Learning Opportunity

[Cinnebuns]

A couple of days ago I had an ammonia spike. It was minor and quickly resolved, but I see an opportunity for learning from it. The warning signs to test for me is a couple of snails went above the water line. I'm pretty confident I know what caused it. I keep 2 spawning mops in the tank for pulling panda cory eggs. I have had the same 2 for a few months. For no real 100% clear reason, I decided I should replace one of them and made a new one. I have a feeling these mops had collected a good amount of bacteria. 

This made me wonder a couple of things. First off, if I were to replace something like this in the future, is there a way to mitigate the incoming spike?  Maybe if I add some more media to the filters it will make it more stable?  Right now all that's in them in aquaclear sponges. There's def space for more media I just never knew if I needed it or not. Maybe I do. 

This also got me wondering something about the cycle. I know that bacteria continues to build up even after a tank is considered cycled and that a seasoned tank is different. This tank has been set up about 6 months. Is there anything the tank develops over time to help prevent stuff like this?  I know a seasoned tank means micro organisms and different types of bacteria build up. Does this help stabilize for times like this?  

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/10/2022 at 7:50 PM, Cinnebuns said:

This made me wonder a couple of things. First off, if I were to replace something like this in the future, is there a way to mitigate the incoming spike?  Maybe if I add some more media to the filters it will make it more stable?  Right now all that's in them in aquaclear sponges. There's def space for more media I just never knew if I needed it or not. Maybe I do. 

I spy an Aqueon!  I don't even know what happened to mine, but I enjoyed it.  This was how I set mine up.  And I will encourage having some ceramic and some sponge.  Worst case you can easily move the ceramic to a new tank if need be.  I would stack a "tall sponge" and then next to that I would have a smaller sponge followed by a bag a ceramic media.

The logic for me was that I wanted to avoid the red arrow bypassing the HoB media and going right into the tank.  I would specifically have the sponge sticking out of the water slightly.  If you put your finger or use a light or something there is a small baffle that controls the opening in the back of the HoB container.  Depending on how the HoB you're using now is working, I would just verify that the water does make it way all the way to the right side and then flows down.  You can add a fine pad to discourage bypass on the left side (red arrow) as well.

Your other HoB is essentially the same thing, but opposite direction.



From what you're showing there is clear bypass on the right HoB filter.  On the left one it *might be* there, but it's difficult to say without video.



Also, side note, whenever you feel good about the setup, please be sure to post details and experience in the "Show off your filter mods" thread.

Edited June 11, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[nabokovfan87]

My assumption is, the better your filters function (no matter what is inside) the more bacteria you can hold in the media as well as stronger bacteria that works harder to process the waste. There is a carrying capacity and media will eventually not be able to support any more bacteria. I don't think you have that as the core issue, but it's definitely not helping to have the bypass stuff to maximize those "strong colonies" so to speak.

Edited June 11, 2022 by nabokovfan87
missed a parenthesis

[Cinnebuns]

On 6/10/2022 at 10:12 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

My assumption is, the better your filters function (no matter what is inside, the more bacteria you can hold in the media as well as stronger bacteria that works harder to process the waste. There is a carrying capacity and media will eventually not be able to support any more bacteria. I don't think you have that as the core issue, but it's definitely not helping to have the bypass stuff to maximize those "strong colonies" so to speak.

I agree. I figured, but didn't know for sure, that I had reached full capacity of my bacteria. I may not have seen the spike at all in a month or so I'm guessing. I do really like that point of the red line. I might take a trip to my LFS and buy some more material. They are great at stocking good filter media. 

[modified lung]

It's probably not that you reached capacity. You actually need surprisingly little media to handle normal aquarium bioloads. What likely happened is the bulk of your most active bacteria was concentrated on the spawning mops because mops give them a very ideal environment: lots of flow between the yarn strands giving easy access to ammonia and oxygen and no chance of clogging.

I'd agree the bypass is not helping the bacteria in your HOB and might be why they concentrated on the mop so heavily.

