[AquaticLife] Bacteria Question
By in front of I meant closest to the outtake on the filter, after re-reading my post I thought it may sound confusing.
Amber
Amber Berglund wrote: > > 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? > > > > > >
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