Is Anaerobic Bacteria cultivation a common reality?

[Quizcat]

Well, I hope so...my aquarium is in the family room, right under the wall mounted flat TV...and the "boss" has to approve any extraneous filters that I concoct, since she is looking directly at the tank almost every evening.

I have a fluidized sand filer on order, and even that might prove to be too visually ugly if I mount it on the rim of the tank, with the "T's", "Elbows," and any extraneous unsightly tubing, etc...and, who knows if it will be "quiet" enough. The Aquaclear filters I have on there now with the Seachem Matrix medias are virtually noiseless, and you can barely see them, since they're positioned on the back rim of the tank, and flat with the top of the tank.

Its a bit simpler than that...

 

[Doc-Fish]

A fluid bed filter wont have any affect on nitrate, if you cant fit a aquaponic system then there are two other ways. While certain media claims to offer anaerobic conditions at the back of the pores, the efficiency is appalling.

Deep bed filters work well, but you need to strip the tank, so thats out.
Multiple slow flow canisters connected in series can also work well, these are normally old canister filters that you dont plug in. Can you get a pic of the tank and a pic under the lid?

It would be easier to come up with a suggestion if i know the set up.

 

[Quizcat]

I'll try to post a photo of what I have to work with as soon as the busy holiday season passes, unless I can get a break somewhere in there sooner...we'll see.

Basically, I have a 29 gallon fresh water cube, with synthetic gravel on the bottom (Petco), some plastic plants for decoration, and two box filters on the back rim positioned side by side, with a heater positioned in between the two.

In the chamber of the Aquaclear 50 is a sponge on the bottom, and a bag of Seachem Matrix on top of the sponge. The other box filter is an Aquaclear 30 with a sponge in the bottom of the chamber, and a bag of De*Nitrate on top. The medias are both completely submerged in the chamber but the flows are different between the two filters.

Both filters are cycling water like any HOB filter. The flow on the Aquaclear 30, which has the Seachem De*Nitrate media, has been slowed down to only nine gallons per hour flow rate by trimming the ends of the impeller.

The Aquaclear 50 with the Seachem Matrix media is operating at the standard factory flow rate.

I think most of the companies producing these various media, promoting them as cultivators of anaerobic bacteria is probably just a lot of up-selling hype. I'm not surprised that the efficiency for cultivating anaerobic bacteria is appalling using some of these different kinds of media that are promoted as being good for cultivating anaerobic bacteria because there are so few success stories in the forums about it working for people to actually efficiently and effectively process Nitrates.

I am disappointed to hear that the fluidized sand filter isn't likely to work efficiently, and effectively, because I had heard that the fluidized sand filter is better for the Denitrating purpose than some other kinds of filters because the cultivation area of sand particles is supposedly so much greater for cultivating both kinds of bacteria, aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, that it's better than using standard media, and that the efficiency for cultivating effective bacteria of both types can be more effectively achieved (ie: greater usable bacterial cultivation area).

I also read a number of testimonials in various forums from some that are using the fluidized sand filter, claiming that it worked well for them as a Denitrator. So, I just naturally assumed that it was cultivating anaerobic bacteria pretty well. So, I thought I might give that a try. But, I'm certainly open to any other methodologies that will yield success, provided the "boss" approves of the setup.

I had also been looking at a Sulfurized Denitrator, but decided that the fine tuning of it might be too much of a pain, and I didn't like the idea of an occasional sulfur smell that can occur during the course of adjustment. I figured that detractor might really aggravate the "boss." LOL!

A fluid bed filter wont have any affect on nitrate...the efficiency is appalling. Can you get a pic of the tank and a pic under the lid?

 

[Doc-Fish]

You misunderstood me, A fluid bed filter is highly efficient at converting Ammonia straight to nitrate, if its working correctly you shouldnt see Nitrite.

The reason is the main nitrating bacteria in a fluid bed is N.spira predominating, these convert NH3 directly to NO3 without the NO2 step. It is able to do this due to high oxygen and plenty of free electrons to grab.

Sorry for confusing you, after the holidays i will go through it carefully. Fluid beds are not designed to handle NO3, they are designed for Ammonia conversion. In your case this is probably a bonus, it allows us to focus on nitrate reduction.


I was co owner of several LFS, i was mainly behind the scenes and the tech guy. It was more a part time job for me, we had a maintenance business attached to it, we serviced some 900 customer aquariums every 2 weeks. We used alot of plant based aquaponic systems with success.

I found very few situations where we couldnt add aquaponics and make it look good and fit with the surroundings. But it will take pictures and some creativity, the principle is pretty much the same in each set up, the difference is in how you execute it to fit your situation.

I will grab some references regarding the .Spira and conversion bypassing the NO2 step, when i get a chance.

 

[Quizcat]

Oh, that's good to hear that the fluidized sand filter might actually eliminate the Nitrite step, and take me all the way to at least reducing Ammonia and Nitrates!

I've got my water change regimen down to about 20 minutes anyway, so even if the sand bed filter allows me to go just a little longer between water changes, that would be really nice. But, as it is, I've got water changing down to as simple of a process as one can expect anyway. I'm just interested in continuous improvement, and getting things as close to the natural bio cycle as possible. It's more a of challenge than a necessity at this point.

The cost of the fluidized sand filter cost me around $136.00, with the sand and a few accessories (My Christmas Present to myself . So, maybe it'll work well after all. I'm optimistic!

But, I'm also looking forward to getting those photos posted asap, between Christmas and New Years I hope, and hearing about the Aquaponics approach...at your convenience, no big hurry.

It sounds like you certainly have the hard knocks to know what works, being on the tech side of an aquarium maintenance company and all.

Happy Holidays Doc!

You misunderstood me, A fluid bed filter is highly efficient at converting Ammonia straight to nitrate, if its working correctly you shouldnt see Nitrite.