I've been washing my filter media with tap water for the past 25 years, never had any problem 🤗 That sad I do understand the reason behind it, why it's better to wash with tank water.
You substrate and decor obviously have enough to support your fish. The bacteria that has survived your 25 years of tap water washing is probably the strongest BB in all of fish keeping 😀👍🏻
Thank you so very much for your knowledge. No one else that I know of is making videos like this and explaining in depth about the most needed thing in our aquariums. Keep up the great work. You are making a difference!
After keeping tropical and koi fish for over 20 years, I realised the most important tool for fish keeping is a mug with a fish on it ....... where the hell have I been. Cheers Ben!
Hi Ben, one of the reasons why I was asking you about what type of pump you are using in your sump is that my pump in my sump went out about three weeks ago. The funny thing is, I had only one FX6 running as a back up at the time, and it handled the entire bio load in my tank. One of those filters ran the tank for at least two weeks before I installed the second FX6. It just goes to show how much beneficial bacteria is a living and all of the surfaces throughout the tank including the substrate, Rock, background, glass, and of course the canister filter. Keep up the great work my friend. 👍.
Denny, this a GREAT example of exactly what I'm talking about. A big system like your has so much available surface area for BB to colonize. Thanks for the input and your on-going loyal support of the channel!
Thank you Ben!! Great video, as usual... beneficial bacteria that is important to the fishkeeper lives in the media and substrate mostly... detritus should be cleaned out of hoses and substrate where possible. You brought up a very good point - Don't go crazy cleaning either.
Gurvinder Parmar Those new in the hobby will think they’re doing a good thing with over cleaning and leave the hobby after a die off. It’s a hard lesson. Thanks for watching and supporting the channel!
@@BenOchart Yup..it happens...I try to tell people setting up or new to the hobby to buy as much bio media as they can...and I have stopped recommending expensive media such as biohome or Marinepure to people with canister filters. The chances of seeing a full cycle in a canister is next to zero (although some may have). Load up your canisters with cheap pumice or lava rock and your off to the races.
I clean my hoses because I really hate start up gunk getting pumped around after a water change. An established tank shouldn't ever have a problem with cleaned hoses. Great video!
IMO this whole issue is extremely simple and blown way out of proportion. The goal is to set up your preferred filtration system (if your using filters) in such a manner as to be an inviting area for sufficient BB to grow and prosper. Thus rendering the BB that grows "everywhere else" superfluous. Superfluous BB is there in a "back up" role to be relied upon when "Murphy" makes an appearance. It all boils down to fishkeeping 101. Develop a water change schedule as dictated by testing, do proper maintenance on your filtration system, and observe your aquarium and inhabitants in depth as often as possible. I like certain bio medias more than others but I am confident I could use old socks and make it work. BB want to establish themselves and grow...all we have to do is let them! Thanks for a great video for new fish keepers....we need more of them.
Just came across your video. Great job. On a research trip to L. Malawi I found a patch of crimson/purple sand on an outcrop of a small island. I took a sample and gave it to a microbiologist in the School of Biological Sciences where I worked. He confirmed that the color was due to sulphur (I'm British) bacteria. However, he did not follow up with any further research, for instance, which genera and species were present. This finding ties in with recent research regarding the presence of S bacteria in biofilms of nitrifying bacteria and highlights the complexity of the nitrification process in our filters.
I learned the hard way when I did a total clean on my 302 sunsun for my 46gal bowfront but I do believe I interrupted my BB cycle which resulted in the Fog of Death and waisted a lot of water that week but surprisingly no loss of fish
Very good video. And correct bacteria live everywhere and multiple very fast. When i moved to my new house i saved a lot of water filter media and even substrate put it in my new tank and could put the fish in the tank right away. Never had any problems.
I do wish we knew how quickly the BB grows. If you kill it off in a filter how quickly does it adjust in the tank to take care of the additional nitrite?
Just general info I bought marine magnum pump 2 years ago as a water polishing filter very compact reusable paper filter and bio filter. I only use it to polish water it also takes diatom earth. I finally threw out my old friend the vortex bottle version. Filters out ick when off the fish no meds just raise the temp. This is a must have. Love Bens channel. Al
Great insight into the concept that you only get as many bacteria as your fish will feed with there waste. I'm old school and use UGF's in my 29 and 75 for the bacteria in the gravel, plus HOB's for mechanical fish poop/excess food/dead plant leaves filtration out of the water. Wanna rinse your HOB pre filter or internal sponge in tap water to make it cleaner...do it. You will not affect the overall bio balance. Too many people running scared or giving bad advice...you have a good handle on the concept. Good for you!! Oh, I subscribed lol.
I think cleaning the hoses on filters is important.. and the downspout on the HOBs because that’s the water that will go back into the tank, the water has already been flossed and gone through the bio media, the bacteria on the output surfaces is overkill and it leads to higher nitrate, and ultimately it looks ugly. Takes a couple minutes to run a pipe cleaner or q-tip through it.. imo
great topic. The only thing that saves my rump when i get the OCD fever is my undergravel filter .When i brake down my H.O.B. filter and rinse everything in tap with chloramines and scrape the walls of tank that undergravel filter is basically doing all the work,besides live plants.
I am totally with you on this one Tina. You can see my comment here, but I am an UGF fan for about 30 years. HOB for the floating stuff, but UGF for the real workhorse. NEVER worry about a few bacteria having a bad day when you have your UGF polishing your water lol.
Interesting discussion regarding the 60 vs. 100g. I thought that with all the foam inserts of the FX6, it would be LOADED with BB. I myself have a 55 with a bit of sand as substrate on the bottom of my tank for the live plants and their roots to adhere to. It is not fully covering the bottom of the tank as I have found before that it can possibly leach certain toxic gases into the water and wipe out the tanks inhabitants. Too much substrate can also harbour too much waste solids + ammonias. So it's a fine line!
A friend has a tank with a 4-5 inch deep sand bed and no "toxic gas". I had a 60 liter tank, completely overstocked with about 40 Guppies and just an internal sponge filter. And I was able to completely replace the sponge without any ammonia or nitrite spike. I setup a new tank from scratch with Biohome as biological media and I was able to put over 30 fish and 12 Amano shrimps to this tank at day 12 without any ammonia or nitrite spike. There is too much panic about beneficial bacteria. It all depends how you train them and how you care about them.
I'm with you on that. I have a reef aquarium and my live rock in the tank is for the beneficial bacteria so I can clean my filter media, which is just sponges, thoroughly
The substrate will contain anaerobic beneficial bacteria which is only responsible for converting nitrates to nitrogen. You are not going to find nitrifying aerobic beneficial bacteria within the substrate. Even if the very surface is able to colonize aerobic bacteria, it will be negligible. This is all due to the substrate being devoid of necessary oxygen requirements.
Yes but inside the filter there is a lot of water flow so the oxygen level is higher there, so that's where most of the beneficial bacterias like to live the most, there are many on other surfaces too everywhere in the tank, but in the filter it's where there are the most concentrated population of bacterias, thanks to the water flow + higher oxygen level.
