Rescape & Cannister Filter

[Kenobyte]

I have decided to rescape my tank. I have already moved my fish to another tank with proper parameters and filtration.

My question is once I drain the tank is there a way to ensure my fluval cannister retains the built up beneficial bacteria since it's been running for 8 months with small "cleanings". Is it good enough to just keep it off, valve closed for a few days while I get the scape right? The beneficial bacteria is in the cannister and it will have tank water in it, so will it survive.

 

[Aiken Drum]

It will start to die off in significant quantities after a few days.

Rule of thumb. Bacteria will survive 2 to 3 hours if it gets dried out. 2 to 3 days if kept wet. 2 to 3 weeks if kept wet and oxygenated. Indefinitely if kept wet, oxygenated and fed.

Canisters are sealed and the oxygen will deplete quite quickly. Can you hook up your canister to your other tank and keep it running? That would be best. Could you bag up your filter media in media bags and just drop them in your other tank for the few days until everythings set up again? Getting the media in a container (maybe a tote box) of dechlorinated water and an airstone so that some water can circulate would be an option. Even just taking off the lid and leaving all the media in the filled canister would be better than leaving it sealed up.

If you are sure you can get everything back up and running in a couple of days, die off should be minimal and your cycle should catch up again quite quickly if you just left it in the sealed canister though.