Quake2player
Aquarium Advice Activist
Does the beneficial bacteria on my Emperor bio-wheel die after the the filter is shutdown for a few hours (more like 5 hours)? I just went through a "day" project as I changed my 29 gal tank out for a new 29 gal (ths silicone has been peeling off from the inside), and also went with mostly fluorite for my new substrate as I've gotten hooked onto plants thanx to this forum.
Some things I did to try my best to "keep" beneficial bacteria:
- Used about 1/3 of the old water, but it was mixed with tap treated with stress zyme dechlorinating treatment... so I don't know how harmful the new treated water is to the existing bacteria I was moving over.
- laid out a thin layer on the bottom with old gravel and dirty water.
- then layered the top layer after a couple of inches of fluorite with the old gravel.
- Using old Emperor with the "dirty" cartridge still in place.
- And I'm hoping the bacteria on the bio-wheel is still good as it wasn't spinning for nearly 5 hours which is what it took for me to rinse out the bags of fluorite, net my fish into a bucket, empty water, move the tanks, etc.
The water was cloudy for most of last nite... that white cloud, and it seemed to get better by this morning. I will test nitrite and nitrate when I get home later.
Some things I did to try my best to "keep" beneficial bacteria:
- Used about 1/3 of the old water, but it was mixed with tap treated with stress zyme dechlorinating treatment... so I don't know how harmful the new treated water is to the existing bacteria I was moving over.
- laid out a thin layer on the bottom with old gravel and dirty water.
- then layered the top layer after a couple of inches of fluorite with the old gravel.
- Using old Emperor with the "dirty" cartridge still in place.
- And I'm hoping the bacteria on the bio-wheel is still good as it wasn't spinning for nearly 5 hours which is what it took for me to rinse out the bags of fluorite, net my fish into a bucket, empty water, move the tanks, etc.
The water was cloudy for most of last nite... that white cloud, and it seemed to get better by this morning. I will test nitrite and nitrate when I get home later.