What might be helpful to viewers is to give them an idea of how big the bacteria are in our tanks and how many can inhabit different parts of our aquariums. Not in terms of counting them (good luck!) but in terms of different surfaces in relation to each other. A 1"x1" flat surface holds the least, a fine pore 1"x1"x1" piece of sponge holds 1000 times as much? 10,000? 100,000??? Excellent job of talking about ALL the surfaces in our aquariums, and how some should be thoroughly cleaned regardless of whether they may have BB on them.
Great continuation of a very important topic. One dimension of the topic requires further in-depth review. Many (mine for sure) heavily populated aquarium systems have a limited area where beneficial bacteria (BB) can grow. So it is best to use media that has, and continues to maintain huge surface areas. This is why a moving bed filter (e.g. K1 kaldness) and sponges are so effective and preferred commercially for maximum BB growth. In addition to the tremendous surface area, sponges and moving bed filters do not clog up like ceramic and Biohome like products., thereby maintaining that tremendous surface area. When sponges clog they tell you and you can rise them out, moving bed filters are for the most part maintenance free. With these two high capacity media’s in my sumps, canisters and HOBs I have been able to get rid of substrate AND substrate vacuuming.. This elimination of maintenance (gravel cleaning) and it’s associated detritus is the biggest advance in my fish keeping in recent years.
I have heard so much debate about the actual amount of beneficial bacteria that is housed in things like substrate,decor and other in tank items. Some say the levels of bb are minimal while others say it’s a big part of bb growth. I’m not sure if it’s ever been proven one way or the other? I tend to agree with your school of thought Ben. That being said I still only rinse both my mechanical and bio filtration in tank water. My belief is that the more bb you can spare during maintenance the better. The ironic part is that much bigger tanks are generally kept by the serious more experienced hobbyist are much more forgiving then say a entry level tank like a 55 gal.
The bio media is generally the place most aerobic bacteria lives...if you are trying to achieve a full nitrogen cycle, engineered media like Biohome or Marinepure will be needed in a low flow area of your setup... while it's true that substrate and decor hold bacteria, it will never reach the levels that porous media will...that's why most hobbyists will clean the inside of their tanks to keep things looking nice and clean. They're bacteria reliance is on the media.
Please clarify, again - bb grows not only ON the substrate but also IN the substrate? I got a bet on that. And - bb will die off when food source is depleted but bb will multiply as more food becomes available? Great video, I subbed & saved & would really appreciate a reply. Thank you
More food of course creates more waste, either by laying there uneaten or by passing through the fish. You can reduce nitrates by going from a twice a day feeding to a once a day feeding. Now you can work that backwards. You can keep feeding twice a day but double up on how often you do water changes and vacuum the substrate. It's a fluid balancing act. Some fish keepers have very deep, 3 - 4" sand beds because in the bottom section of that substrate you will get the kind of bacterial that can consume nitrates, giving you a full cycle. Different kinds of bacteria. Lots to learn. One of the fun things about the hobby ... so much to find out about.
Those tanks u showed look very nice,.. my tanks never look that clean! i would like to see a better illustrated video on your sump with trickle filter,how it's set up & joined to the other sump..
I figured it would be detrimental to the bacteria if I gravel vacuumed everyday, removing solid wastes that creates ammonia that feeds the bacteria. I posed that question to a Facebook fish group and everyone said no it wouldn't.
Thanks for showing a screenshot of my comment in your video! Will I become famous now? Lol Great infotaining video! Thanks for taking the time to explain everything in depth. I like to stuff more biomedia in my filter than is necessary; just so I know that there won't be any bacteria having to sleep under a bridge, haha. Bridge.... Hmmm... New idea for a decor piece!
LOL, "under a bridge" LOL. Just make sure that it doesn't prevent the media trays (if using a canister) to seat correctly. It can create incorrect water flow and noise if they are a bit out of place due to too much media in the try underneath. Ask me how I know ... LOL!
@@BenOchart right! Good points. And it can prevent the top to seal around the O-ring and then it'll leak. A.m.h.i.k. haha For me, it's nearing 1 KG of media per tray in 3 of the 4 trays of my little Tetra EX 800 Plus canister; I have just a few Biohome Ultimate pieces left.
MarinePure..best media there is bar none, I use biohome , eheim, marine pure, siporax, matrix, you name it and marine pure is the best in my opinion for my application. Good video 👍🏻👍🏻
Always full of beneficial... info Ben! Personally enjoy your knowledge and genuine advice! Convo Gang Gang 🤘🏾😎 hit that bell B! OG Ben Ochart... new TH-cam channel name? lol
Beneficial bacteria in an aquarium are primarily found in the biological filter media, as well as on surfaces throughout the tank, including the substrate, decorations, and even the walls of the aquarium. These bacteria play a crucial role in the nitrogen cycle, helping to break down ammonia and nitrite into less harmful compounds like nitrate. While some bacteria do exist in the water column, the majority reside in these surfaces and within the filter media, where they can efficiently process waste and maintain water quality.
You definitely could get away with cleaning one filter in tap water. Like you said it isn’t recommended but you definitely got plenty of surface area to make up for it especially with the tank being mature after a few years
Is there bb in the huge algae bloom covering my tank in the past 3 days😔 been cycling for over a month and numbers are good but infested with algae! Should I even clean it!! My fish kill plecos so that's not really an option😦
Does bb grow in carbon inside carbon filter cartridges? Also do I need to replace those type of filters monthly like it says if so how do I do it without losing bb? (Tetra whisper filter cartridges) hob, I've had it in for a month already
Carbon should be replaced every month or two but if your tank is well established just get some stiff sponges, cut them to size and reuse them forever. Just rinse in tank water whenever you notice that the flow is slow or blocked and save $$$. I list the egg crate style sponges at my Amazon store: amazon.com/shop/benochart
I think there is a correlation between 'waterflow speed over the filter media' & 'the amount of beneficial bacteria'. So, gràvel would not support as much beneficial bacteria as the biomedia inside the canisters.
The way I understand it Mick is that BB needs oxygen and some water flow provides a constant supply, otherwise why would anyone put BB media in canister filters with 400GPH? The speed of water flow over the substrate is much slower, speeding up as you get to the intakes and around the outputs. Deep in the substrate you get very little or zero flow and the theory is that it will allow anaerobic bacterial to grow that can convert and reduce nitrates, giving a tank a "full cycle" when substrate is 3" or more.
Might be off topic but, just got me thinking.... Seems Bacteria wouldn't be much use without a food source that resides in the water, (bacteria usually start the death phase regardless of situation in 12 hours *End of Life*) regarding large scale water changes to keep 0% Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, people seem to be constantly chasing unless you have enough fish to "refill the pantry" with food rather quickly, seems the Bacteria would crash and your culture would largely die off. A reason why I think large scale water changes surely must have a negative effect.
I have a question..I'm fairly new to the hobby I have a 29gal completely cycled ..finally! Anyway if I get a" bigger" filter like one that says for 55 gallons..will that help with keeping my tank cleaner longer?
