Disaster control

[PsiPro]

So today I was putting around my tank and I pulled up one of the filter outputs and realized that no water was coming out of it. Not a big deal, that filter loses the siphon all the time. So I go to restart it only to find that the power strip which powers my pumps and power heads was off.

I turned it back on and based on the sell of the water that came out, it has been off for about a week. I must have bumped into it while I was doing last weeks PWC.

Either way, the water has been mostly stagnant for almost a week if not more. Undoubtedly the bacteria in the filter has died, however I can bum some seeded material off of a friend. However I wont get enough from him as my tank is 55gal and his is 10, so we have slightly different sized filters.

I took a water sample and the ammonia test didn't make the first box, it was just barely off-clear. So less then 0.5ppm.

I have just completed a 60% PWC and will put myself on a daily 10% or more PWC and monitor ammonia. What do I need to do to insure my fish are happy and healthy.

 

[theotheragentm]

If you're measuring okay right now, just keep up with the water changes. The water will circulate once your powerheads and filters are going again and you'll be pulling out the waste with your dailiy water changes. You should be okay if nothing has suffered so far.

 

[neilanh]

In addition to ammonia you'll want to keep any eye on nitrItes as well. While not as toxic to fish as ammonia, it's still poison to them. I would target a PWC anytime either ammonia or nitrIte reaches 0.5.

The seed material from your friend will definately help the process go much quicker. While you may still see a bit of a cycle, it will be much quicker than if you go at it without it. You said this was a 55 gallon tank, but how heavily it's stocked will determine how high and how quick you'll see ammonia and nitrIte spikes. In addition to that, not all of the bacteria lives in the filter. The substrate and any decor in your tank houses it as well, although probably not as heavily as what's in your filter.

 

[MyCatsDrool]

I don't think the bacteria in your tank will have died in a week. Many tanks have no filtration. The bacteria mostly just needs to stay wet. For example, people keep goldfish and bettas in bowls with no mechanical filter and the bacteria survives.

I would consider rinsing the filter media and filter in old tank water during the next water change however.

 

[neilanh]

MCD, that eludes to my point about some of the bacteria living in the substrate or on the decor in the tank. And that's the case in all aquariums. However, when a power filter is used, larger colonies live in these because of the flow rates and higher aeration, so in this case it does need to be monitored through this. While some bacteria living in the tank itself will continue to work to the benefit, there is potential for the large portion of the colony to have been lost.

As far as the bacteria surviving a week, I haven't come accross a solid answer on this. Most people seem to think that Bacteria can only survive without food for around 48 hours. However, others have said it can be closer to 2 months. PsiPro's experience here may be a good indicator as to what the real case is. Once we see if a spike occurs, we'll have a better idea of the validity of the 48 hour assumptions.

 

[PsiPro]

All of the parameters are reporting good. 0 Ammonia now so looks like the bacteria are still alive. Its possible that some of the snails in the filter died during that week (hence the smell) and continued to feed the bacteria.

 

[QTOFFER]

Nitrifying bacteria require two things to thrive: a source of ammonia (or nitrite) as well as oxygen.

Losing your power won't kill off your entire bacterial colony - your fish are still producing ammonia. However, the filter helps keep the water column well oxygenated by agitating the surface - this increases gas exchange.

Your bacterial colony may have become accustomed to slightly higher O2 levels, so you may have a partial die-off and a mini cycle. I'd monitor ammonia and nitrite every day and be prepared to do 10% water changes every day if need be.

You should also do a good gravel vac since you were without mechanical filtration for that time - there's probably alot of gunk down there that would otherwise have been pulled into the filter and trapped.

The dissolved organic compounds in the unfiltered gunk may account for the smell. You can run carbon in the filter for a few days to get rid of it.