[AquaticLife] Bacteria Question
On a side note I thought I would let people know that the 10 gallon kits that walmart sells now have a little “bio” insert in front of the normal cartridge so that you can just remove the carbon and not hurt your beneficial bacteria residing on the 2nd cartridge (looks like a piece of coral to me but that’s hard to imagine since there are so many different varieties, LOL). I know that their old kit just had 1 carbon cartridge (I know because I have one of their old kits too, LOL).
Amber
Lenny V. aka GoldLenny wrote: > > Yes, the microscopic nitrifying bacteria live on all surface areas where > there is a supply of oxygenated water. However, since all of the tank’s > water flows through the filter system several times an hour, the > overwhelming majority of the nitrifying bacteria will reside there since > that’s where all the food is passing by on a constant basis. If you have a > sponge or polyfloss pad or polyfill or whatever and water is flowing > through > it, then there will be nitrifying bacteria growing on the surface areas of > that filter media. Other biological filtration would only be lagniappe or > redundancy. > > In fact, when someone buys a new filter system that comes with at least a > single cartridge, like on a small Whisper 10, that is plenty enough filter > media to hold all the nitrifying bacteria needed for a properly > stocked 10G > tank. As long as you rinse/swoosh/squeeze the filter cartridge/media in > removed tank water on a weekly basis, to remove the majority of the > detritus, that media will stay cycled and can be reused over and over and > over for years and years. > > If someone does not want to do filter cleaning, then they should have a > filter system that has other means of biological filtration like a > Bio-Wheel, BioMax, etc., so they are not completely trashing their > biological filtration every time they change out their filter > cartridge on a > small filter system like a Whisper 10 or other single cartridge systems. > > While the bio-wheels will harbor some nitrifying bacteria while just > floating around in your tank, they would be home for thousands or millions > of times more nitrifying bacteria if they were spinning in the outflow of > the filters where they would be getting a constant supply of heavily > oxygenated water flowing through/over the bio-wheel. That is the true > purpose of why Marineland had Dr. Tim Hovanec invent the Bio-Wheel… so > they could then, in good conscience, recommend changing out the filter > cartridge on a regular basis without harming the fish. By having the > Bio-Wheel as the primary home for the majority of the nitrifying bacteria, > then trashing the cartridge would not harm the biological filtration very > much…. although there is absolutely NO reason to ever trash one of their > filter cartridges. They last for years and years and can even be modified > to remove the carbon and add more filter media in that part of the > cartridge…. see my blog article, “Filter Profile - Marineland > Penguin 200 > Bio-Wheel” for photos of how I modified mine. > > Yes, running two HOB’s and only doing filter maintenance on one filter > at a > time is the best way but it’s still better to just do maintenance on the > filter rather than trashing it for a new one. With two HOB’s, trashing one > cartridge could mean you are trashing around 50% of your biological > filtration meaning your tank will go into a mini-cycle that would mean > potentially elevated ammonia/nitrite levels for a up to a couple of days > every time you do this. Start testing your water for ammonia and nitrite > after you trash one of your cartridges to see if your tank is going into a > mini-cycle or not. The bioload and overall ecology of the tank will > have an > effect on this potential mini-cycle as well. > > Lenny Vasbinder > Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com > (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right > side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month) > > —–Original Message—– > From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com > > [mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com > ] On > Behalf Of turbocoupe76 > Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 9:43 AM > To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [AquaticLife] Bacteria Question > > While I was trolling the Information Super Highway (rember that one?) for > off brand products, I came across alot of forums where people where > complaining about bacteria. More specifically they where getting rid of > filters because theirs didnt have a “bio-sponge, bio-cartridge, bio- > wheel, > insert bio name here”. > Doesn’t bacteria live in all areas of the tank/ornaments/plants and is > abundant in the gravel? When I was a kid, I never had bio-*****. Our tanks > where fine. > I am not a profesional by any means, even a pro hobbyist for that > matter but > why would you get rid of a perfectly good filter to have one that has a > spinning wheel. > Yes I do have 2 Marinelands with bio wheels but I bought them both > used from > craigslist. I still cant pass up a deal! I dont run the bio wheels > though. I > just let them float around the tank. > Wouldnt it be better to run 2 regular HOBs on a tank and switch out 1 > cartridge every other time if the filters hold all the bacteria goodness? > >
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
