Where Is Beneficial Bacteria Most Located?

[dreamermama]

Hi! I have been reading the helpful pinned threads but I've found some conflicting advice about where the beneficial bacteria is located. Maybe it doesn't matter too much, but I thought I'd ask.

I've read here that it's mostly in the filter media. I've also read here that it's mostly in the gravel and therefore not to do "too much" vacuuming at once.

I care about this simply because I have a 10 gallon with neglected gravel and very high nitrate and nitrite levels and I want to clean it daily for now as I'm doing daily water changes anyway (25-33%) to get our levels lowered. But I also changed to a brand new filter just this week and didn't know to save any old media so that is hurting things too. We have two small goldfish, 3 corys and 2 dwarf plecos in there (the second plec is only temporary).

In my situation, how much should I vacuum, and do I want to move things out of the tank or at least out of the gravel to vacuum under them (I only have fake plants, rocks, and a plastic bell)?

Oh, and I have soft water. But I read the aquarium salt is bad to add if you have corys. Should I not add it?

 

[Darkerwhite2]

Ok so i dont know the whole story but i beleive that part of your problem is the new filter media, as you stated it doesnt have the benificial bacteria that is needed to process the bio load you have in your tank, we'll talk about that later. for now i would suggest finding your old media, if its gone then your kind of out of luck because your tank needs to cycle again. To help with the levels of nitrites and such i would suggest doing close to 40% water change dailey. until your tank settles down on the readings.

OK now to the other problem at hand. You have mixed tropical and cold water fish. If i am wrong someone please correct me i beleive the cories are a tropical breed of fish and like a slighly warmer temp than the gold fish. Also your 2 gold fish in a ten gal tank really isnt going to be the best for either of you. ( you or the fish ) Your going to be struggling with keeping the tank clean and they are going to stressed by the sub par water qualities. Sadly Gold fish are too often sold for small tank or even bowls and the really shouldnt be put into either. Most of the time the best for them is a small pond or large tank. Over 30 gal. And sometimes that still to small.

So i would first suggest to think about re housing your goldies then work on the water changes to drop those toxin levels and in the future remeber that old media is your friend.

Also a good note as it has been asked alot lately when doing maitnence on your filter... The media (ie sponge) should never be rinsed with tap water, only old tank water that has been de chloronized. The chlorine will kill ALL the BB in the filter.

And Yes most of the benificial bacteria is in the filter media and yes in the gravel too but i would say mostly in the sponge.

Good luck ans i hope i helped

 

[dreamermama]

Thanks! I still have the old media but I expect it has dried out. It also is totally different in design from the new, so I don't know that I could put it in the filter, or would even want to.

Have I read on here something about hanging old media in a sock in the tank or something?

Any other advice?

 

[Tolak]

If you have undergravel filtration the nitrifying bacteria will be in the gravel, as the gravel is your filter media. You would have to do some serious gravel vac action to remove the nitifying bacteria. I imagine this comes from people having ammo & nitrite spikes after stirring up too much debris, causing a temporary overload of the bio filtration. Out of 30 some tanks I have running 4 have gravel, the rest are bare, no substrate. The large majority of nitrifying bacteria are concentrated in your filter media. I've totally switched gravel in heavily stocked tanks in the past with no cycling problems. I've also torn down tanks when moving and rinsed the gravel out with chlorinated tap water, again no problems.

If you are worried about the bacteria in the gravel vac half, wait a couple of days, and vac the other half. This is one situation where I would recommend using Ammo-Lock after water changes, if the gravel is that filthy. This will help neutralize any ammonia caused by deteriorating food & such being stirred up.

Corys & salt don't mix, it is an irritant to scaleless fish. If the old media has dried out the bacteria is dead. When the need arises to change media it is best to fast the fish for 24 hours before the media change, and feed lightly for the next week. If the media is loose hanging it in a clean sock where there is water movement will help with the transfer of nitrifying bacteria. If it's a cartridge just float the old cartridge in the tank.

 

[waterdrop]

Shouldn't this person be doing larger (50%) or more frequent (twice a day) water changes if the nitrites (NO2) are still high? Just didn't want to overlook this more urgent aspect while discussing the filter and how to get the cycling going...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

In your situation where you have completely removed your filter bacteria,all you have left is what's on the gravel and other objects in the tank. Normally most of the bacteria is in the filter but those are gone. I would only do water changes and not gravel vacs until you get the filter re-established.

 

[dreamermama]

waterdrop, thank you... I started a thread about the water changes elsewhere. I was directed to do an immediate large water change for each tank (I have two small ones) such as you describe above, and then follow-up with daily changes between 25-50% depending on the levels.

My filters are not under the gravel; I can see how that would make a difference.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Tolak]

In your situation where you have completely removed your filter bacteria,all you have left is what's on the gravel and other objects in the tank. Normally most of the bacteria is in the filter but those are gone. I would only do water changes and not gravel vacs until you get the filter re-established.

The nitrifying bacteria adhere to the gravel or other media much more strongly than you would think. I regularly clean sponge filters in a bucket of dechlored water, not by swishing, but by squeezing the snot out of them. They go back into the tank, or into another tank, with fish added immediately. I've been doing it this way for years, if it were a problem I would be more gentile.