Hello Stacey, Depending on the filter you will get more water turnover (gph, gallons per hour), be able to put more filter media in the unit and go longer between servicing. So it’s a good thing. Plus you can transfer it over when you get a bigger tank😉😀👍🏻
@@BenOchart thank you..and yes I do plan on getting a bigger tank (if you had a nickel for eveytime you heard that) 😄 but I just want to make sure I can master this one first
Several weeks ago I killed off half my livestock in my 14 gal by finally vacuuming all of my gravel at once. That day I learned that a healthy aquarium is more important than a clean looking aquarium, and that sometimes they are not the same thing. Evidently the substrate layer had much more bacteria than my filter and my filter couldn't compensate fast enough. I didn't touch the filter by the way, I just cleaned my gravel that day, I know you should never clean an entire aquarium at once, but I never heard that cleaning all of the gravel at once could be this dangerous. However, losing livestock to your own stupidity is still better than not knowing the cause. To this day I can't figure out why my water seems to be poisonous to otocinclus catfish, because in my 10 years of owning fish tanks that was the only species of fish to die mere days after getting them (and not in a million years could I even come up with an educated guess why it was only one at a time, one each day until none were left).
Do you have any suggestions on beneficial bacteria cultures for a reptile vivarium? Fish keepers seem to know so much more about bacteria and nitrogen cycles and such than reptile keepers
is there any scientific data to show any of this? I see and hear lots of people on youtube talking about "beneficial bacteria" but I don't see any science. For example, I would like to know how long the bacteria can live without any fish contributing waste, or how Carib Sea can claim that the bacteria in their eco-complete brand does not have a shelf life. Are these bacteria different than the ones in our tanks?
Spot on Ben bacteria will culture itself up tp the bio load after that there isn’t enough waste to feed anymore bacteria. Eg. 55 gallon can will only bio load the same as a eg. 10 gallon can bio load wise. Al
Do antibiotics kill the beneficial bacteria in a 2 gallon tank? I have a betta that is being treated for fin rot. I’m moving him to a 5.5 gallon tank after the treatment is complete. I’m wondering if I should use water from his 2 gallon tank to cycle the new tank or need to start over. I have substrate and decor in the 2 gallon tank that will be moved to the 5.5 tank. I’m going to a sponge filter instead of the charcoal. I currently have sponge in the 2 gallon tank filter due to the antibiotic. Would it help to bury it under the substrate?
Very well said !!!! If there is an adequate amount of substrate in a tank, all the HOB's, canisters and sumps don't amount to a hill of beans!!!! As far as benificial bacteria goes. LOL!!!! Oh...by the way...SHE still looks great!!!! You know who I'm talking about. LOL!!!!!!!!
The term "Nitrate Factory" means *there is Beneficial Bacteria residing there* . The use of the term means I question your understanding of the *Nitrogen Cycle* , since the end product of the Nitrogen Cycle is *NitrAte* .
My hoses gets clogged with mulm. I understand that there are also beneficial bacteria and biofilm residing in the hoses, but removing detritus is part of the process along with water changes in reducing nitrate levels. A canister plugged with mulm is certainly full of beneficial bacteria but I've found that to keep my nitrates under 40 ppm, not letting the mulm get out of control works best for my tanks.
@@susanbriggs862 , the questions that come to mind include, "What amount of time passes between Hose Cleaning?", "Same question in relation to Filter Cleaning?", "Tank Water capacity?", "Stocking Level and Feeding (Bioload)?"
I don't wait for flow to become reduced before I clean my canisters. My planted tanks aren't happy with super low nitrates and some of my more sensitive rams and angels do better if nitrates stay below 40 ppm; 20 ppm would be ideal but with so much spawning going on in my tanks my bioload is ever changing. With 7 tanks and 2 South American biotopes (with deep sand beds) it's an ever changing balancing act that while I haven't perfected over the past 15 years, my tanks are healthy and stable; which means my biological filtration (both aerobic and anaerobic) are as healthy as I can make them.
anthony hunter That’s a lot of filtration on your 60 😀 Algae can and will grow everywhere. It’s not a bad thing. Fish nibble on it and it, like plants, reduces nitrates and CO2 while adding oxygen. If you don’t like it just give it a wipe and to slow it down make sure the tank is not getting hit by direct sunlight and cut back on the time your lights are on.
You have enough filtration for a 300 gallon tank...however none of it is meant or designed to control algae. Light and heat promote the growth of plants (algae is a plant as you know). Control (reduce) light, reduce heat if you are over heating your tank, add other plants (anubias, java fern, amazon swards vals, crypts etc). Algae is not from poor filtration...it is from poor circumstance. As Ben stated...no direct sunlight, plus tank not near the furnace registers. Last little fun tip...to create a truly fun bio tank...get a few nuisance snails...might even be hitchhikers on a plant buy...those little guys are fun to watch...and they are the best glass cleaners in the world.
Okay i am using api stress coat api zmth and also i put some more in there and food for it to rot! Whenever i add the glow fish should i clean the rotten food on the bottom when fish go in?
If you have a tank setup of years & spring a leak, setting up a new tank and using your original canister filter & back filter...how long should you wait before adding your fish to the new tank? Will it take months for your Beneficial Bacteria to return???
If you were to set up a new tank immediately, with the same filters and substrate and decor, you would be good to go immeidately. It would be like a big water change. If everything sat around for a day or more the BB would have died off and you'd have to start over.
@@BenOchart Huge thanks Ben, appreciate your help & i subscribed my friend. I've been a fish keeper for a number of years & the hobby is filled with its challenges. My 8 tanks keep me busy, if you get time stop by my channel & take a look @ my tanks.
You cant have more bacteria than what the bioload can aupport, it doesnt mean if you have tons of surface area means you'll have tons of nitrifying bacteria. Bacteria always live in ideal location, inside the filter is the ideal place for the bacteria.if you have enougn surface area inside the canister, all the bb will be in it. Very little or no significant amount of bb will be in the gravel or glass or decoration.
Hi ben great Video!! Ive got a question ive got a tank for a betta fish that doesnt have a filter in still gonna buy one.the substrate that im using is gravel does using a gravel cleaner or a syphon or python remove the beneficial bacteria on my tank? Its the only thing tyats keeping the bacteria in right?
I'm new to this stuff, so I wanna ask how often do you clean the prefilter sponges and filter media like those stones? Also, can we reuse them both after cleaning? Or throw them out and replace them with new ones? Thank you. :)
The pre-filter is rinsed with every water change and the filter media can be reused pretty much forever. Everything is rinsed in tank water, not tap water.
I think there is too much panic about BBs. I have a 60 liter tank which holds around 40 Guppies for a while with just a small sponge filter and I was able to completely replace the sponge. On the other hand I start a Rio125 tank with Biohome in the internal filter. I was able to put over 30 Guppies and 12 Amano shrimps into this tank on day 12 without any ammonia or nitrite spike. 90% of the BBs are in the Biomedia. Wrincing sponges carefully in tank water is just ridiculous.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT GRAVEL? I only have a half inch of gravel in my 15 and 20 gallon tanks. They just seem so hard to clean when you have the recommended 2 3binches of substrate. Is a half inch of gravel covering the bottom okay for beneficial bacteria or do I have to put more?
If the tank is healthy it just means that bacteria is living elsewhere, like in your filter media and on your decor. Gravel allows waste to get down deep and requires deep vacuuming. That’s going to disrupt and kill off BB. I wouldn’t add more gravel. If anything, I’d gradually switch to sand. But if the tank is healthy, just carry on.
