When one looks at whether a bacterial strain could go form saltwater to freshwater, one could be looking at the plasmids that bacteria use to convey resistances far antibiotics and other such things. This is even to say that a plasmids DNA/RNA could give resistant to the switch from salt to fresh; on top of whether they could survive without any food for that long, just speculation and food for thought.
Bacteria Questions
- Thread starter Pburstrom
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You might have had a colony of FW bacteria start up in the organics contained in the "dry" dead rock, I guarantee dense coral rock was not completely dry after just one month.
The vast majority of nitrfying bacteria we use in aquaria are infact soil bacteria and most are capable of surviving in both salt and freshwater. When subject to low nutrient or moisture levels these bugs will form spores which will allow them to survive in a dormant state for years at a time. It is quite possible that your live rock while exposed to your back yard was able to host a dormant colony of bio bugs that would wake up and get busy in your new set up.
If you think that is too far out of the realm of possibility there are species of mosquitoes that live on the prairie that can lay eggs in a puddle that dries up and remains bone dry for as long as eleven years. Once the puddle is filled up again the eggs hatch out and become adults in three days.
If you think that is too far out of the realm of possibility there are species of mosquitoes that live on the prairie that can lay eggs in a puddle that dries up and remains bone dry for as long as eleven years. Once the puddle is filled up again the eggs hatch out and become adults in three days.
Potts050;636698; said:The vast majority of nitrfying bacteria we use in aquaria are infact soil bacteria and most are capable of surviving in both salt and freshwater. When subject to low nutrient or moisture levels these bugs will form spores which will allow them to survive in a dormant state for years at a time. It is quite possible that your live rock while exposed to your back yard was able to host a dormant colony of bio bugs that would wake up and get busy in your new set up.
If you think that is too far out of the realm of possibility there are species of mosquitoes that live on the prairie that can lay eggs in a puddle that dries up and remains bone dry for as long as eleven years. Once the puddle is filled up again the eggs hatch out and become adults in three days.
Once again, very well stated Potts. Things can go dormant and survive. Brine shrimp for example can dry out and then come back to life. I am not sure how true this is but I would like to know so I could vary salinity in my brackish tank without worrying about a crash in biofiltration.
By varying the salinity in your tank on a regular basis, your bacteria population will adapt to being effective under these conditions. The longer you continue this regime the more effective they will become in dealing with it. Go slow at first with only minor changes in salinity, as the variability and variety of bugs in your filtartion system increases, you can increase the swings.
RadleyMiller;636723; said:Once again, very well stated Potts. Things can go dormant and survive. Brine shrimp for example can dry out and then come back to life. I am not sure how true this is but I would like to know so I could vary salinity in my brackish tank without worrying about a crash in biofiltration.
Are you talking about the shrimp or the eggs? The cysts can dry out and remain viable for years. The problem is when you open the package and let humidity / moisture in... the cyst starts to rehydrate but with limited moisture it stops & cracks and is no longer viable.
This is why, if you are raising b. shrimp you usually only have a 30% success rate after opening the container the first time. (and keeping them in a refrigerator is worse because of condensation that occurs when you remove them from the cold.
Once a full blown b. shrimp (so to speak) they die if dried out. (that's why you can't buy freeze dried b. shrimp and resurrect them.
Dr Joe
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