Re: Re[2]: Australian Aquatic Plants

Bruce Hansen (bhansen at ozemail.com.au)
Fri, 1 Nov 1996 06:28:57 +1100

The Biomass of beneficial (to the nitrogen cycle) bacteria sustained by the
aerobic conditions provided by the UGF is proportional (amongst many
things) to the volume of available colonisation surfaces (usually gravel
depth and particle size) and the food supply for them (usually determined
by the fish load and how generously they are fed).

If you are worried about dieoff of your bacteria biomass just remove tthe
fish gradually ( or stop feeding them ;-)) The biomass should scale down
accordingly. But in any case my original suggestion with the seeding of the
canister should have averted any concerns without all that trouble.

Bruce Hansen
ANGFA

email: bhansen at ozemail.com.au
Don't miss the ANGFA web pages at -
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~fisher/angfa.htm

----------
> From: Andrew.Boyd at dfat.gov.au
> To: rainbowfish at pcug.org.au
> But I could be wrong! ;) One thing I'd watch, Michael, is that the
> bacteria in your UGF has "biomass" - this FWIU can be greater than
the
> fish contained in the tank under certain circumstances - So you
could
> in effect be killing your biggest tank resident... I'd monitor the
> fishes in the tank for signs of distress (gasping at the surface
etc.)
> throught the process. But I've had UGF gradually clog and die
before:
> it has not caused a fish die-off IME.