I have been doing this for many years to grow good bacteria.. Time to find out...

kribensis12 said:

It's always good to grow good bacteria! How are you determining your success - as you cannot see them? Are you using the PP filter to seed a new tank?

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Etc said:

Hi friends, understand that good bacteria can grow in any part inside the aquarium including gravel. I have been connecting my water pump outlet hose to a PP filter and flashing another PP filter because I feel that PP filter is giving me the most surface to grow good bacteria. Time for me to find out the answer if I am doing it right.

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Byron said:

What is a PP filter?

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Sgooosh said:

What is Pp filter
Sorry i am a beginner on tech stuff
Your deco and wood can provide homes for bacteria and definitely your filter

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Etc said:

Just normal pp sediment 1 micron water filter. I am not sharing any tech stuff. I am just sharing something not proven that I have been doing for years.

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Byron said:

OK, to answer your initial questions. Nitrifying bacteria colonize all surfaces covered by water in dark areas, such as the filter media and the substrate, and maybe others. They will appear and multiply according to the "food" they have available (ammonia, then nitrite). Obviously in three years there are sufficient bacteria in your tank, be they in the PP filter or substrate or wherever.

As for the most surface area for bacteria, as I mention above they will colonize surfaces regardless. When all is said and done, you can run a tank without a filter, though the filter media is a good place for these bacteria. And water movement is actually the more important aspect of a filter. If you have live plants, all the better.

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AbbeysDad said:

Some tend to believe that the greater the amount of bio-media, the greater the amount of beneficial bacteria.
I tend to believe that the amount of beneficial bacteria colony(ies) rises and falls based on the availability of 'food' and oxygen. So on the food side, this is ammonia for nitrosomonas and nitrite for nitrospira. With this in mind, you could potentially have 'acres' of unpopulated (bio-media) real estate.

Given that there is a substrate, a sponge filter, and a fair amount of other bio-media as shown in the photo, I doubt that the PP water filter, while it could add benefit in water clarification due to it's micron size, most likely adds little or nothing to the beneficial biology population. Of course, we'd never be able to prove it one way or the other, but rather just 'spit balling' the likelihood.

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AbbeysDad said:

Some tend to believe that the greater the amount of bio-media, the greater the amount of beneficial bacteria.
I tend to believe that the amount of beneficial bacteria colony(ies) rises and falls based on the availability of 'food' and oxygen. So on the food side, this is ammonia for nitrosomonas and nitrite for nitrospira. With this in mind, you could potentially have 'acres' of unpopulated (bio-media) real estate.

Given that there is a substrate, a sponge filter, and a fair amount of other bio-media as shown in the photo, I doubt that the PP water filter, while it could add benefit in water clarification due to it's micron size, most likely adds little or nothing to the beneficial biology population. Of course, we'd never be able to prove it one way or the other, but rather just 'spit balling' the likelihood.

EDIT: Just to extend the above... Plants, especially fast growing stem and floating plants will use ammonia as their nitrogen source. So in a heavily planted tank, there may only be a little excess ammonia for beneficial bacteria to process. But this is a good thing as it results in lower nitrates. So the amount of beneficial biology, regardless of bio-media real estate, is less.... but who cares?

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Etc said:

Thanks for your comment, more bio media just increase the tolerance for my aquarium for any mistake without killing my fish.

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