This Proves it to me.

[mgk]

your right, canisters/hob's dont get nearly the same ammount of O2 as wet/dry's which slows down BB metabolism/reproduction in comparison. As far as your situation of minute ammonia readings after a week there are a ton of factors that could effect that. What size tank, filter and stock do you have? maybe I could help you out with your ammonia problem.

pm sent

 

[Bderick67]

I am surprised you system took so long to rebound/or has yet to. I removed about a third of the bio media(1 XP3 cannister) and saw virually no mini cycle from what I can remember. I'll have to go back and look at that post to say for sure what the
results were.

 

[nfored]

Well I think there is more to it. I noted in another thread that after noticing the mini cycle I decided to try and clean a little bit, and found a huge build up stuck under my rocks I do mean huge. So basically I removed the bio media but then had all that waste along with the fish. So I believe that the previous bb was basically continuously growing due to this extra load, and then to be shocked even further by the removal.

It could also be that when you removed the canister, that , that canister was not doing the bulk of your filtering.

 

[Toby_H]

To me this shows proof that the more favorable conditions in the sump foster better growth then you would get in the tank; this is for all the people that say you don't need bio media. That the tank and substrate ect is enough.

An alternative opinion would be that by not using any bio media, the bacteria is then spread more evenly throughout the tank as opposed to concentrated in the bio media. This way you can remove an object (couple rocks or driftwood for example) to instantly cycle another tnak and not have to worry about removing to much bacteria...