Experiment: Does nitrifying bacteria survive a month without ammonia or other supplementation

[PotatoPig]

What doesn't make sense is using the small piece of filter sock. Unless there was other bacteria on other parts of the tank (ie. not just the filter sock) to start with.

The filter sock piece gets colonized while hanging out in the DT sump for a week, then putting it in the HOB filter insert slot ensures good flow through the fabric for the bacteria on it to process ammonia.

The piece is only about 3” x 4” but the fabric surface area is huge.

 

[MnFish1]

The filter sock piece gets colonized while hanging out in the DT sump for a week, then putting it in the HOB filter insert slot ensures good flow through the fabric for the bacteria on it to process ammonia.

The piece is only about 3” x 4” but the fabric surface area is huge.

I understand what you're saying. I personally, based on experiments I've done, would not use this method. I also do not know what ppm ammonia randy's solution should mix to if you use 10 cc. I do not think you can reliably predict the amount of bacteria that will grow on a new piece of material in a tank over a weeks time - whether that itself would be enough to process enough ammonia to use for a QT tank.

 

[PotatoPig]

I do not think you can reliably predict the amount of bacteria that will grow on a new piece of material in a tank over a weeks time - whether that itself would be enough to process enough ammonia to use for a QT tank.

Oh, I agree 100% - I wouldn’t just set it up and add fish hoping for the best.

That’s what “cycle verification” at the beginning was about when I added the ammonia a couple times back in March. I needed to make sure it was actually processing. After that I was going to start a fish QT, but ended up going pre-quarantined so the tank’s been sitting empty for about 3 months.

 

[MnFish1]

Oh, I agree 100% - I wouldn’t just set it up and add fish hoping for the best.

That’s what “cycle verification” at the beginning was about when I added the ammonia a couple times back in March. I needed to make sure it was actually processing. After that I was going to start a fish QT, but ended up going pre-quarantined so the tank’s been sitting empty for about 3 months.

Thanks - I didn't see that. There is a lot more I could say about this - but it's not necessarily Germaine to this thread. It is actually a very interesting topic - about dormant periods, how bacteria colonize surfaces, and whether they do so whether there is 'food' or not. For example hypothetical - let's use your 3x4 piece of mesh/cloth. You put it into a tank with xxx bioload. If you add your cloth - and nothing increased the bioload - there is no obvious reason why the bacteria that have a limited ammonia supply would jump to your cloth (unless the bioload increased). in other words, the ammonia removal capability would be a small fraction of anything in that tank. This probably is too abbreviated a way to say what I was trying to say. However, let's take an aqua clear sponge - or as Jay has suggested a sponge filter - that takes a long time to populate. So - I was curious how you made it work in a week.