how long does beneficial bacteria in the filter take to die?

[alph]

Hi,
does anyone know how long will it take for the beneficial bacteria to die? my house had a power failure in the afternoon and i only got home the next day, when i checked my filters, the filter media inside were dry. my tank has been established for > 6mth and has shrimp and fish inside. will they be ok if the bacteria died?

[jiajuen900]

By the time it is dry most of the beneficial bacteria that was there would probably be useless now. Without water flow to provide oxygen most beneficial bacteria would have died.

While a large portion of beneficial bacteria reside in the filter due to high surface area to volume ratio, constant water flow and collection of debris. Your aquarium water, substrate and various other surfaces of the aquarium would also have quite a large portion of beneficial bacteria.

i think as long as the tank is not over stocked, and given enough aeration, the livestock should be fine if you get the filter up and running again. The bacteria will repopulate the filter quickly before large excesses of ammonia form. To be on the safe side, you could try to perform more water changes over the next few days.