Good Bacteria Question

[scooterchick]

Howlong does it take good bacteria to build up in a mature tank. Eg. I removed a piece of filter sponge from my mature filter in order to set up a hospital tank. I replaced it with a clean sponge, now how long would it take the clean sponge to cycle in a mature tank?

 

[timmystood]

Depands on various factors: oxygen, food source, volume of biological filter media. As a rule of thumb, bacteria doubles every 20 minutes and lives for about 2 weeks (although some people may pull me up on that).

As a rough guess to your question though I would say anything from 1-3 weeks.

 

[modaz]

Depands on various factors: oxygen, food source, volume of biological filter media. As a rule of thumb, bacteria doubles every 20 minutes and lives for about 2 weeks (although some people may pull me up on that).

As a rough guess to your question though I would say anything from 1-3 weeks.

Mmmmm the 2 week survival span is what i was gunna post in a new thread, it would be good to get a approx time for when they do start to die off with no ammonia.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

they start to die off after 12 hrs with no ammonia source,

 

[rdd1952]

Depands on various factors: oxygen, food source, volume of biological filter media. As a rule of thumb, bacteria doubles every 20 minutes and lives for about 2 weeks (although some people may pull me up on that).

As a rough guess to your question though I would say anything from 1-3 weeks.

Actually, it can take up to 30 hours for nitrifying bacteria to double, depending on tak conditions. The ower the pH and temperature, the longer it takes. That is extremely slow compared to most bacteria. I really don't now how long they live. As some die off others will replace them. When you removed the sponge, was that the only media in the filter? If so, it could take a few days for the bacteria to replenish enough to handle the waste. Keep a close eye on your water stats in the mean time.