You know all that nice bacteria that lives in our filters. Well where does it come from? I mean when we first cycle our tank and wait for a suitable colony to go forth and multiply. The bacteria has to come from somewhere so I'm thinking that it must already exist in our tapwater in small amounts. Is this correct?
Where does it come from?
- Thread starter reiverix
- Start date
The Bacteria Fairy visits your aquarium when everyone is asleep and seeds our little bacteria friends into the tank.
P.S. I've never read an actual knowledgeable comment about where they come from. Tap water is treated with chlorine and/or chloramine which is toxic to bacteria(that's why it's added in our drinking water) so it shouldn't come from there.
I've read where someone once speculated it might come from thin air.
But I haven't the foggiest.
P.S. I've never read an actual knowledgeable comment about where they come from. Tap water is treated with chlorine and/or chloramine which is toxic to bacteria(that's why it's added in our drinking water) so it shouldn't come from there.
I've read where someone once speculated it might come from thin air.
But I haven't the foggiest.
ah I didn't think about the chlorine. But if it comes from the air then why are we told to never let the filter media dry out?
Lol well in my grade 9 science class we talked about how bacteria cant spring from thin air-but i dunno thats a good question. Mabe it develops in the mitosis stage and morphs into the kind of bacteria that feeds on ammonia-or mabe when the conditions are right it can grow or i dont kno too much thinking involved.....personally i like the bacteria fairy idea,,,makes sense lol
Maybe they're like Sea Monkeys. The eggs are all dried out but after you put them in water and they hatch you can't let them dry out.
Maybe they're little nitrifying bacteria spores floating in the air everywhere?
Maybe they're little nitrifying bacteria spores floating in the air everywhere?
I have absolutely no facts to back this up, but I would imagine the bacteria live in the air in the same form in which they live in the water but not nearly in the concentration a moist environment can support. The bio-media in the aquarium provides relatively safe home (reduced UV and other radiation?) with a steady, rich supply of nutrients.
idunno
idunno
In 9th grade science we learned that the bacteria that convert nitrogen to and from different forms are super-abundant in the soil and almost everywhere else on the planet (it was part of our "nitrogen cycle" unit). I would imagine the poor bacteria gets tracked *everywhere* and certainly some of could be attached to you and introduced when you stick your hand in the tank. Or attached to just about anything, really. Think about how many items go into our aquarium that we have handled... filters, gravel, thermometers, fish food, decorations, etc.
I think it's more surprising how many types of bacteria we manage to keep out of our tanks (pathogens, etc)!
I think it's more surprising how many types of bacteria we manage to keep out of our tanks (pathogens, etc)!
I must have been asleep in my 9 grade class when it was discussing this.
Apparently that's when all this is taught.
Apparently that's when all this is taught.
Actually, I gave it a good think, and remembered I didn't take a science in ninth grade. It was eighth grade science when we learned about the nitrogen cycle. Oh, I'm only 19 and already my memories of my youth are blurring and fading away...
These bacteria are ubiquitous -- they're everywhere. Try keeping them out of your tank! The nitrification process happens all over the place... in the soil, in natural bodies of water...
Jim
Jim