Filtration Question.

[a.i.m]

Please explain to me why is it better to have a large filter media volume converting fish waste rather than a small amount of media volume.

Does having a larger filter media volume slow the whole conversion down, but still ends with the same amount of nitrate within a tank?

If im not getting amonia , or nitrite readings but nitrates are building up very quickly how would having a larger filter benifit the tank.

B)

 

[spAcE mOnkEy]

The problem may be that your not rinsing out the filter material enough. How often do you rinse the filiter materials in old tank water?

 

[a.i.m]

Sorry space monkey this is mainly a genral question quizing filter media / volume and how it effects nitrate build up.

Im wondering about the differences between having a couple of internal filter sponges converting fish waste into nitrate - compared to an external filter converting fish waste with pre sponges, alpah grog / volcanic rock / splinted glass into nitrate ....
and what difference that would make in the whole prosess.

 

[Lynden]

Sorry space monkey this is mainly a genral question quizing filter media / volume and how it effects nitrate build up.

The time it takes Nitrobacter to convert nitrites to nitrates depends a little on how much you wash the filter media. It was a good question, show a little respect to Space monkey.

It is far better to have a large external filter than several small filters. However, if you do not renew the bacteria in the filter and the water in your tank, the nitrates will pile up. Just do water changes periodically, and you will never have this problem.

 

[a.i.m]

Sorry m8 its jsut a genral question on filter media/ volume reguarding fish waste converting to nitrate.
Not an actual problem in my tank as such, just curious you see.
As for having repsect im not the one making respect accusations, sorry if i was a bit unclear. i am more than intrested in what people have to say. Thanks for the replys so far.

 

[Tolak]

The more media a given filter has, the more nitrobacters & nitrosomas it can hold. These are the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite & nitrite to nitrate. As long as you have enough media in a given filter to convert the fish waste to nitrate you have enough biological filtration. Anything over that will not keep down nitrate.

Many filters do more than just bio filtration. Larger filters that do bio, mechanical, and chemical filtration can support the needs of messier fish, not just from the bio aspect, but the mechanical & chemical aspect. Larger filters can also go longer between maintanance.

Larger amounts of filter media do not slow down the process at all.

If nitrates are building up very quickly, you should check your tap water for nitrates first. If you have nitrates out of the tap, there are three ways to lower them. Reverse osmosis for your water supply, a heavily planted, lightly stocked tank, or a dentrifying filter.

If the tap tests show low or zero nitrates, you have too many fish, or too little tank if nitrates are building up quickly. How much nitates are your tests showing, what size tank, & how many of what type of fish are you keeping?

A larger filter wil give you a bigger margin of error if you miss maintainance for a day or two. If you have a filter that is just barely adequate, and you have to clean it & the tank every other day, you will have a problem if on cleaning day you have to stay late at work, stop after work to fix a friends gutters, your car doesn't start, or any of a million unscheduled unplesantries that can occur.

Tolak

 

[a.i.m]

Cheers for the reply. B)

 

[blue_ram]

Please explain to me why is it better to have a large filter media volume converting fish waste rather than a small amount of media volume.

I think Chestnut did answer a part of your question, but to elaborate.... A larger filter media is preferrable to smaller because it has more surface area for the bacteria to colonize. Larger bacteria colony means more ammonia, and nitrate gets converted to nitrate FASTER. Obviously, if the filter can convert ammonia into nitrate in one pass, any excess media/filter capacity is wasted.

Does having a larger filter media volume slow the whole conversion down, but still ends with the same amount of nitrate within a tank?

Only if the filter isn't overloaded. But see reply to the question above.

If im not getting amonia , or nitrite readings but nitrates are building up very quickly how would having a larger filter benifit the tank.

B)

It doesn't. There are only 3 ways to remove nitrate build up.

1. use fast growing plants
2. use denitrifyer
3. water change

The cheapest, and the most reliable way is the water change.

 

[Nickoli]

A.i.m., I hope I am getting to your question in my responce.

In theory,

Having a larger volume of filter media would make little difference over having a smaller media volume provided you have a consistant source of nitrogen nutrients entering the system. Just like fish, you tank has a carrying capacity for bacteria as well. The flow of the tank to the given bacterial colonies will have more of an effect on conversion rate than media volume. More access to nutrients with the higher flow should give you a faster conversion rate.

The advantage in a dynamic system would be that the bacterial cells are going to be less concentrated over a larger surface area. This would allow the colonies to respond easier to changes in nutrient loading as the bacteria would have more available surface area to extract nutrients from the water source. If the bacteria colonies are crowded, they would respond slower and have a lower conversion rate.

The other big advantage to larger media volume is that it will require less maintenance per unit time, especially in regards to mechanical filtration.

 

[Lynden]

Wow, this topic has been answered well.

(I put this here to back up what everyone was saying)

 

[solidshark55]

You should also make sure you filter is high quality and for small tanks id recomend dive clean mini from tanks 5 to 15 gallons

 

[a.i.m]

Thanks SS,55 !!! B)

 

[a.i.m]

Cheers ALL for the replys.