@@muzikmon2267 i have not used sand so I'm not too sure about this answer but im guessing that there is no where for the debris to fall into... because there is no hollow spaces between each piece. this way the debris just rest ontop of the sand. Would seem the only way debris would get down in the sand is if it was a lot heavier than the sand or a sand dweling critter laid bounty of excrement when they were rooting around in there.
@@BenOchart Yes a lot of people say use sand but I heard it can caus havock on on hob filters. I also heard it's much harder to clean. If I do switch to sand I would probably want black sand. how many inches would u put? Also why do you like sand because I'm kind of new to the substrate stuff.
Hi Ben, I've only just discovered this video, my apologies for the outdated response. My questions is; If the amount of colonised bacteria is dependent on the concentration of ammonia produced by the fish waste, when removing a canister for reasons such as 'it failed but I have another as a backup constantly running', how can we be certain that the colonised bacteria is housed in this particular 'backup' canister running? Is there not a large possibility, that due to the huge surface area of substrate, rocks, plants and other forms of filtration that the bacteria is colonised elsewhere? Many thanks, Jonny
It’s everywhere and in tanks with a 2”- 4” substrate some would argue its primarily in the substrate. You might find this interesting: th-cam.com/video/SP0KFtzKrMo/w-d-xo.html
@@BenOchart Im actually talking to microbiologists on this very subject. It is known the levels of how much bacteria is in the substrate is determined by the flow of oxygen, and type of substrate you have. It may be low or even zero depending if you have plants for instance which can provide the substrate with a flow of oxygen through its root systems and support larger colonies of bacteria. The presence of a substrate does not indicate bacteria in the amount that is commonly suggested.
@@noodles74 I've also heard that too big or too small makes a difference and that there's a sweet spot. How this figures into how we need a low oxygen area for the anaerobic nitrate converting BB is the holy grail.
@@BenOchart Yeah i just happened on this subject, and got talking to guys whos expertise on things like this opens my eyes to it so im still learning. I know that the bacteria need certain conditions to thrive to the extent they they are able to cope with the load put on them. Obviously our biological filters be it bioballs biohome, sponges etc or whatever is your main area for bacteria colonies is where im focused on then work backwards from there. I used to think that it thrived in the numbers we need everywhere, but im looking into it that they require certain conditions. I like your channel, and your advice etc is top notch so thanks for putting this subject out there otherwise i wouldn't be considering this stuff as much as i am.
Do you have any idea of how long it takes for a surface to become a host for the nitrifing bacteria? I am setting up a new tank. I was planning on putting some rocks in the new tank from another established tank. The rocks have only been in the established tank for a few weeks. Do you think that is enough time for some beneficial bacteria to develop?
I’ve heard a month since that seems to be how long it takes for a tank to cycle. Rocks have a small amount of surface area when compared to substrate and filter media. You might consider transferring some of that as well.
I want to bring you on my youtube channel remotely.. Topic would be about the same.. which is how do we avoid RO water and can take Raw water with Good bacteria
Are there fish in the tank? My first thought would that the bacteria needed to break down the ammonia to nitrite is missing. Throw several days of Fritz Zyme 7 or Seachem Stability in there and/or get some media from a well established tank and add it to your system.
@@BenOchart yes sir there are 3 fish in the tank, i do add enzymes to the tank its called microbacter 7, but i dont know any with a fish tank to take some of their tank media to add it to my tank
@@BenOchart ive been doing everything possible to get the amonia level down, i stoped feeding my fish to once every couple days, and been doing this for the past 3 weeks and the ammonia level still stuck at 2. any thoughts to why is that or what to do? thanks in advance
Anyone switch off their canister in the night to give it “rest” for their planted aquariums or am I the only one doing this? PS: I have Airline running during that time. How long do the beneficial bacteria survive if the canister is off ?
Everywhere!!! Every surface you have. Gravel, filters, plants, on the glass and decorative items
Truth!
Thanks for watching.
I've been washing my filter media with tap water for the past 25 years, never had any problem 🤗 That sad I do understand the reason behind it, why it's better to wash with tank water.
You substrate and decor obviously have enough to support your fish. The bacteria that has survived your 25 years of tap water washing is probably the strongest BB in all of fish keeping 😀👍🏻
Thank you so very much for your knowledge. No one else that I know of is making videos like this and explaining in depth about the most needed thing in our aquariums. Keep up the great work. You are making a difference!
Thank you very much for that!
Nice clean audio ben👌🏻 I actually just got one yesterday. Looking forward to using it. Some great info in the video again👍🏻
Cichlidscape • Just got one (?) a mic???
Ben Ochart yes sir! That’s the first time I’ve noticed one on your shirt! Or have you had it a while? Haha
Just a couple of weeks. Seems to be making a difference. I had a more expensive Rode mic and I was getting comments about poor sound quality.
After keeping tropical and koi fish for over 20 years, I realised the most important tool for fish keeping is a mug with a fish on it ....... where the hell have I been.
Cheers Ben!
Gotta have the mug! Cheers to you my friend!
Yes the tank is one big filter bacteria grows on all surfaces. Thanks ben for the great video.
Hi Ben, one of the reasons why I was asking you about what type of pump you are using in your sump is that my pump in my sump went out about three weeks ago. The funny thing is, I had only one FX6 running as a back up at the time, and it handled the entire bio load in my tank. One of those filters ran the tank for at least two weeks before I installed the second FX6. It just goes to show how much beneficial bacteria is a living and all of the surfaces throughout the tank including the substrate, Rock, background, glass, and of course the canister filter. Keep up the great work my friend. 👍.
Denny, this a GREAT example of exactly what I'm talking about. A big system like your has so much available surface area for BB to colonize. Thanks for the input and your on-going loyal support of the channel!
Thank you Ben!! Great video, as usual... beneficial bacteria that is important to the fishkeeper lives in the media and substrate mostly... detritus should be cleaned out of hoses and substrate where possible. You brought up a very good point - Don't go crazy cleaning either.
Gurvinder Parmar Those new in the hobby will think they’re doing a good thing with over cleaning and leave the hobby after a die off. It’s a hard lesson.
Thanks for watching and supporting the channel!
@@BenOchart Yup..it happens...I try to tell people setting up or new to the hobby to buy as much bio media as they can...and I have stopped recommending expensive media such as biohome or Marinepure to people with canister filters. The chances of seeing a full cycle in a canister is next to zero (although some may have). Load up your canisters with cheap pumice or lava rock and your off to the races.
Great video 🌹!!
I clean my hoses because I really hate start up gunk getting pumped around after a water change. An established tank shouldn't ever have a problem with cleaned hoses. Great video!
what do you use to clean your hoses?
IMO this whole issue is extremely simple and blown way out of proportion. The goal is to set up your preferred filtration system (if your using filters) in such a manner as to be an inviting area for sufficient BB to grow and prosper. Thus rendering the BB that grows "everywhere else" superfluous. Superfluous BB is there in a "back up" role to be relied upon when "Murphy" makes an appearance. It all boils down to fishkeeping 101. Develop a water change schedule as dictated by testing, do proper maintenance on your filtration system, and observe your aquarium and inhabitants in depth as often as possible. I like certain bio medias more than others but I am confident I could use old socks and make it work. BB want to establish themselves and grow...all we have to do is let them! Thanks for a great video for new fish keepers....we need more of them.
