TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
And now for some science. Start with the bio-film in which the bacteria lives. Brar in mind we are now operating on the microscopic level. Research knows where in the microfilm the differet strains of microrganisms are arrayed. The amonnia ones are closes to the surface of the film than the nitrite ones. So as the ammonia is converted to nitrite the next part of the journey of the water though the film will encounter the nitrite bacteria.
There are more than the nitrifying bacteria living in the bio-film. One of the other microorganisms present are called facultative bacteria. They are able to thrive in both aerobic and anaerobic condition. When oxygen is available in the water, the use that. But, if there is no oxygen in the water, they operate in a different manner and they use nitrate.
All of us have some number of these facultative bacteria in the bio-films in our tanks and filters. However, there are not enough of these in the biofilm to make a serious difference in the nitrate levels. However, withing the bio-media is is opossible for more of the facultative bacteria to colonize. And this is where foam matters.
As water pasees through foam there are a lot of potential passageways water can take to hoth through it. Yhe more porous the foam the more potential pathways. What happens within the media itself is that there will be pathways where the other bacteria use up all of the oxygen. And in such case the facultative bacteria gets water with no oxygen but which does contain nitrate. There are a lof of places within the foam where there can be a lot more of the facultative bacteria than in a small amount in a bio-film.
Given a decent amount of foam in one's filtration, especially if it is akin to the Poret foam which is more quality controlled form of foam. It is semi-rigid which helps keep the potential passageway though the foam passable and it provides a lot more surface area for biofilm to be. On the other hand, bio-media which is like gravel does not have as many passageways though it as foam can.
Next, there are microorgganisms which eat organic matter. In foam they have some time to do this as the water is inside a block of foam longer than a piece of ceramic etc.
Here is how I have actually seen all of this at work. A hamburg Mattenfilter is a massive piece of foam which acts as ones filter. In my 33 gal. long tanks I filter them using a piece of foam which goes from the bottom of the tank to above the surface of the water. It also touches both the front and back glass. It is 3 inches thick. Basically, the piece of foam hosting the bacteria etc. is about 13x12x3 inches which means it's volume is 468 cubic inches. All water goes through the foam none goes around it.
Now I could use the biggest AquaClear hang-on (500 gph 110) and fill it with two of the AC foams for it. These measure 9.75x3.5x3.5 = 119.44 cubic inches and two would 238.88 cubic inches. Hagen states that "The AquaClear 110 Power Filter is ideal for 60- to 110-gallon (227 to 416 L) aquariums." But this filter has barely1/2 of the volume of the Poret and is is not semi-rigid and doesn't come in a variety of pore sizes. The Poret has more pore space than the AC sponges.
The bisgges misinformation in the harware side of our tanks is that for filters. It is important to understand that the filter itself does not filter anything, what is does is to move water. It is the media inside a filter which matters. And it is not the media (for the most part) which filters. What actually filters our water are the microorganisms which will colonize the media.
And for this reason filters which have more more media volume combined with it's porosity which determines what sorts of filtration might be done. I learned soon after switching to Poret foam for my sponge filters and installing several Mattenfilters that the water in the tanks with the Mattenfilters was very clear I could hold a quarter on the back glass of a 33L and read the date through the front glass, the water and the back glass.
I tried this after I had posted picture of one of my set-ups which used a Mattenfilter and had somebody reply asking how the heck I got my water so clear. I also realized I no longer need to test for nitrates in such tanks as it was always low.And, I do 50%+ water changes weekly and have for over 23 years. Only rare illness or weekend away causes me to miss a week.
What caused me to switch so many of my tanks to using Poret foam and Mattenfilters and Poret cubefilters was reading this article. I also have to admit that my conversations with Dr. Tanner regarding the bacteria v.s. the Archaea was what introduced me to all of this. Most importantly to my understanding of how filtration actually works was this article on Dr. Tanner's site:
http://www.swisstropicals.com/library/aquarium-biofiltration/
One thing I want to make clear. While I use Poret and buy from Swiss Tropicals, there is other similar type foam made by other manufacturers. I chose to buy from Swiss Tropicals, but this is not the only place for this ype of foam foam. So I am not suggesting you shop there, only that you can learn from there. But, if you do want Poret, Dr. Tanner has the exclusive right to sell it in the USA.
