How long can Beneficial Bacteria survive without water?

Question

When I last changed my canister filter's carbon, I think I left it open without water for too long (about 20-30 minutes).

Could that have killed a lot of the beneficial bacterial residing in there? (biomax and sponge).

Cause a week later, i checked my water, and it was pretty high in Ammonia. :(

Ammonia and nitrites were almost non-existent the

week before that.

So do you know how long Beneficial Bacteria can last in the open air? (they are still a bit wet, not completely dried out).

But for sure, next time I will put everything in a bucket of tank water while changing carbon.

Also, do you guys have an idea of how commercial product like "Cycle" can have their bacterial live without oxygen for that long?

I poured a bunch in there to speed up the process.

~~32-gallon~~

Fish:

-6 glowlight tetras

-3 male guppies

-2 platies

-3 black kuhlis

-3 otos

-1 twig catfish

-3 ghost shrimps

Plants:

-2 amazon swords

-1 java fern

-1 hornwort

-3 small vallies

-1 sm-med Malaysian driftwood

Answer 1

the bacteria can survive for hours in the conditions you describe-thats how people move filter bacteria if the are moving house with a tank-they take out the media and keep it damp in a bag so it doesn't sound like that caused the ammonia spike. just changing some filter media means you lose some of the nitifying bacteria anyway

Answer 2

It appears as though the above answerer just entirely made up numbers...  As long as they are kept moist, they will survive.  There is a good chance some of the bacteria did dry out, even if the majority survived, so I would watch your parameters fairly closely for the next few days to make sure they stay at 0 ppm ammonia and nitrite.

EDIT: The 'Waste Control' will not damage the bacteria, but I would recommend not using it any more.  It is trash that claims to do what a water change can (it can't).  You'll save time, trouble, and money if you just keep up with your water changes and ditch the 'Waste Control'.

Answer 3

How long can Beneficial bacteria survive without water?

Answer: If there are no more water, then there are no more beneficial bacteria.

How long can Beneficial bacteria survive without filter?

Answer: 30 minutes all beneficial bacteria should be fine.

Maximum i think is 4 hours, not all bacteria would survive.

I heard that the most beneficial bacteria are inside your filter, so it is not recommended to flush your filter with tap water.