Great points AR and R! Thanks!
Thank you!!!
Tank looking on point .and boys are looking colorful and big
Hi Ben
Just came across your video. Great job.
On a research trip to L. Malawi I found a patch of crimson/purple sand on an outcrop of a small island. I took a sample and gave it to a microbiologist in the School of Biological Sciences where I worked. He confirmed that the color was due to sulphur (I'm British) bacteria. However, he did not follow up with any further research, for instance, which genera and species were present. This finding ties in with recent research regarding the presence of S bacteria in biofilms of nitrifying bacteria and highlights the complexity of the nitrification process in our filters.
I learned the hard way when I did a total clean on my 302 sunsun for my 46gal bowfront but I do believe I interrupted my BB cycle which resulted in the Fog of Death and waisted a lot of water that week but surprisingly no loss of fish
Very good video. And correct bacteria live everywhere and multiple very fast. When i moved to my new house i saved a lot of water filter media and even substrate put it in my new tank and could put the fish in the tank right away. Never had any problems.
Agree. Sound advice.🙏👍
It almost looks like there were 5 fish to 1 stand-off in your tank at the 4:16 time mark, lol.
I do wish we knew how quickly the BB grows. If you kill it off in a filter how quickly does it adjust in the tank to take care of the additional nitrite?
Up to about 2 weeks, IF you supplement the BB with a product like SEACHEM Stability.
Just general info I bought marine magnum pump 2 years ago as a water polishing filter very compact reusable paper filter and bio filter. I only use it to polish water it also takes diatom earth. I finally threw out my old friend the vortex bottle version. Filters out ick when off the fish no meds just raise the temp. This is a must have. Love Bens channel. Al
On the inside of my overflow tube I can see the bacteria film. Also on my undergravel uplift tubes
Great insight into the concept that you only get as many bacteria as your fish will feed with there waste. I'm old school and use UGF's in my 29 and 75 for the bacteria in the gravel, plus HOB's for mechanical fish poop/excess food/dead plant leaves filtration out of the water. Wanna rinse your HOB pre filter or internal sponge in tap water to make it cleaner...do it. You will not affect the overall bio balance. Too many people running scared or giving bad advice...you have a good handle on the concept. Good for you!! Oh, I subscribed lol.
Thanks Vince. Nice to hear from someone that goes way back and knows their stuff!
I think cleaning the hoses on filters is important.. and the downspout on the HOBs because that’s the water that will go back into the tank, the water has already been flossed and gone through the bio media, the bacteria on the output surfaces is overkill and it leads to higher nitrate, and ultimately it looks ugly. Takes a couple minutes to run a pipe cleaner or q-tip through it.. imo
I agree!
Great video as always 👍
Not only do you give excellent advice; you’re a very likable guy, beautiful tanks, and nice clear audio🤗
Thank you Joy for the kind words.
On all your surfaces inside your tank, decorations, substrate, filters, biomedia, and etc.
great topic. The only thing that saves my rump when i get the OCD fever is my undergravel filter .When i brake down my H.O.B. filter and rinse everything in tap with chloramines and scrape the walls of tank that undergravel filter is basically doing all the work,besides live plants.
I am totally with you on this one Tina. You can see my comment here, but I am an UGF fan for about 30 years. HOB for the floating stuff, but UGF for the real workhorse. NEVER worry about a few bacteria having a bad day when you have your UGF polishing your water lol.
Great video
Interesting discussion regarding the 60 vs. 100g. I thought that with all the foam inserts of the FX6, it would be LOADED with BB. I myself have a 55 with a bit of sand as substrate on the bottom of my tank for the live plants and their roots to adhere to. It is not fully covering the bottom of the tank as I have found before that it can possibly leach certain toxic gases into the water and wipe out the tanks inhabitants. Too much substrate can also harbour too much waste solids + ammonias. So it's a fine line!
A friend has a tank with a 4-5 inch deep sand bed and no "toxic gas".
I had a 60 liter tank, completely overstocked with about 40 Guppies and just an internal sponge filter. And I was able to completely replace the sponge without any ammonia or nitrite spike.
I setup a new tank from scratch with Biohome as biological media and I was able to put over 30 fish and 12 Amano shrimps to this tank at day 12 without any ammonia or nitrite spike.
There is too much panic about beneficial bacteria. It all depends how you train them and how you care about them.
I'm with you on that. I have a reef aquarium and my live rock in the tank is for the beneficial bacteria so I can clean my filter media, which is just sponges, thoroughly
Great. Just needed to know what good bacteria fed off.
I love those plants in your 100gallon tank, please do an exclusive on that tank with stock as well. Would be awesome to see.
Thank you and I will!
Ben Ochart thank you😁 I enjoy watching your videos...can't wait
Another great video Ben and you really teaching allot of us lots of stuff I'm glad I'm subscribed to your channel keep up the good 👍🤘
Thank you for taking the time to watch George.
The substrate will contain anaerobic beneficial bacteria which is only responsible for converting nitrates to nitrogen. You are not going to find nitrifying aerobic beneficial bacteria within the substrate. Even if the very surface is able to colonize aerobic bacteria, it will be negligible. This is all due to the substrate being devoid of necessary oxygen requirements.
@Ben Ochart you are really a video producing mastermind. Thanks
BB is also on the rocks too. My tank cycled quickly after adding "live" rocks in tank
Yes, I can see how that would happen!
"Mastermind", LOL, thanks!
Hi,
Thanks for your time, and good easy understand your videos.
Thank you. That's good to hear and I appreciate it.
you're the only one who is neutral on this topic since you're not sponsored by the media companies. I wish we can get a scientific report on this
Over the years I’ve shifted to deep substrate and sponge media and tanks are rock solid stable.
Wow your Eye Biter is amazing! Great video I learned a lot thanks sir
Thank you and you're welcome!
Great video Ben good information
Yes but inside the filter there is a lot of water flow so the oxygen level is higher there, so that's where most of the beneficial bacterias like to live the most, there are many on other surfaces too everywhere in the tank, but in the filter it's where there are the most concentrated population of bacterias, thanks to the water flow + higher oxygen level.
What might be helpful to viewers is to give them an idea of how big the bacteria are in our tanks and how many can inhabit different parts of our aquariums. Not in terms of counting them (good luck!) but in terms of different surfaces in relation to each other. A 1"x1" flat surface holds the least, a fine pore 1"x1"x1" piece of sponge holds 1000 times as much? 10,000? 100,000???
Excellent job of talking about ALL the surfaces in our aquariums, and how some should be thoroughly cleaned regardless of whether they may have BB on them.
Great continuation of a very important topic. One dimension of the topic requires further in-depth review. Many (mine for sure) heavily populated aquarium systems have a limited area where beneficial bacteria (BB) can grow. So it is best to use media that has, and continues to maintain huge surface areas. This is why a moving bed filter (e.g. K1 kaldness) and sponges are so effective and preferred commercially for maximum BB growth. In addition to the tremendous surface area, sponges and moving bed filters do not clog up like ceramic and Biohome like products., thereby maintaining that tremendous surface area. When sponges clog they tell you and you can rise them out, moving bed filters are for the most part maintenance free. With these two high capacity media’s in my sumps, canisters and HOBs I have been able to get rid of substrate AND substrate vacuuming.. This elimination of maintenance (gravel cleaning) and it’s associated detritus is the biggest advance in my fish keeping in recent years.
