brewmaster15
04-21-2002, 09:14 AM
Hi all,
Wanted to share an experiment with you. I was curious about the bacteria in my bio filters and Drying out. I read an interview once where Dieter Untergasser said that fluke eggs would die if they dried out for 3 days. Sounded like a reasonible thing but 3 days of being dry would kill the bio filter by most accounts. I wanted to test the biofilters response to drying out. I had a hunch that the bacteria might go dormant or produce resting spores of some sort.
I took my 55 gal tank, drained it and let it dry. I pulled the hydrosponge 4 and the aquaclear 500 sponges from it, both very well cycled. I gently rinsed them and let them air dry for a week. I wanted to make sure they were dry , so I placed them next to the wood stove that heats my basement. Let them dry for 7 days.
I filled the tank, and replaced the sponges, I then took 5 mls of clear ammonia and spiked the tank. I tested the ammonia and it was off the charts. I tested daily for 3 days, by day 3 it was gone, I added another 1ml and tested, and again it was off the charts. By day 4 it was gone!
Seems the biofilter bacteria does go dormant, or produce spores and reactivates pretty darn quick! I think I'm going to dry a sponge and keep it for emergencies.
I could use some independent testers to validate the experiment? Anybody out there got a cycled tank they are not using? ;D
take care,
al
addendum...
After I refilled the tank, I added the 5 mls of ammonia, it took 3 days to be consummed. I then added another ml of ammonia, and it was consummed in a day. Total time for the sponges to reactivate here seems to be about 4 days. from what I have seen most should be good as gold in under a week!
Wanted to share an experiment with you. I was curious about the bacteria in my bio filters and Drying out. I read an interview once where Dieter Untergasser said that fluke eggs would die if they dried out for 3 days. Sounded like a reasonible thing but 3 days of being dry would kill the bio filter by most accounts. I wanted to test the biofilters response to drying out. I had a hunch that the bacteria might go dormant or produce resting spores of some sort.
I took my 55 gal tank, drained it and let it dry. I pulled the hydrosponge 4 and the aquaclear 500 sponges from it, both very well cycled. I gently rinsed them and let them air dry for a week. I wanted to make sure they were dry , so I placed them next to the wood stove that heats my basement. Let them dry for 7 days.
I filled the tank, and replaced the sponges, I then took 5 mls of clear ammonia and spiked the tank. I tested the ammonia and it was off the charts. I tested daily for 3 days, by day 3 it was gone, I added another 1ml and tested, and again it was off the charts. By day 4 it was gone!
Seems the biofilter bacteria does go dormant, or produce spores and reactivates pretty darn quick! I think I'm going to dry a sponge and keep it for emergencies.
I could use some independent testers to validate the experiment? Anybody out there got a cycled tank they are not using? ;D
take care,
al
addendum...
After I refilled the tank, I added the 5 mls of ammonia, it took 3 days to be consummed. I then added another ml of ammonia, and it was consummed in a day. Total time for the sponges to reactivate here seems to be about 4 days. from what I have seen most should be good as gold in under a week!