There are more than the nitrifying bacteria living in the bio-film. One of the other microorganisms present are called facultative bacteria. They are able to thrive in both aerobic and anaerobic condition. When oxygen is available in the water, the use that. But, if there is no oxygen in the water, they operate in a different manner and they use nitrate.
All of us have some number of these facultative bacteria in the bio-films in our tanks and filters. However, there are not enough of these in the biofilm to make a serious difference in the nitrate levels. However, withing the bio-media is is opossible for more of the facultative bacteria to colonize. And this is where foam matters.
As water pasees through foam there are a lot of potential passageways water can take to hoth through it. Yhe more porous the foam the more potential pathways. What happens within the media itself is that there will be pathways where the other bacteria use up all of the oxygen. And in such case the facultative bacteria gets water with no oxygen but which does contain nitrate. There are a lof of places within the foam where there can be a lot more of the facultative bacteria than in a small amount in a bio-film.
Given a decent amount of foam in one's filtration, especially if it is akin to the Poret foam which is more quality controlled form of foam. It is semi-rigid which helps keep the potential passageway though the foam passable and it provides a lot more surface area for biofilm to be. On the other hand, bio-media which is like gravel does not have as many passageways though it as foam can.
Next, there are microorgganisms which eat organic matter. In foam they have some time to do this as the water is inside a block of foam longer than a piece of ceramic etc.
Here is how I have actually seen all of this at work. A hamburg Mattenfilter is a massive piece of foam which acts as ones filter. In my 33 gal. long tanks I filter them using a piece of foam which goes from the bottom of the tank to above the surface of the water. It also touches both the front and back glass. It is 3 inches thick. Basically, the piece of foam hosting the bacteria etc. is about 13x12x3 inches which means it's volume is 468 cubic inches. All water goes through the foam none goes around it.
Now I could use the biggest AquaClear hang-on (500 gph 110) and fill it with two of the AC foams for it. These measure 9.75x3.5x3.5 = 119.44 cubic inches and two would 238.88 cubic inches. Hagen states that "The AquaClear 110 Power Filter is ideal for 60- to 110-gallon (227 to 416 L) aquariums." But this filter has barely1/2 of the volume of the Poret and is is not semi-rigid and doesn't come in a variety of pore sizes. The Poret has more pore space than the AC sponges.
The bisgges misinformation in the harware side of our tanks is that for filters. It is important to understand that the filter itself does not filter anything, what is does is to move water. It is the media inside a filter which matters. And it is not the media (for the most part) which filters. What actually filters our water are the microorganisms which will colonize the media.
And for this reason filters which have more more media volume combined with it's porosity which determines what sorts of filtration might be done. I learned soon after switching to Poret foam for my sponge filters and installing several Mattenfilters that the water in the tanks with the Mattenfilters was very clear I could hold a quarter on the back glass of a 33L and read the date through the front glass, the water and the back glass.
I tried this after I had posted picture of one of my set-ups which used a Mattenfilter and had somebody reply asking how the heck I got my water so clear. I also realized I no longer need to test for nitrates in such tanks as it was always low.And, I do 50%+ water changes weekly and have for over 23 years. Only rare illness or weekend away causes me to miss a week.
What caused me to switch so many of my tanks to using Poret foam and Mattenfilters and Poret cubefilters was reading this article. I also have to admit that my conversations with Dr. Tanner regarding the bacteria v.s. the Archaea was what introduced me to all of this. Most importantly to my understanding of how filtration actually works was this article on Dr. Tanner's site:
http://www.swisstropicals.com/library/aquarium-biofiltration/
One thing I want to make clear. While I use Poret and buy from Swiss Tropicals, there is other similar type foam made by other manufacturers. I chose to buy from Swiss Tropicals, but this is not the only place for this ype of foam foam. So I am not suggesting you shop there, only that you can learn from there. But, if you do want Poret, Dr. Tanner has the exclusive right to sell it in the USA.
1 US gallon = 3.8 litres)(1kg = 2.2 lbs)Average community tropical aquarium = 1kg per 100 litres Average coldwater aquarium = 1kg - 1.5kg per 100 litresPredator aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litresLarge cichlid aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litresMalawi / Tanganyikan aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litresMarine aquarium = 1.5kg - 2kg per 100 litresAverage mixed fish pond = 1kg per 200 litresAverage koi pond = 1kg per 150 litres