I have heard so much debate about the actual amount of beneficial bacteria that is housed in things like substrate,decor and other in tank items. Some say the levels of bb are minimal while others say it’s a big part of bb growth. I’m not sure if it’s ever been proven one way or the other? I tend to agree with your school of thought Ben. That being said I still only rinse both my mechanical and bio filtration in tank water. My belief is that the more bb you can spare during maintenance the better. The ironic part is that much bigger tanks are generally kept by the serious more experienced hobbyist are much more forgiving then say a entry level tank like a 55 gal.
The bio media is generally the place most aerobic bacteria lives...if you are trying to achieve a full nitrogen cycle, engineered media like Biohome or Marinepure will be needed in a low flow area of your setup... while it's true that substrate and decor hold bacteria, it will never reach the levels that porous media will...that's why most hobbyists will clean the inside of their tanks to keep things looking nice and clean. They're bacteria reliance is on the media.
Exactly. A error in the 30gal tank kills everything. The same error in the 150 with 30+gal sump just gets diluted and barely noticed.
@@GSP-76 porous media clog up reducing total surface area over time and negating any small amount of anaerobic denitrification (nitrate removal)
Please clarify, again - bb grows not only ON the substrate but also IN the substrate? I got a bet on that.
And - bb will die off when food source is depleted but bb will multiply as more food becomes available?
Great video, I subbed & saved & would really appreciate a reply.
Thank you
More food of course creates more waste, either by laying there uneaten or by passing through the fish. You can reduce nitrates by going from a twice a day feeding to a once a day feeding. Now you can work that backwards. You can keep feeding twice a day but double up on how often you do water changes and vacuum the substrate. It's a fluid balancing act. Some fish keepers have very deep, 3 - 4" sand beds because in the bottom section of that substrate you will get the kind of bacterial that can consume nitrates, giving you a full cycle. Different kinds of bacteria. Lots to learn. One of the fun things about the hobby ... so much to find out about.
Those tanks u showed look very nice,.. my tanks never look that clean! i would like to see a better illustrated video on your sump with trickle filter,how it's set up & joined to the other sump..
Check out my recent SUMP / KING OF FILTRATION video. I break it down in detail.
I figured it would be detrimental to the bacteria if I gravel vacuumed everyday, removing solid wastes that creates ammonia that feeds the bacteria. I posed that question to a Facebook fish group and everyone said no it wouldn't.
You'll like my next video. It discusses "over cleaning".
Thanks for watching!
Great video. Some great tips and info man!
Thanks for showing a screenshot of my comment in your video! Will I become famous now? Lol
Great infotaining video! Thanks for taking the time to explain everything in depth.
I like to stuff more biomedia in my filter than is necessary; just so I know that there won't be any bacteria having to sleep under a bridge, haha.
Bridge.... Hmmm... New idea for a decor piece!
LOL, "under a bridge" LOL. Just make sure that it doesn't prevent the media trays (if using a canister) to seat correctly. It can create incorrect water flow and noise if they are a bit out of place due to too much media in the try underneath. Ask me how I know ... LOL!
@@BenOchart right! Good points. And it can prevent the top to seal around the O-ring and then it'll leak. A.m.h.i.k. haha
For me, it's nearing 1 KG of media per tray in 3 of the 4 trays of my little Tetra EX 800 Plus canister; I have just a few Biohome Ultimate pieces left.
Wow you sounded like Kenny Rogers 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
🤣🤣🤣
Great tips Ben! Great video topic.
Best information is at 12:30. 😂😂 awesome cup
It was a gift from someone who knows my obsession, LOL!
MarinePure..best media there is bar none, I use biohome , eheim, marine pure, siporax, matrix, you name it and marine pure is the best in my opinion for my application. Good video 👍🏻👍🏻
Yes, it's a proven well researched product.
Have you ever heard of the Brightwell NO3 blocks doped with sulpher?
Ben Ochart no but I am about to go look now lol
Always full of beneficial... info Ben! Personally enjoy your knowledge and genuine advice!
Convo Gang Gang 🤘🏾😎 hit that bell B!
OG Ben Ochart... new TH-cam channel name? lol
LOL, thanks jordohd1990!
Beneficial bacteria in an aquarium are primarily found in the biological filter media, as well as on surfaces throughout the tank, including the substrate, decorations, and even the walls of the aquarium. These bacteria play a crucial role in the nitrogen cycle, helping to break down ammonia and nitrite into less harmful compounds like nitrate. While some bacteria do exist in the water column, the majority reside in these surfaces and within the filter media, where they can efficiently process waste and maintain water quality.
This could fill in as a summary of the video, LOL!
You definitely could get away with cleaning one filter in tap water. Like you said it isn’t recommended but you definitely got plenty of surface area to make up for it especially with the tank being mature after a few years
Is there bb in the huge algae bloom covering my tank in the past 3 days😔 been cycling for over a month and numbers are good but infested with algae! Should I even clean it!! My fish kill plecos so that's not really an option😦
HI BEN; YOUR A VERY FUNNY GUY.....LOVE ALL YOUR VIDEO'S ...YOU SHOULD MOVE TO LAS VEGAS...LOVE YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR.....YOUR FRIEND DANNY
Thanks Danny. My wife and I are down to L.V. and Nashville. So, I might end up in your neck of the woods.
go ben
Does bb grow in carbon inside carbon filter cartridges? Also do I need to replace those type of filters monthly like it says if so how do I do it without losing bb? (Tetra whisper filter cartridges) hob, I've had it in for a month already
Carbon should be replaced every month or two but if your tank is well established just get some stiff sponges, cut them to size and reuse them forever. Just rinse in tank water whenever you notice that the flow is slow or blocked and save $$$. I list the egg crate style sponges at my Amazon store:
amazon.com/shop/benochart
I think there is a correlation between 'waterflow speed over the filter media' & 'the amount of beneficial bacteria'. So, gràvel would not support as much beneficial bacteria as the biomedia inside the canisters.
The way I understand it Mick is that BB needs oxygen and some water flow provides a constant supply, otherwise why would anyone put BB media in canister filters with 400GPH? The speed of water flow over the substrate is much slower, speeding up as you get to the intakes and around the outputs. Deep in the substrate you get very little or zero flow and the theory is that it will allow anaerobic bacterial to grow that can convert and reduce nitrates, giving a tank a "full cycle" when substrate is 3" or more.
@@BenOchart true
Thank you for this! ❤️
Lol I clicked the bell and ive never done that for anyone. I can just tell this dudes legit.
Might be off topic but, just got me thinking....
Seems Bacteria wouldn't be much use without a food source that resides in the water, (bacteria usually start the death phase regardless of situation in 12 hours *End of Life*) regarding large scale water changes to keep 0% Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, people seem to be constantly chasing
unless you have enough fish to "refill the pantry" with food rather quickly, seems the Bacteria would crash and your culture would largely die off.
A reason why I think large scale water changes surely must have a negative effect.
