Hello Charles,
I want to thank you right up front, for your informative response. Yes, I
totally agree, the instructions from most LFS (Local Fish Stores/Shops) to
keep replacing filter pads with new, is just a ploy to sell more consumables.
As for finding the slime coat of bacteria on the inside walls of the tank,
that becomes obvious to anyone doing regular tank maintenance, although this
shouldn't often be disturbed if there's no reason to do so, i.e., if
there's no algae growing on the glass. While this coating is on all surfaces,
there's still no way of knowing how much actual beneficial nitrifying bacteria
this slime coat consists of and how much other bacteria are present there,
especially when considering that a cycle can't be continued just by depending
on this slime coat on these surfaces. We still need a filter to establish
much greater populations of nitrobacters on the media, and we depend on the
media's more numerous bacteria cultures (despite the media's comparatively
much smaller size) to establish a nitrogen cycle -- do we not?
I realize that changing as much water as possible is always a benefit for
the fish, and that it's the only practical method to remove the nitrate --
other than just relying on plants -- but we shouldn't rely on frequent partial
water changes to replace the filter's media in removing ammonia and nitrite
(as it appears you may be saying), should we? If we fall back on just
changing water to remove these organic wastes, we really don't need a filter
then, from what I'm understanding you to say -- or if we do need s filter
(besides just falling back on the bacterial slime), then this shows that the
nitrobacters in the media are very important and that they need to be preserved
-- don't they?
Otherwise, why even have filters in the tanks -- except to clarify the
water by mechanically removing suspended particals -- if we are to rely on water
changes (and the bacterial slime coating) only? Yes, I certainly believe
in changing water to get rid of contaminants, just as you illustrate in
flushing the oilet, etc., but this alone can't replace a cycle -- or can it?
Should we just do without the filter completely? After all, with enough water
changes, the clarity of the water should improve in most cases too and
mechanical fuiltration should no longer be needed either. We also need to keep
in mind that to maintain a cycle, we need to allow for a certain amount of
ammonia to briefly remain in the water as food fr the nitrobacters if they're
to survive. Changing water excessively in the aquarium will not allow for a
cycle to continue, since this is an enclosed environment. The ideal
situation would be as in a stream, where contaminents are constantly washed away,
but an aquarium does not allow for this luxury -- or if you maintain it
similarly, as with constant "flushing," it will never develop a cycle, which is
fine too but only provided this regimen is maintained.
You'll please note that I'm offering these statements in the form of
questions, as I don't mean to appear confrontational, yet this is the way I've
come to learn things in my biological schooling as the normal processes of the
enclosed aquatic environment. Many thanks again for anything you can add to
my comments and/or questions.
Ray</HTML>
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