Preserving Established Media

[Fishmanic]

I read somewhere that you could put used media in a jar filled with tank water and the media will stay bacteria laden for future use for up to 6 months.  Could be useful if you have future plans for starting a new tank.   Can anyone verify that this is a true statement?   

 

[sawickib]

I'd love to know to haha

 

[Stimo]

bacteria needs feeding to live and grow

 

[star4]

You would also need to run an air stone to allow water movement as well as feed the bacteria it put fish food or ammonia in the jar.

 

[TallTree01]

This would not work. It would live for maybe 1-2 weeks if you're lucky.
It needs an ammonia source to feed on.

 

[KirkyArcher]

Just stick it in a container full of tank water and make sure there is some "mulm" in the bottom of the container, this will decompose creating ammonia, nitrifying bacteria is way tougher than most think, if food sources run out completely it shuts down and "hibernates" long before it dies Keeping it damp is probably the most important, just think about the "Super Bacteria" starter sources Dr. Tim's "One and only" that has a shelf life of 6 months and up to a year if temperature is maintained at 10°C with no flow and no continuous food source.

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

They can go dormant for a while, but will also need a while to perk back up. 
 
Dr Tims One and Only is a hit ad mis for that reason, it can be kept at a warehouse way too long or people dont have patience. If you leave the jar open to allow oxygen to enter the water and add some sort of ammonia, like mulm, it could easily be 6 months

 

[TwoTankAmin]

No it will not work. I wont go into the explanations of why. Bottled bacteria is sealed up and there is none of the organic gunk from tanks typically embedded in media involved.
 
No, you can not do what Ellie suggested above, it wont work.
 
If you want to preserve your cycled media for months, put the flter on the smallest reasonable container you can, Add a bit of ammonia once or twice a week (use the volume of the tank it came from to determine the amount of amount needed to be between 1 and 2 ppm for that volume and add that amount).
 
An unagitated container will not allow for gas exchange and the bacteria need O and CO2 to function as well as iron. You would also need to be doing a water change every so often to replenish things and to clean out any of the trapped organics in the media that degrade and are released into the water.
 
If you are curious about how the ammonia bacs survive etc. and can stand reading scientific papers, you can have a read here:
 
Strategies of aerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria for coping with nutrient and oxygen fluctuations
http/onlinelibrary...06.00170.x/full