I have a question..I'm fairly new to the hobby I have a 29gal completely cycled ..finally! Anyway if I get a" bigger" filter like one that says for 55 gallons..will that help with keeping my tank cleaner longer?
Hello Stacey, Depending on the filter you will get more water turnover (gph, gallons per hour), be able to put more filter media in the unit and go longer between servicing. So it’s a good thing. Plus you can transfer it over when you get a bigger tank😉😀👍🏻
@@BenOchart thank you..and yes I do plan on getting a bigger tank (if you had a nickel for eveytime you heard that) 😄 but I just want to make sure I can master this one first
Your artificial plants in the 100 look great. Some of the best I've seen. Where did you buy them?
Got those mostly on eBay from China.
Ben Ochart many thanks for the reply Ben. Love your channel, all the best.
Great video Ben! as always! Do u keep marine fish at all please?? 😀👍
Can't have enough beneficial bacteria. I got lucky by using Arag-Alive and achieving a complete nitrogen cycle.
Those fake rock backgrounds have a TON of surface area and holds a huge amount of BB.
Several weeks ago I killed off half my livestock in my 14 gal by finally vacuuming all of my gravel at once. That day I learned that a healthy aquarium is more important than a clean looking aquarium, and that sometimes they are not the same thing. Evidently the substrate layer had much more bacteria than my filter and my filter couldn't compensate fast enough. I didn't touch the filter by the way, I just cleaned my gravel that day, I know you should never clean an entire aquarium at once, but I never heard that cleaning all of the gravel at once could be this dangerous.
However, losing livestock to your own stupidity is still better than not knowing the cause. To this day I can't figure out why my water seems to be poisonous to otocinclus catfish, because in my 10 years of owning fish tanks that was the only species of fish to die mere days after getting them (and not in a million years could I even come up with an educated guess why it was only one at a time, one each day until none were left).
ben ochart the beneficial bacteria we need
Do you have any suggestions on beneficial bacteria cultures for a reptile vivarium? Fish keepers seem to know so much more about bacteria and nitrogen cycles and such than reptile keepers
Unfortunately that’s an area I know nothing about
How can i have that clear tank
is there any scientific data to show any of this? I see and hear lots of people on youtube talking about "beneficial bacteria" but I don't see any science. For example, I would like to know how long the bacteria can live without any fish contributing waste, or how Carib Sea can claim that the bacteria in their eco-complete brand does not have a shelf life. Are these bacteria different than the ones in our tanks?
Spot on Ben bacteria will culture itself up tp the bio load after that there isn’t enough waste to feed anymore bacteria. Eg. 55 gallon can will only bio load the same as a eg. 10 gallon can bio load wise. Al
Do antibiotics kill the beneficial bacteria in a 2 gallon tank? I have a betta that is being treated for fin rot. I’m moving him to a 5.5 gallon tank after the treatment is complete. I’m wondering if I should use water from his 2 gallon tank to cycle the new tank or need to start over. I have substrate and decor in the 2 gallon tank that will be moved to the 5.5 tank. I’m going to a sponge filter instead of the charcoal. I currently have sponge in the 2 gallon tank filter due to the antibiotic. Would it help to bury it under the substrate?
With proper dose amounts your BB should be fine.
Very well said !!!!
If there is an adequate amount of substrate in a tank, all the HOB's, canisters and sumps don't amount to a hill of beans!!!! As far as benificial bacteria goes. LOL!!!!
Oh...by the way...SHE still looks great!!!! You know who I'm talking about. LOL!!!!!!!!
LOL, "she" is about to be replaced, LOL. Thanks for stopping by jack jill!
I wash everything in tap water . I have a well though luckily so no chlorine.
Me too its nice.
Another great video. Dirty hoses are just nitrate factories! Love new mic, audio is great!
The term "Nitrate Factory" means *there is Beneficial Bacteria residing there* . The use of the term means I question your understanding of the *Nitrogen Cycle* , since the end product of the Nitrogen Cycle is *NitrAte* .
My hoses gets clogged with mulm. I understand that there are also beneficial bacteria and biofilm residing in the hoses, but removing detritus is part of the process along with water changes in reducing nitrate levels. A canister plugged with mulm is certainly full of beneficial bacteria but I've found that to keep my nitrates under 40 ppm, not letting the mulm get out of control works best for my tanks.
@@susanbriggs862 , the questions that come to mind include, "What amount of time passes between Hose Cleaning?", "Same question in relation to Filter Cleaning?", "Tank Water capacity?", "Stocking Level and Feeding (Bioload)?"
I don't wait for flow to become reduced before I clean my canisters. My planted tanks aren't happy with super low nitrates and some of my more sensitive rams and angels do better if nitrates stay below 40 ppm; 20 ppm would be ideal but with so much spawning going on in my tanks my bioload is ever changing. With 7 tanks and 2 South American biotopes (with deep sand beds) it's an ever changing balancing act that while I haven't perfected over the past 15 years, my tanks are healthy and stable; which means my biological filtration (both aerobic and anaerobic) are as healthy as I can make them.
Great information Ben, question, I have a Fx6 and Sunsun 704b on my 60 gallon, and Algae continues to grow on my outtake on the Fx6 is this normal ?
anthony hunter That’s a lot of filtration on your 60 😀
Algae can and will grow everywhere. It’s not a bad thing. Fish nibble on it and it, like plants, reduces nitrates and CO2 while adding oxygen.
If you don’t like it just give it a wipe and to slow it down make sure the tank is not getting hit by direct sunlight and cut back on the time your lights are on.
@@BenOchart Thanks Ben, actually I'm moving up to a 90 gallon on a few months, so getting all my ducks in a row !! LOL ! Thanks again. Tony
You have enough filtration for a 300 gallon tank...however none of it is meant or designed to control algae. Light and heat promote the growth of plants (algae is a plant as you know). Control (reduce) light, reduce heat if you are over heating your tank, add other plants (anubias, java fern, amazon swards vals, crypts etc). Algae is not from poor filtration...it is from poor circumstance. As Ben stated...no direct sunlight, plus tank not near the furnace registers. Last little fun tip...to create a truly fun bio tank...get a few nuisance snails...might even be hitchhikers on a plant buy...those little guys are fun to watch...and they are the best glass cleaners in the world.
Thanks Vince, that really helps me out, I'll try your suggestions.
Whats d title fo your ibtro music
Okay i am using api stress coat api zmth and also i put some more in there and food for it to rot!
Whenever i add the glow fish should i clean the rotten food on the bottom when fish go in?
The convo gang! That’s where it’s at!! Count me in. 👍😎
You're in! Welcome aboard!
If you have a tank setup of years & spring a leak, setting up a new tank and using your original canister filter & back filter...how long should you wait before adding your fish to the new tank? Will it take months for your Beneficial Bacteria to return???
If you were to set up a new tank immediately, with the same filters and substrate and decor, you would be good to go immeidately. It would be like a big water change. If everything sat around for a day or more the BB would have died off and you'd have to start over.
@@BenOchart Huge thanks Ben, appreciate your help & i subscribed my friend. I've been a fish keeper for a number of years & the hobby is filled with its challenges. My 8 tanks keep me busy, if you get time stop by my channel & take a look @ my tanks.
