breeding beneficial bacteria.

[amitnarain]

hello.

do u think that if i put some pieces of sponge underneath my gravel (if i hide the sponge under my gravel) it will help develop more beneficial bacteria for the tank?

will the sponge act as medium for the beneficial bacteria boom?

 

[Puriti]

sounds like it might but I'm no expert at bacteria stuff ^^;

 

[Jchillin]

You are correct. The sponge will eventually become enriched with bacterial colonies. Of course, you don't need to do this, the gravel becomes just a colonized.

 

[amitnarain]

The sponge will eventually become enriched with bacterial colonies. Of course, you don't need to do this, the gravel becomes just a colonized

wont it be better to place the pieces of sponge below?
wont the concentration of beneficial bacteria be greater than that in the gravel?

 

[Fluff]

The way I understand it is, every surface in the tank gets colonized so, even if you just float the sponge (this is how I do it), it will get colonized, just not as dirty as if in the gravel.

 

[Toirtis]

One major caveat...if you do not have that sponge well-aerated (via an airstone underneath or some such), the only bacteria you are likely to grow in that manner will be anaerobic, and that you do not want.

 

[Jchillin]

Think of it this way...if you are adding more surface area, you will have more bacteria. Decorations are also a part of this matrix. If you bury it under the gravel, it will become colonized, just far more slowly. You can accomplish the same by adding an equal amount of gravel.

If you do this with a particular aquascape in mind (ie: a sloping gravel bed), then by all means...go for it. Though this could create an pocket of anaerobic gas.

 

[The fishinator]

I agree with toirtis. It really won't help you in the long run and it could cause more damage than good.

 

[amitnarain]

ok. thanks.

what about floating the sponge?
is it also anearobic?

 

[Fluff]

No, floating is fine. They are just saying burying it in the gravel is a bad idea.

 

[Toirtis]

Floating is OK, but sort of unattractive....try what I do...just run an extra Aquaclear HOB (even a 'mini') full of sponges...then you always have spare, populated (much more populated than you would get with a floating sponge) media on hand.

 

[Fluff]

Floating is OK, but sort of unattractive....try what I do...just run an extra Aquaclear HOB (even a 'mini') full of sponges...then you always have spare, populated (much more populated than you would get with a floating sponge) media on hand.

Floating has always worked well for me.
And, it's possible to have them in the tank without being seen. You'd never know I had one floating right now. You can hide them behind plants, or weight them down and hide them behind driftwood or ornaments. But, sponges in a hob filter would have the same effect.

 

[malkore]

all my aquaclear's run 2 sponges, no carbon, so I always have spare media for seeding a new tank.

 

[Fluff]

Are you doing this to help seed a new tank? If so, you can use old filter pads as well.