55 gal tank replacement

[silverfin]

Fully established tank leaked at bottom. How long will the BBs last in the gravel that was removed from the old tank? Wet gravel is being stored in a room temperature ice cooler.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Beneficial bacteria can live weeks if kept wet and oxygenated, days if just kept wet, and hours if left to dry out. If you can keep it wet, oxygenated and fed with an ammonia source, indefinitely.

While your substrate will host some BB, most will be in your filter media. Thats what i would be prioritising keeping alive.

Make sure any water you use to preserve your BB is dechlorinated, otherwise the water treatment will kill of your bacteria.

 

[silverfin]

Perfect! Thank you.

 

[gilpi]

I would worry more about the bacteria in your filter.