Filter Floss

[DBT85]

It arrived safe and sound this morning Minnnt. I understand what people mean now when they say "starting to smell like a fish tank", what they mean is it smells like compost

Was certainly very fruity when I opened the bag lol.

Cmon other people, get that filter floss donated!

 

[littlenemo]

just been reading all the post i laughed at some of the comments lol paaps. question im in middle of cycle now my floss is looking minging i no to leave it in untill cycle is complete when its ready do i rinse it in tank water when i do water change.??? running a sump tank

 

[Prime Ordeal]

just been reading all the post i laughed at some of the comments lol paaps. question im in middle of cycle now my floss is looking minging i no to leave it in untill cycle is complete when its ready do i rinse it in tank water when i do water change.??? running a sump tank

Most people just throw it away and replace it with new because it's fairly cheap and doesn't really carry much beneficial bacteria.

 

[minnnt]

Lol. Glad it got to you ok.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Most people just throw it away and replace it with new because it's fairly cheap and doesn't really carry much beneficial bacteria.

I will take this a step further. There is virtually no good bacteria living in well used floss at all, the very nature of floss means any bacteria that might end up trying to live there will be killed the longer the floss is in the filter as the bacteria will be choked to death by being covered over in the very stuff the floss is intended to trap. Moreover, there can be a bunch of things in that nasty dirty floss nobody would willingly want to add to almost any tank.

Save yourselves a lot of headaches, wasted postage and time and send a small bag of gravel or sand from an established tank instead. There are far more bacteria living in the top portion of the substrate in an established tank than in the floss.

 

[Mikaila31]

Most people just throw it away and replace it with new because it's fairly cheap and doesn't really carry much beneficial bacteria.

I will take this a step further. There is virtually no good bacteria living in well used floss at all, the very nature of floss means any bacteria that might end up trying to live there will be killed the longer the floss is in the filter as the bacteria will be choked to death by being covered over in the very stuff the floss is intended to trap. Moreover, there can be a bunch of things in that nasty dirty floss nobody would willingly want to add to almost any tank.

Save yourselves a lot of headaches, wasted postage and time and send a small bag of gravel or sand from an established tank instead. There are far more bacteria living in the top portion of the substrate in an established tank than in the floss.

I disagree. Many times I have used filter floss and only filter floss to clone a brand new bare tank for immediate use for fish. I have never had a problem doing this. I skip the cycle compeletey. Filter floss is no different then any other mechanical filtration. It catches debris. If debris in floss suffocated bacteria so would debris in sponges. My sponges are what catch 90% of the stuff in my filter. Any BTW that stuff is mulm and is perfectly safe to add to any tank. It came out of a happy, stable, and healthy tank after all .

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Thanks to Tolak and the big nasty hunk of gooey floss i received in the mail, my tank is finally right

 

[minnnt]

I usually use a layer of filter floss lower down in the filter aswell, so when i sent it out there was two very well used pieces of floss... HOPEFULLY it will have been of some use to Darren and Corrine.

 

[Titchie]

Would the bacteria on the floss survive being posted as I thought it had to have a supply of ammonia or the bacteria die after a couple of hours
I need to change mine and its been in a couple of months now, if its any use to anyone you can have it but it will be minging

 

[minnnt]

Some will survive. I sent mine wet rather than squeezed dry.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Would the bacteria on the floss survive being posted as I thought it had to have a supply of ammonia or the bacteria die after a couple of hours

Almost certainly not. It's not the lack of food or oxygen for the benificial bacteria, they'll cope quit nicely for many days if not weeks without either. It's the fact that while it's in the post the lack of oxygen promotes the growth of anaerobic heterotrophs which will produce such nasties as hydrogen sulphide and that will kill the bacteria you want. If you can ensure a good supply of oxygen for the whole postal experience then it should be ok.

 

[Corrine]

My linkMy cycle has been stalled for the last 5 days no idea why ... added the mature filter floss on the 1st and its just restarted today so fingers crossed its working

 

[Titchie]

O ok I suppose some are better than nothing, I presume if you left it last min before the post is picked up and its used straight away once its delivered the better chance you have

As I say I will have some to go on tuesday if any one is interested

 

[Prime Ordeal]

My linkMy cycle has been stalled for the last 5 days no idea why ... added the mature filter floss on the 1st and its just restarted today so fingers crossed its working

Good to hear corrine, but the cycnic in me says it would have started anyway, floss or not.

 

[Corrine]

My linkMy cycle has been stalled for the last 5 days no idea why ... added the mature filter floss on the 1st and its just restarted today so fingers crossed its working

Good to hear corrine, but the cycnic in me says it would have started anyway, floss or not.

Its not like you to be cynical lol only joking.. you have been a great help throughout my fishless cycle ...I don't mind what it is lol.. i just want it to HURRY UP !!