks very much.

[Fins&Tails]

for those tanks which require longer periods for wc like 2-3hrs, i have sponge filter inside main tank to cope with the rising ammonia levels due to reaction of chloromines with the conditioners and excess poop. as for sump, as long media have water, up to 24hrs also no problem with air stones

[John]

Originally Posted by amiidae

Happy reading.

Link to the sci paper -- > Bacteria coping with nutrient and oxygen fluctuations

Thanks for the link !

i went straight to the conclusion. which stated that that while aerobic bacteria has distinct physiological traits that can be advantages for their survival in our water change case, it is unknown how they can do it and the specific environments they require.

variables can be anything from dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH to nutrient supply.

question is, does our tank provide that environment too ?

in any case, i dont have conclusive answer, and my worries are but worries.
they may or may not be true ! as far as i know or tried to find out, this topic doesnt seem to be as straightforward as it seems.

so the $20 bucks and the air stones I see it as eliminating guesswork !

[John]

thanks all

i learn valuable info from all your experiences here too !

[coldblood]

draw water and top up needs 3 hours for me.... pump is off... no problem for my 6 2.5 2.5 for last 3 years. the sump is jammed pack with CR and CC.

[issacyeo]

i recently repacked all my medias into new media bags. fished the old medias out, brought them to the sink, repack them, arrange back into the sump. out of water exposure for each media is an average of 1hr max. no issues with the tank thereafter.