Bio-balls And Bio-max

[OldMan47]

Jonchall, that is exactly what they would have you believe is a biofilter for a 45 gallon tank, which is what the 45 in the filter number stands for.

 

[jonchall]

Jonchall, that is exactly what they would have you believe is a biofilter for a 45 gallon tank, which is what the 45 in the filter number stands for.

I'm not buying it! Well, I'm not buying the fact that this will support a decent bacteria colony at least--I did buy the filter! I actually have two of these running on a 50 gallon, with plans to add a large sponge filter as well.

 

[waterdrop]

Do you have a link to that WD? I am always the first to want to learn and expand my knowledge. What I have read in the past relates how the film, once it is developed, is more or less limited by its surface since all oxygen and nutrients must move through the surface. It is one reason that I have been ignoring the inflated claims by some manufacturers about their porous surfaces being manyfold the surface area of a smooth ceramic. The claims that the micropores match the size of bacteria and make more surface available means little if the bacterium lodged in that pore is still being fed by the bacteria that form a film more or less on the smooth outer surface. The net result might be a bacterium that is harder to dislodge but one that still relied on the surface film for nutrient supply, thus not adding to the total processing capability of the film. This sounds like it might be going in a different direction and be well worth learning. After all, at one time, the observed effects of large water changes on a mature tank were lots of fish deaths. Then we figured out that it was not the water change but the lack of previous water changes that caused the stress and killed the fish, what we call old tank syndrome. As in anything, the more we understand, the better we can do with our fish.

Here's the uchicago paper:
Bacterial Confinement Paper link from waterdrop.

 

[waterdrop]

Here's a writeup about the slightly earlier Duke finding:
Bacterial Space Sensing link from waterdrop.

 

[OldMan47]

That is great stuff WD. It looks like you have really been searching for an answer to small pores in media and may have found relevant research. Now all we need is a microbiologist who wants to investigate a biofilm in our aquarium filter situation and uses this as a springboard to take that understanding to the next level.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I share with you a healthy skepticism of how much is really understood about the relationship of the microscopic pore and texture surface of media to the bacterial cell attachment mechanisms and the then-ever-changing relationships that could potentially be involved in the initial and ongoing attachment of the the biofilm materials to these same media surfaces during the growth phase of each of our two species. In addition to keeping an eye on the literature when I can I've been hoping to luck out with perhaps finding that one of our bacteriologists here on campus might not only be familiar with freshwater biofilms or something close but, and this would be the more rare thing I'm afraid, would also have the type of personality to not mind being interrupted for the questions of a hobbyist! I've had a few leads from some of our other faculty, so perhaps it'll happen some day! WD