DrJoe, I wasn't talking about the media drying out, I was just talking about no fish in the tank. I doubt it will all be irrecoverable, after all we put chlorine in our water but still manage to get a tank cycled with nothing but a frozen shrimp.
Beneficial Bacteria
- Thread starter boisblancboy
- Start date
Dr Joe;634400; said:
you will, although they will be able to self sustain for a short period of time
BB are tougher and more resiliant than we are giving them credit for here. What is important in a BB colony survivability is longevity and variability. In general older colonies are more diverse and concequently more varied in both types of species and tolorance to aquarium conditions.
A well established colony can withstand periods of starvation without significant effectiveness in reacting to a nutrient spike due to a greater proloferation of differant types of bacteria that react to differant nutrients at differant concentrations.
Most of us have seen this mainifest itself with aquaria that are more than a year or two established being markedly more capable of handling heavy load fluctuations (heavy feedings, extra fish added) than newer setups. This isnt because of a greater number of bacteria present but a greater variety in the types of bacteria present.
A colony when subject to extreme starvation will encapsulate and become dormant untill the level of nutrients returns, some waking at lower concentrations than others. Most encapsulated bacteria will survive drying as well but not intense UV light or microwaves.
If bio bugs were as sensitive as others have claimed here, they would not be as widespread as they are.
A well established colony can withstand periods of starvation without significant effectiveness in reacting to a nutrient spike due to a greater proloferation of differant types of bacteria that react to differant nutrients at differant concentrations.
Most of us have seen this mainifest itself with aquaria that are more than a year or two established being markedly more capable of handling heavy load fluctuations (heavy feedings, extra fish added) than newer setups. This isnt because of a greater number of bacteria present but a greater variety in the types of bacteria present.
A colony when subject to extreme starvation will encapsulate and become dormant untill the level of nutrients returns, some waking at lower concentrations than others. Most encapsulated bacteria will survive drying as well but not intense UV light or microwaves.
If bio bugs were as sensitive as others have claimed here, they would not be as widespread as they are.
The longer the wheel has been in service, and therefore the more diverse the bug population, the longer it can be stored.
Bio-Spira comes sealed and cooled. It says that the bacteria are dormant and will become active when warm. It has long shelf life and can be stored refrigerated.
Can you take your bio-media and put it in the fridge or is there some special means of actually packaging it?
Can you take your bio-media and put it in the fridge or is there some special means of actually packaging it?
The most effective way IMHO of ensuring you have a ready supply of biobugs on hand is to keep a few sponge filters going. An ideal location is in your sump if you're running a wet/dry or scattered through your fish room in various tanks. You can use them to 'innoculate' new tanks, or after chemical treatments for disease etc. I wouldn't rely on storing colonized media for a rainy day. No way to predict how quickly it will bounce back to full performance.
