Hey all, its been six weeks and I think its time that I change out my media.
My question is this: should I rub off some of the bacteria from the old
media onto the new one before replacing, or should there be enough
beneficial bacteria already existing within the tank that will collonize on
the new media. Im using a aqua tech 10-20 power filter in a 29g tank. The
tank has been up and running for six weeks now and somehow is still reading nitrate levels at being 20-30. Im assuming that this is due to the extended time that Ive let the original media stay in there, to me this seems to be
the only possible reason that the levels are so high, ammonia is low-close
to non-existant and there are five large plants+12 fish that have all been
in there for the last six weeks..no new additions and no losses.Thanks for
any imput.-Brian




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I was unable to find a picture of your filter on the web so I'll make
some assumptions.

Does your media consist of a sponge or pad with a separate package of
carbon (or no carbon)? If so, take a bowl of water out of the tank and
scrub off the pad/sponge in that water and then put it back into the
filter (and throw out the water). This kind of media doesn't really
ever need to be changed. By doing this, you keep a substantial amount
of the nitrifying bacteria that currently reside in the pad. Note: DO
NOT rinse it in tapwater. Tapwater contains chlorine and/or chloramine
and that will kill the bacteria.

If your media contains carbon as well, then you'll have to replace it
(if you want to use carbon).

Nitrifying bacteria grows on all surfaces in the tank, not just in the
filter. There is a high concentration in the filter because it is
designed to have a large surface area, and it has a constant flow of
water with dissolved oxygen for the bacteria to eat. Pulling out the
media won't eliminate all the bacteria, but it will take out a sizeable percentage and it takes time for the new filter to become established.

In large systems with many fish and a large bioload, many aquarists get
around this problem by using multi-part filters. One filter gives
mechanical filtration and another gives biological filtration. The
mechanical filter media is changed whenever dirty, but the biological
filter is never disturbed. Examples of biological-only filters are
wet/dry filters and fluidized bed filters (sand filters). These are
generally considered for "advanced" aquarists not because they are
difficult to setup or maintain, but because they are expensive.

One relatively inexpensive alternative is a filter equipped with a
biowheel. This biowheel performs the biological filtration while a
separate pad performs mechanical filtration.

Another alternative is the AquaClear line of filters. They contain a
sponge that you can rinse out, and a separate carbon pack. They work
well and many swear by them.


Now, on to maintenance.

A proper schedule for you is to clean or replace your mechanical filter
media whenever it is clogged and the water is bypassing it. For most
people, this is every 2-4 weeks.

Your carbon pack is only good for about 2 weeks before it stops
absorbing chemicals.

You should be changing 10% (3 gallons) of water every week. Nitrates
are the end product of the Nitrification cycle that is possible in most aquariums. Food rots and fish poop and pee and this produces ammonia
(toxic to the fish). Bacteria break down the ammonia, but give off
Nitrite (more toxic to the fish). Other bacteria break down the Nitrite
and give off Nitrate (much less toxic to the fish). No process in a
typical tank will consume the Nitrate. Therefore, you need to get rid
of it. By changing 10% of the water each week, you will dilute the
Nitrate and reduce the levels. If you don't, your fish will eventually
die.

Important: you should use a water conditioner such as Aquasafe to
eliminate the chlorine and chloramines, or you will clobber your
biofilter. It's usually better to add the conditioner to the water
before adding the water to the tank (ie in a bucket).

I hope this helps.




"ruprecte" <ruprecte@icehouse.net> wrote:

Hey all, its been six weeks and I think its time that I change out my media. >My question is this: should I rub off some of the bacteria from the old
media onto the new one before replacing, or should there be enough
beneficial bacteria already existing within the tank that will collonize on >the new media. Im using a aqua tech 10-20 power filter in a 29g tank. The >tank has been up and running for six weeks now and somehow is still reading >nitrate levels at being 20-30. Im assuming that this is due to the extended >time that Ive let the original media stay in there, to me this seems to be >the only possible reason that the levels are so high, ammonia is low-close
to non-existant and there are five large plants+12 fish that have all been
in there for the last six weeks..no new additions and no losses.Thanks for >any imput.-Brian

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Ron Hansen wrote:

You should be changing 10% (3 gallons) of water every week. Nitrates
are the end product of the Nitrification cycle that is possible in most aquariums. Food rots and fish poop and pee and this produces ammonia
(toxic to the fish). Bacteria break down the ammonia, but give off
Nitrite (more toxic to the fish). Other bacteria break down the Nitrite
and give off Nitrate (much less toxic to the fish). No process in a
typical tank will consume the Nitrate. Therefore, you need to get rid
of it. By changing 10% of the water each week, you will dilute the
Nitrate and reduce the levels. If you don't, your fish will eventually
die.

There is one such process: Plant growth. Plants need nitrogen and will
absorb it either as ammonia or nitrate. That doesn't mean one should
skip water changes in a planted aquarium though, as fishes produce other
waste products besides nitrogen ('organic dissolved carbon'). But plants
can certainly help keeping nitrogen compounds at bay.
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Dr Engelbert Buxbaum <engelbert_buxbaum@hotmail.com> wrote:

Ron Hansen wrote:

You should be changing 10% (3 gallons) of water every week. Nitrates
are the end product of the Nitrification cycle that is possible in most
aquariums. Food rots and fish poop and pee and this produces ammonia
(toxic to the fish). Bacteria break down the ammonia, but give off
Nitrite (more toxic to the fish). Other bacteria break down the Nitrite
and give off Nitrate (much less toxic to the fish). No process in a
typical tank will consume the Nitrate. Therefore, you need to get rid
of it. By changing 10% of the water each week, you will dilute the
Nitrate and reduce the levels. If you don't, your fish will eventually
die.

There is one such process: Plant growth. Plants need nitrogen and will
absorb it either as ammonia or nitrate. That doesn't mean one should
skip water changes in a planted aquarium though, as fishes produce other >waste products besides nitrogen ('organic dissolved carbon'). But plants
can certainly help keeping nitrogen compounds at bay.

I agree, but the tank would have to be heavily planted for his Nitrate
load and would probably need CO2 to promote such growth.


I'll stick with my original statement:

No process in a typical tank will consume the Nitrate.

with emphasis on "typical"
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