Coral as Housing for Beneficial Bacteria

Riso-chan

Riso-chan

The Blue Girl
Jan 17, 2005
322
0
0
40
Florida, USA
I have some old dead coral slabs that I just washed out. I was wondering if it would be possible to use these pieces as housing for nitrifying bacteria. Since my filter does not have enough room for bio-media, I was thinking I could position the coral slabs just under the outflow to encourage growth of the bacteria. It is a freshwater aquarium and I've heard coral can affect ph. My local water ph is 8.0. The reason I came up with idea is that I've seen the plastic pin-ball things, but decided to try something that would save money, since I've spent so much already just getting started. Let me know what you think.

My Tank

55gal/ ph 8.0
Topfin powerfilter 60
Species:6 white clouds, 9 zebra danois, 1 otto, and 25 ghost shrimp
Pants: 2 anubias, and hornwart
 
Hello, I keep salt water mostly. I wouldn't put the coral into anything but a chiclid tank. The coral will disolve over time and affect the kh of your water, I'm not sure how all the disolved calcium carbonate will affect the health of your fish. It probably wouldn't be good for them though.
Why not just go to walmart or where ever and get a polyester filler like for pillows for example. It's the same stuff that they sell for filters it's very cheap.
HTh
Chris
 
What should I do now then?

Should I use a bacterial additive or what? What kind of cheap media? Where do I place it? I've also been told that there are possibly bacterial colonies in my gravel. Is it true and would it be enough to deal with the bio-load? Give me any solutions you think might solve my problem.
 
the bacteria will settle anywhere it can. just think- its bacteria! It's the most basic yet adaptive and resilient lifeform we know. All it needs to survive is the right amount of heat, food, oxygen, and water, and no extreme conditions (pollution, dangerous chemicals ect.). It will grow on roots of plants, in your gravel... it's simply that they just do best in flowy areas, where there's a continuous source of food flowing in and out. I've heard of using sponges near areas flowing with water is a good place for bacterial growth. Perhaps you could try putting one near the outflow?
 
you can try getting some biological media foam and seeing if you can put additional media in your current filter, but be careful not to slow the throughput, as that could be even more detrimental to the situation...
 
What kind of sponges?

Would it be safe to get sea sponges from an art store? Are those types safe even though they're from the sea? I think they probably just dry them out, don't know if they use any chems on them for artistic purposes.
 
go to the fish store not the art store not the grocery or walmart unless you go int othe pet section and buy some filter sponge it is not going to hurt the fish otherwise you may get what you were saying chems in the sponge. Just don't worry too much about the bacteria they are tough and will move into the sponge I have some stuffed into my filters box on the hob filters I use just to help with keeping water nice looking.

Its not hard to end up adding bad stuff to a tank not being thoughtful and careful so with stuff thats going into the tank I always buy from a lfs or similar sort of store. Don't wanna lose my fish because I was stupid.
 
Just Curious

Could leggos be utilized in a similar way to the bio pin-balls? They have nice nooks and crannies for bacterial growth, and they're made from non-toxic plastic, since they are made for kids. Think it would be safe to try out? I have an old set and could wash the white pieces so I can tell if anything starts growing.
 
people have used lego blocks for bio filter, make sure you wash them good and get rid of any detergent before putting them in your tank, or filter.
 
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