# Filter cycle



## john arnold (6 Dec 2018)

hello

I have a hob filter running in a tank that is cycked with a canister filter, hiw long before the hob filter thas got bacteria build up so i can use it on my small shrimp tank, its been running fir about 2 weeks now?

Cheers


----------



## zozo (6 Dec 2018)

Pretty quick, tho it is hard to determine a number and a periode.. If it is a planted tank than most bacteria live in the tanks substrate and the biofilm that grows on about anything that is permanently wet. If the tank already is matured enough the filter needs no pre cycling periode.

Personaly, for planted tanks i doubt if any filter needs a pre cycling periode.. I think it's more likely a generaly accepted urban myth, based uppon personal experiences and believe.. Than praising or blaming the filter(cycle) as a usual suspect. But it all is very hard to proof.


----------



## Edvet (6 Dec 2018)

The bacteria will be in he HOB quite fast ( hours) . Just make sure you add bioload slowly in the new tank ( and/or do large waterchanges in the beginning).


----------



## john arnold (6 Dec 2018)

zozo said:


> Pretty quick, tho it is hard to determine a number and a periode.. If it is a planted tank than most bacteria live in the tanks substrate and the biofilm that grows on about anything that is permanently wet. If the tank already is matured enough the filter needs no pre cycling periode.
> 
> Personaly, for planted tanks i doubt if any filter needs a pre cycling periode.. I think it's more likely a generaly accepted urban myth, based uppon personal experiences and believe.. Than praising or blaming the filter(cycle) as a usual suspect. But it all is very hard to proof.





zozo said:


> Pretty quick, tho it is hard to determine a number and a periode.. If it is a planted tank than most bacteria live in the tanks substrate and the biofilm that grows on about anything that is permanently wet. If the tank already is matured enough the filter needs no pre cycling periode.
> 
> Personaly, for planted tanks i doubt if any filter needs a pre cycling periode.. I think it's more likely a generaly accepted urban myth, based uppon personal experiences and believe.. Than praising or blaming the filter(cycle) as a usual suspect. But it all is very hard to proof.



OK great, its fir shrimp tank so not much bioload, ill swap it over today, thanks you two


----------



## dw1305 (6 Dec 2018)

Hi all,





john arnold said:


> I have a hob filter running in a tank that is cycked with a canister filter, hiw long before the hob filter thas got bacteria build up so i can use it on my small shrimp tank, its been running fir about 2 weeks now


Pour some of the mulm out of the canister filter into the HOB, or if the HOB has a sponge in it? <"Swirl the sponge"> in the mulmy water from the canister filter. You don't need very much mulm to act as an innoculum for the new filter. 





zozo said:


> I think it's more likely a generally accepted urban myth, based upon personal experiences and believe.. Than praising or blaming the filter(cycle) as a usual suspect. But it all is very hard to proof


It was difficult to prove, but now the past is a different country. This is from <"Sauder et al. (2018). “CandidatusNitrosotenuis aquarius,” an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon from a freshwater aquarium biofilter"> 





> This work describes the cultivation and complete genome sequence of a novel AOA representative enriched from a freshwater aquarium biofilter. In addition, despite the common belief in the aquarium industry that AOB mediate ammonia oxidation, the present study suggests an _in situ_ role for “Ca. Nitrosotenuis aquarius”-like AOA in freshwater aquarium biofilters


In fact these are really exciting times for biological filtration, there are lots of scientific papers being published at the moment, particularly on COMAMMOX _Nitrospira, _the bacteria that was traditionally thought to convert nitrite (NO2) to nitrate (NO3), but is now (just since 2015) known to be able to convert ammonia (NH3/NH4+) directly to nitrate, and subsequently found to be very common in the natural environment. This is from <"Kinetic analysis of a complete nitrifier reveals an oligotrophic lifestyle">, it was published in <"_Nature">, _in September 2017..





> Here we isolate a pure culture of a comammox bacterium, _Nitrospira inopinata_, and show that it is adapted to slow growth in oligotrophic and dynamic habitats on the basis of a high affinity for ammonia, low maximum rate of ammonia oxidation, high growth yield compared to canonical nitrifiers.........


 There is also lots of work on Ammonia Oxidising Archaea (AOA), a lot of which shows that low ammonia loadings lead to a much more diverse and resilient microbiota, and that plant roots (or in some cases <"snails">)  add further complexity. 





Edvet said:


> Just make sure you add bioload slowly in the new tank


Always a good idea.

cheers Darrel


----------



## john arnold (6 Dec 2018)

Dw1305
Wow, nice but i already changed over now, the tank it was in to get ready was quite a mulmy tank as git lots of 6 week old apistos in so cant vacuum it too much, so i reckon it will be ok

Cheers


----------



## dw1305 (7 Dec 2018)

Hi all, 





john arnold said:


> he tank it was in to get ready was quite a mulmy tank as git lots of 6 week old apistos in so cant vacuum it too much, so i reckon it will be ok


Sounds perfect.

cheers Darrel


----------

