Salt water aquarium…would it be bad if I shut off the filter for one night?
I have a 55 gallon salt water aquarium. Right now it only has sand, salt water, and 50 pounds of live rock in it. No fish or coral yet. But I wanted to unplug the filter for one night, about 12 hours….I just wanted to know if that would kill the bacteria in my filter, or would it be okay? And I want to make sure it won’t be bad for the live rock. When I start the filter back up tomorrow, will everything still be okay?
Well, let me ask you this: Why do you want to unplug the filter for just one night?
That doesn’t make any sense. It’s really not something you SHOULD do, unless you absolutely have to, like if you’re moving the tank or if there’s a power outtage. It’d be very unwise to do so for no reason at all.
And when you shut off the filter, the water DOES drain out of the filter back into the aquarium. So yes, if you left your filter media dry out, the bacteria will die. When I have a power outtage, I immediately place the cartridge from the filter into the tank directly to avoid having the beneficial bacteria die.
But I will repeat – it is NOT A GOOD IDEA TO SHUT OFF YOUR FILTER.
Does anyone know of any website with info on how to start a salt water aquarium?
Everything will be the same. Your filter is for debri. The active carbon slowly absorbs nitrates and no way will you have a massive amount of dirt build up unless you put it there.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:41 pmReferences :
Well, let me ask you this: Why do you want to unplug the filter for just one night?
That doesn’t make any sense. It’s really not something you SHOULD do, unless you absolutely have to, like if you’re moving the tank or if there’s a power outtage. It’d be very unwise to do so for no reason at all.
And when you shut off the filter, the water DOES drain out of the filter back into the aquarium. So yes, if you left your filter media dry out, the bacteria will die. When I have a power outtage, I immediately place the cartridge from the filter into the tank directly to avoid having the beneficial bacteria die.
But I will repeat – it is NOT A GOOD IDEA TO SHUT OFF YOUR FILTER.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:53 pmReferences :