Beneficial bacteria and substrate?

[KAWAMIKIE]

I currently have my 120 and 75 with bare bottom.

Just a few questions.

Am I sacrificing anything by having the tanks bare?
Would having sand or gravel support more BB?
Which substrate harbours more BB?
Does vaccing the substrate remove the BB?

Also in my 35 hex I have a powerhead run conventional UGF with a single bag Tetra and a AQ-50. The tank has a heavy fish load.
I vac the gravel when I do weekly WC, am I removing the BB?

 

[snoopy65]

BB lives on all surfaces in your aquarium. The majority live in your filter. Your tank will only produce as much bacteria as your bioload needs. So having more surface area will help if you have more bioload than the amount of surface area you have for bacteria. If you have sufficient filtration, you are not losing anything by being bare bottomed.

 

[dawnmarie]

Am I sacrificing anything by having the tanks bare?

No

Would having sand or gravel support more BB?

Yes

Which substrate harbours more BB?

The one with the largest surface area

Does vaccing the substrate remove the BB?

It can if you are agressive enough

Also in my 35 hex I have a powerhead run conventional UGF with a single bag Tetra and a AQ-50. The tank has a heavy fish load.
I vac the gravel when I do weekly WC, am I removing the BB?

See previous answer

 

[Toby_H]

Good answers thus far...

I think saying "The majority live in your filter" could be challenged and while it is surely true in some tanks it may not be true in others... I'm not a fan of generalizing...

But in the end, if you have 0 ammonia & 0 nitrite in a mature tank then you have enough surface area to support the sizer of bacterial colonies your tank needs. Adding more will serve no purpose other than making you feel better... if such a thing would in fact make you feel better...

 

[KAWAMIKIE]

Thanks for the answers.
I don't have an ammonia or nitrite problem.
My nitrate runs a little high, I guess I need to cut back on feeding.

 

[flipstylex]

feed once a day. ull be fine, i prefer sand