Hi all,
Is the consensus then that there is insufficient chlorine in the tap water to affect the bacterial population, or that a bacterial population in the filter isn't required in a heavily planted tank?
A bit of both really. Plants give you <"
belt and braces">
Just thinking out loud here so don't shoot me down please, but could we compare it to washing our hands, in that washing with water doesn't remove much bacteria if any at all?
I asked a former colleague, <"
who is a microbiologist">, and he said that short exposure to the 0.5 ppm Cl2 in tap water was not going to have much effect on the microbial assemblage in the sponge etc. Things <"
could be different in the USA">, where they don't have any effective environmental legislation, so water companies routinely add <"
up to 5 ppm Cl2"> because they can get away with it, and it's a cheap option.
Might be very different in a overly stocked cichlid tank though. I’d be wary about washing that media under the tap for that tank.
I would be as well, although my major worry would be physical loss of the biofilm, rather than the effect of the chlorine.
<"
This is entirely hypothetical">, and is never going to happen, but if I was to go down the route of:
- A non-planted tank (and no floating plants etc.)
- without a substrate, and
- I <"couldn't use a trickle filter"> (ideally planted)
- and had to use a canister filter.
As well as big sponge pre-filter I would want <"
Kaldnes type floating cell media">, because it is self-cleaning and sheds any biofilm which exceeds the optimal depth. I would also not want the filter too full of media to allow the media to move around.
I know a lot of monster fish keepers <"
use washing up pot "scrubbies">, my guess is for the same reason, their structure means that they can never entirely clog.
cheers Darrel