Bacteria Question
Your biological media should be placed after the mechanical media that removes debris from the water. Placing it before the mechanical media means that it will be also doing part of the job of that media, as well as the biological filtration, and thus need to be cleaned often. If you are using chemical filtration (activated carbon or other), it should go after the biological filtration media.
It was mentioned earlier that the bio-wheel is exposed to air, from which the oxygen comes, therefore oxygen is not consumed from the water. Actually, a properly functioning bio-wheel will be covered with water from which the bacteria derive any oxygen they need. The benefit of the great surface area of water being exposed is that it provides a greater surface area for any gaseous exchange that may be occurring as the wheel spins. Without the water, no matter how thin the covering may be, the nitrifying bacteria will cease to function, and eventually die.
\Steve//
> —–Original Message—– > From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of > turbocoupe76 > Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 1:58 PM > To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [AquaticLife] Re: Bacteria Question > > ok point taken ill put the bio wheels pack on. 
> But any other filter ive seen just has the bio media that sits in > front of the filter cartridge. they are constantly submerged. Thats > what I mean. Any type of filter made now has some sort of bio sponge > that is seperate from the filter cartridge. But alot of people want > bio wheels and such because of what it says on the box (instantly > cleans tank, Now with more bacteria surface area. I have not seen > results yet on my tanks where I would go out and buy a new filter > because it has bio wheels. > I usually wont replace a cartidge or pad unless it rips while im > cleaning it. I just scrub them in the bucket with my hands when im > doing PWC. > — In AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com, “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? > > > > > > ———————————— > > Please, DELETE this line and EVERYTHING below it when replying, Thank You.. > ·´¯`·.¸¸.>.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸> ¸.·´¯`·.¸. , .·´¯`·..> > PLEASE, when you REPLY to a post, DELETE all TEXT that is NOT important to the reply & if > CHANGING the TOPIC of the original message MODIFY the SUBJECT LINE -> i.e.. “new > subject (was re: old subject)” We Thank You in Advance for Your HELP in this matter.Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
