Filter Bacteria

[sketchy]

hi, i have recently been conned by the missus into buying a tank, and since getting it have grown quite fond of the idea. i'm trying to do it proppery this time. my last attempt was a gourami (sp?) in a goldfish bowl. to be fair it didnt go too badly, as its still alive two years down the line...(i think its time for a new home for the poor thing!)

anyway enough waffling, my question is:

on this forum, and on many other websites i have looked at, people refer to filter bacteria. i understand what they do etc, but how do they get there? do they 'magically' appear on their own or do you have to add them when you start setting stuff up in the aquarium?

cheers
sam

 

[Glod]

Well, given time they will "magically" appear, eventually.... That is the reason behind seeding your cycle with media from an established tank. Then you are introducing some viable bacteria to get things off to a start.

If you wait for them to appear out of nowhere you could wait indefinitely.

 

[sketchy]

awesome. cheers. think i shall go be uber nice to the guys in the lfs and see if they can help out

 

[zoekin8yg]

if you havent read this then do http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

 

[InaneCathode]

Well, given time they will "magically" appear, eventually.... That is the reason behind seeding your cycle with media from an established tank. Then you are introducing some viable bacteria to get things off to a start.

If you wait for them to appear out of nowhere you could wait indefinitely.

Nitrifying bacteria are *everywhere* *all* the time. They're in the air floating around, they're in the soil, they're in your body. It'd be virtually impossible for a home aquarist to set up his aquarium and end up with a completely sterile environment, not to mention completely sealed from airborne bacteria. I wouldn't say indefinitely as far as the wait for a non-seeded fishless cycling process, just significantly longer.

And to the op: Yes. Yes it is magic. Accept it as such.
Feel free to perform a few bacteria dances to kick things off <_<

 

[Glod]

Well, given time they will "magically" appear, eventually.... That is the reason behind seeding your cycle with media from an established tank. Then you are introducing some viable bacteria to get things off to a start.

If you wait for them to appear out of nowhere you could wait indefinitely.

Nitrifying bacteria are *everywhere* *all* the time. They're in the air floating around, they're in the soil, they're in your body. It'd be virtually impossible for a home aquarist to set up his aquarium and end up with a completely sterile environment, not to mention completely sealed from airborne bacteria. I wouldn't say indefinitely as far as the wait for a non-seeded fishless cycling process, just significantly longer.

And to the op: Yes. Yes it is magic. Accept it as such.
Feel free to perform a few bacteria dances to kick things off <_<

Hehe, you're right in what you say IC, I was mostly trying to say that waiting for the tiny amount of bacteria that randomly sets up home in your aquarium in the early days to take hold and start to reproduce in the filter will take longer. That's why most cycling theories advise kick starting the cycle with the introduction of a sizable colony of bacteria from an established tank.

 

[InaneCathode]

Well, given time they will "magically" appear, eventually.... That is the reason behind seeding your cycle with media from an established tank. Then you are introducing some viable bacteria to get things off to a start.

If you wait for them to appear out of nowhere you could wait indefinitely.

Nitrifying bacteria are *everywhere* *all* the time. They're in the air floating around, they're in the soil, they're in your body. It'd be virtually impossible for a home aquarist to set up his aquarium and end up with a completely sterile environment, not to mention completely sealed from airborne bacteria. I wouldn't say indefinitely as far as the wait for a non-seeded fishless cycling process, just significantly longer.

And to the op: Yes. Yes it is magic. Accept it as such.
Feel free to perform a few bacteria dances to kick things off <_<

Hehe, you're right in what you say IC, I was mostly trying to say that waiting for the tiny amount of bacteria that randomly sets up home in your aquarium in the early days to take hold and start to reproduce in the filter will take longer. That's why most cycling theories advise kick starting the cycle with the introduction of a sizable colony of bacteria from an established tank.

Aye, that's true. I'm just being pedantic though <_<

 

[dwarfgourami]

Hehe, you're right in what you say IC, I was mostly trying to say that waiting for the tiny amount of bacteria that randomly sets up home in your aquarium in the early days to take hold and start to reproduce in the filter will take longer. That's why most cycling theories advise kick starting the cycle with the introduction of a sizable colony of bacteria from an established tank.
[/quote]

The other route is to take the small amount of naturally occurring bacteria and encourage their growth artificially by adding extra ammonia=fishless cycling. I have cycled three tanks in this way in the last 2 years and it's worked well and (relatively) quickly.

 

[InaneCathode]

Hehe, you're right in what you say IC, I was mostly trying to say that waiting for the tiny amount of bacteria that randomly sets up home in your aquarium in the early days to take hold and start to reproduce in the filter will take longer. That's why most cycling theories advise kick starting the cycle with the introduction of a sizable colony of bacteria from an established tank.

The other route is to take the small amount of naturally occurring bacteria and encourage their growth artificially by adding extra ammonia=fishless cycling. I have cycled three tanks in this way in the last 2 years and it's worked well and (relatively) quickly.
[/quote]

This is what we were talking about lol

 

[Bignose]

We did just have a thread on this eaxct topic just a whort while back: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=168317

But, I'll copy and paste what I wrote there:

"
The vast majority of the bacteria do come in with your drinking water. No water kept in anything other than a clean, sterile room (something like the room Intel uses to make microprocessors) will be completely free of life. Life is very efficient about using water however possible. And, basically, the water company only worries about sending out bad bacteria like E. coli out with their water, not harmless (to humans) bacteria like Nitrospira.

Actually, it is becoming a growing problem that these bacteria are growing resistant to to chloramines (very popular because it is far more stable than chlorine alone). Because they are resistant, chloramines don't kill them, and the resistant strains can actually use the ammonia part of the the chloramines. Unfortunately, by using it up, less chloramine is available to kill off the bad bacteria, like E. coli.

Finally, it is not surprising that ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria are present in large amounts at water treatment plants. The water they take in is full of ammonia and nitrites, from fertilizer run off, from decaying plant matter, from a lot of sources. It is actually a pretty good testament how clean they get the water to send back out from the soup they take in sometimes.
"