You cant have more bacteria than what the bioload can aupport, it doesnt mean if you have tons of surface area means you'll have tons of nitrifying bacteria. Bacteria always live in ideal location, inside the filter is the ideal place for the bacteria.if you have enougn surface area inside the canister, all the bb will be in it. Very little or no significant amount of bb will be in the gravel or glass or decoration.
Did you mean Ben O ficial bacteria? 😂
That could be put on a tee shirt! LOL!
@@BenOchartthat could actually be your brand name if you decided to produce and sell it yourself. 🤔
@@BenOchart”Ben’s O’ ficial bacteria”
So when I'm setting up a new tank and don't have enough sponge filters I can just cycle it with old decorations and fake plants etc?
Hi ben great Video!! Ive got a question ive got a tank for a betta fish that doesnt have a filter in still gonna buy one.the substrate that im using is gravel does using a gravel cleaner or a syphon or python remove the beneficial bacteria on my tank? Its the only thing tyats keeping the bacteria in right?
A light surface cleaning would not hurt. Just don’t go deep. You’re correct, beneficial bacteria is mostly in your substrate and on your decor.
@@BenOchart Thank you subbed so im not gonna clea my gravel? Till i get a filter?
Another very informative video Ben. Thanks and keep em coming.
Thank you Blimpus for supporting the channel.
I'm new to this stuff, so I wanna ask how often do you clean the prefilter sponges and filter media like those stones? Also, can we reuse them both after cleaning? Or throw them out and replace them with new ones? Thank you. :)
The pre-filter is rinsed with every water change and the filter media can be reused pretty much forever. Everything is rinsed in tank water, not tap water.
I think there is too much panic about BBs.
I have a 60 liter tank which holds around 40 Guppies for a while with just a small sponge filter and I was able to completely replace the sponge.
On the other hand I start a Rio125 tank with Biohome in the internal filter. I was able to put over 30 Guppies and 12 Amano shrimps into this tank on day 12 without any ammonia or nitrite spike. 90% of the BBs are in the Biomedia.
Wrincing sponges carefully in tank water is just ridiculous.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT GRAVEL?
I only have a half inch of gravel in my 15 and 20 gallon tanks. They just seem so hard to clean when you have the recommended 2 3binches of substrate.
Is a half inch of gravel covering the bottom okay for beneficial bacteria or do I have to put more?
If the tank is healthy it just means that bacteria is living elsewhere, like in your filter media and on your decor. Gravel allows waste to get down deep and requires deep vacuuming. That’s going to disrupt and kill off BB. I wouldn’t add more gravel. If anything, I’d gradually switch to sand. But if the tank is healthy, just carry on.
@@muzikmon2267 i have not used sand so I'm not too sure about this answer but im guessing that there is no where for the debris to fall into... because there is no hollow spaces between each piece. this way the debris just rest ontop of the sand. Would seem the only way debris would get down in the sand is if it was a lot heavier than the sand or a sand dweling critter laid bounty of excrement when they were rooting around in there.
@@BenOchart
Yes a lot of people say use sand but I heard it can caus havock on on hob filters. I also heard it's much harder to clean.
If I do switch to sand I would probably want black sand. how many inches would u put?
Also why do you like sand because I'm kind of new to the substrate stuff.
Hi Ben,
I've only just discovered this video, my apologies for the outdated response.
My questions is; If the amount of colonised bacteria is dependent on the concentration of ammonia produced by the fish waste, when removing a canister for reasons such as 'it failed but I have another as a backup constantly running', how can we be certain that the colonised bacteria is housed in this particular 'backup' canister running? Is there not a large possibility, that due to the huge surface area of substrate, rocks, plants and other forms of filtration that the bacteria is colonised elsewhere?
Many thanks,
Jonny
It’s everywhere and in tanks with a 2”- 4” substrate some would argue its primarily in the substrate. You might find this interesting: th-cam.com/video/SP0KFtzKrMo/w-d-xo.html
How do you know its all over the substrate, and decor if you cant see it?
How do you know it’s not?
@@BenOchart Im actually talking to microbiologists on this very subject. It is known the levels of how much bacteria is in the substrate is determined by the flow of oxygen, and type of substrate you have. It may be low or even zero depending if you have plants for instance which can provide the substrate with a flow of oxygen through its root systems and support larger colonies of bacteria. The presence of a substrate does not indicate bacteria in the amount that is commonly suggested.
@@noodles74 I've also heard that too big or too small makes a difference and that there's a sweet spot. How this figures into how we need a low oxygen area for the anaerobic nitrate converting BB is the holy grail.
@@BenOchart Yeah i just happened on this subject, and got talking to guys whos expertise on things like this opens my eyes to it so im still learning. I know that the bacteria need certain conditions to thrive to the extent they they are able to cope with the load put on them. Obviously our biological filters be it bioballs biohome, sponges etc or whatever is your main area for bacteria colonies is where im focused on then work backwards from there. I used to think that it thrived in the numbers we need everywhere, but im looking into it that they require certain conditions. I like your channel, and your advice etc is top notch so thanks for putting this subject out there otherwise i wouldn't be considering this stuff as much as i am.
Do you have any idea of how long it takes for a surface to become a host for the nitrifing bacteria? I am setting up a new tank. I was planning on putting some rocks in the new tank from another established tank. The rocks have only been in the established tank for a few weeks. Do you think that is enough time for some beneficial bacteria to develop?
I’ve heard a month since that seems to be how long it takes for a tank to cycle. Rocks have a small amount of surface area when compared to substrate and filter media. You might consider transferring some of that as well.
I want to bring you on my youtube channel remotely..
Topic would be about the same.. which is how do we avoid RO water and can take Raw water with Good bacteria
Hello, Send details to: ben.o.cichlid@gmail.com, thanks.
hello, i have a 60 gallon fish tank and my ammonia is stuck at 2, any advice on what to do? its been 5 weeks already and it has not gone down below 2
Are there fish in the tank? My first thought would that the bacteria needed to break down the ammonia to nitrite is missing. Throw several days of Fritz Zyme 7 or Seachem Stability in there and/or get some media from a well established tank and add it to your system.
@@BenOchart yes sir there are 3 fish in the tank, i do add enzymes to the tank its called microbacter 7, but i dont know any with a fish tank to take some of their tank media to add it to my tank
@@BenOchart ive been doing everything possible to get the amonia level down, i stoped feeding my fish to once every couple days, and been doing this for the past 3 weeks and the ammonia level still stuck at 2. any thoughts to why is that or what to do? thanks in advance
I see Many tiny tailed organisms are they beneficial bacteria
Keep keeping it real dude.
I’ve been watching you and Adam c for 2 years now. And out of all the fish tubes you two are the only channels I watch every time 🤙
I want to see your fish wish list.
Thank you Aaron! Adam is a good guy.
Does matrix need a ph of 8 ?
Not that I’ve heard
Dude, I just click to know beneficial bacteria and I hear Weezer.
Love Weezer🤣
Anyone switch off their canister in the night to give it “rest” for their planted aquariums or am I the only one doing this?
PS: I have Airline running during that time.
How long do the beneficial bacteria survive if the canister is off ?
I'd like to see your question answered. Good one