Edited June 11, 2022 by modified lung

[Flumpweesel]

I believe the bacteria grows in line with the food source so if you remove or clean anything that houses it there is a drop in the amount of bacteria you have it will start growing more as soon as you remove some but obviously depending on amount removed how quickly that will be.

The misnomer that it's all in the filter can trip people up it's everywhere. Mops must be great bacteria houses 

[Tanked]

On 6/10/2022 at 10:50 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Maybe if I add some more media to the filters it will make it more stable?  Right now all that's in them in aquaclear sponges. There's def space for more media I just never knew if I needed it or not. Maybe I do. 

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think that much like pest snails, bacteria is self regulating.  Too much media will restrict the volume of water flowing through it and it will eventually begin to bypass the filter box and BB.  I have two of the Aqueon 30s and I originally thought there were pieces missing because  after a couple of days water began to either ran over the top of the media or bypassed the media completely.  I found that as the mulm builds up in the sponge, more water tends to pass through the upper portion of the sponge because that is where the least resistance is. 

My fix was to add a small piece of coarse sponge in the front of the filter box. This seperates the sponge from the front wall allowing more water to easily pass through the entire surface area on the front of the sponge.

[modified lung]

On 6/12/2022 at 1:56 PM, Tanked said:

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think that much like pest snails, bacteria is self regulating.  Too much media will restrict the volume of water flowing through it and it will eventually begin to bypass the filter box and BB.  I have two of the Aqueon 30s and I originally thought there were pieces missing because  after a couple of days water began to either ran over the top of the media or bypassed the media completely.  I found that as the mulm builds up in the sponge, more water tends to pass through the upper portion of the sponge because that is where the least resistance is. 

My fix was to add a small piece of coarse sponge in the front of the filter box. This seperates the sponge from the front wall allowing more water to easily pass through the entire surface area on the front of the sponge.

You're right. All you really need is a hand full of media as long as there's adequate flow and oxygen through the media. 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/12/2022 at 1:56 PM, Tanked said:

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think that much like pest snails, bacteria is self regulating.  Too much media will restrict the volume of water flowing through it and it will eventually begin to bypass the filter box and BB.

I'm going off of memory, but I think there can be bypass issues.  A lot of it goes into how you pack it in there.  I'll try to break down my methodology, but it's been a bit since I've had hands on time with this one.  I do remember it because it was unique and I really enjoyed the filter.

Flow enters into the media chamber from the blue side.
The overflow/indicator section is the area circled in red. When The flow is restricted, the pool in that area rises and completed the circuit for the LED.
The orange circle is this little notch for the cartridge that's generally pretty difficult to fill. Because of this you have an easier time for the water to bypass the media and access the majority of the output really quickly.  Someone who feels like it could probably glue in a circular piece here with a flat side and try to close it off and force the water across the entire back of the HoB media chamber.



A few notes from my use:
1. If you leave a gap on the back side (back wall) for water to flow across, this might increase the chance of the filter itself wanting to flow evenly.
2. I encourage foam to stick out of the water to make it easier to take out, and you have a much better time using this if your foam is one large piece.
-There is room and the media chamber is pretty deep compared to a lot of other HoBs.
3.  Because the pump is actually pretty decent, and you don't have to prime it, the flow is generally "good" which means it's important to have something to stop the sponge itself from moving around.  If it's not really held in place or isn't a tight fit, it can just get pushed to the right by the water.

This is the one I posted earlier, slightly modified:

 

The diagram on the right is the view if you were facing the HoB.  Essentially I would have either, the pink box (ceramic media) on the top of a piece of sponge or protected by it as best I could.  I used AC55 parts I think for the majority of it, obviously size is going to depend on what you want/need.

Either, fill it with sponge or fill it with sponge as best you can, but leave a gap for media somewhere. Depending on if there's a gap on the bottom or the rear is going to determine a best location for the media you choose. I would have a few different height sponges and I played around with what worked best.  That's about what I can remember from experimenting with it.  I did not have any severe bypass issues in this configuration.