Anaerobic Bacteria

[jaws7777]

Gph is 29.5

It does fluctuate tho as water evaps and lowers the level in the sump gph drops. The dluctuatipn are mich since i top off.


Today was a wc day and i cant tell you how nice it was only having to swap out socks and top off the sump.

I hope its not the difference in food and this this is really starting to work.

If so the info tou guys provided gave me some insight as i was expecting anaerobic bb to colonize in the same amount of time as areobic does

 

[tarheel96]

tarheel96 in the method I stated a small amount of sugar is added as a food source to help start the filter, ethanol dosing is very frequent in saltwater

The carbon nutrient that Aquaripure sells, the company I got my bacteria culture from, is a mix of ethanol, sugar (sucrose), and acetic acid (vinegar). From what I understand ethanol and methanol both break down into acetic acid. (Methanol is more popular for use in wastewater treatment because it's cheaper). I've read that sugar isn't as effecient an electron donor as acetic acid for some reason. (My chemistry isn't so good). There is a difference between the freshwater bacteria and the saltwater bacteria, but I don't know if this has anything to do with the reason sugar might used opposed to vodka.

 

[Hendre]

The carbon nutrient that Aquaripure sells, the company I got my bacteria culture from, is a mix of ethanol, sugar (sucrose), and acetic acid (vinegar). From what I understand ethanol and methanol both break down into acetic acid. (Methanol is more popular for use in wastewater treatment because it's cheaper). I've read that sugar isn't as effecient an electron donor as acetic acid for some reason. (My chemistry isn't so good). There is a difference between the freshwater bacteria and the saltwater bacteria, but I don't know if this has anything to do with the reason sugar might used opposed to vodka.

Sugar is just used to boost the initial cycle, from what I know this method uses no extra dosing at all

 

[jaws7777]

Sugar is just used to boost the initial cycle, from what I know this method uses no extra dosing at all

Ive never heard of it "boosting" but used as more of a way to feed the bb but im sure its used in various ways

 

[tarheel96]

duanes - I had looked into foam fractionators a couple months ago but all the ones I saw for freshwater were for ponds like yours. Is there a design that can be used with a freshwater tank? Is pumping the water up and then letting it fall back down necessary?

BTW - I'm assuming the protein skimmers which rely on bubbles produced by a venturi or a pin-wheel aren't effective in freshwater.

 

[BIG-G]

I tried a 24 inch tall 8 inch diameter recirculating skimmer on a 220 gallon freshwater tank and even with 500 + gph, nothing.
Not enough gain compared to the amount of electricity consumed by the pumps. A water change would be less expensive with better results.
So I'm assuming that the chamber would have to be very large and the amount of water and air that you would have to pump into it is going to be substantial for it to do anything.

 

[Hendre]

Ive never heard of it "boosting" but used as more of a way to feed the bb but im sure its used in various ways

Yes that's the idea, help feed and establish the stuff

I tried a 24 inch tall 8 inch diameter recirculating skimmer on a 220 gallon freshwater tank and even with 500 + gph, nothing.
Not enough gain compared to the amount of electricity consumed by the pumps. A water change would be less expensive with better results.
So I'm assuming that the chamber would have to be very large and the amount of water and air that you would have to pump into it is going to be substantial for it to do anything.

That's what I've heard, in SW the salt gives much better ability of I remember correctly.

There is always ozone skimming

 

[J. H.]

Protein skimmers are most effective whenyou have hard, warm, alkaline and oily water. Some people actually add things to their ponds or tanks toboost its effectiveness in fw.

 

[BIG-G]

The salt allows for very fine bubbles which the protein and other nastiness can easily attach to be removed by being turned into a foam.
I have no doubt that it could be made to work in freshwater with a big enough chamber with a large volume of water and air.
I always think of the episode of River Monsters wher he was in Africa trying to catch the nile Perch In that episode the water fall was making tons of foam that was covering him and the fish and just about the rocks he was standing on.
Same process that duanes was referring to with the ocean.

 

[Grinch]

Looks like these orp meters are a little pricey.

Truth. And see below.

The carbon nutrient that Aquaripure sells, the company I got my bacteria culture from, is a mix of ethanol, sugar (sucrose), and acetic acid (vinegar). From what I understand ethanol and methanol both break down into acetic acid. (Methanol is more popular for use in wastewater treatment because it's cheaper). I've read that sugar isn't as effecient an electron donor as acetic acid for some reason. (My chemistry isn't so good). There is a difference between the freshwater bacteria and the saltwater bacteria, but I don't know if this has anything to do with the reason sugar might used opposed to vodka.

I looked this up in a text book and learned that biological denitrification (i.e. denitrification by aerobic and/or anaerobic bacteria) requires carbon as the electron donor... catalyzing the reaction from NO3 to N2 yields carbon for the bacterium in question. In a previous post I suggested DOM (dissolved organic matter) could serve as an electron donor in denitrification. While this is true for denitrification in general, it is not true for biological denitrification. DOC (dissolved organic carbon) is a subset of the larger mass that is DOM.

ORP meters do not selectively detect the REDOX potential of DOC as a subset of DOM, so I think it is unlikely that an ORP meter will be able to give a very precise indication of when to add electron donors... in other words, if you want to use an ORP meter to monitor your REDOX potential relative to a biological filter, you should consider the accuracy of the meter to be less than advertised.