Mmathis
TurtleMommy
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Cycling a pond [or tank] comes up frequently, so this isn't any new info, but it is a nice and simple refresher [see link, below for the article which gives a nice, concise description of how the nitrogen cycle works]. I was trying to find out about surface area and beneficial bacteria. Very common sense.....
"The good bacteria can live on any surface in the aquarium [or pond]. However, like all organisms ever, they concentrate their populations where their limiting factors are best met. In an aquarium the two things that are the most limited for the bacteria are food and oxygen. Filters provide flow which provides food and oxygen. The surface area of the biomedia provides a surface for the bacteria to grow on where they can sit and allow the oxygen and food to come to them. At the end of the day it is not the biomedia itself that is anything magical, it is nothing more than surface area per volume. The bacteria are happy to grow on any surface, but they do not simply spread out evenly throughout the aquarium. Although any surface area in the tank (decor, glass, substrate, etc.) are otherwise perfectly acceptable, they do not have the same flow as the filter and therefore will not house significant colonies of bacteria."
http://advancedaquariumconcepts.com/how-to-cycle-an-aquarium/
"The good bacteria can live on any surface in the aquarium [or pond]. However, like all organisms ever, they concentrate their populations where their limiting factors are best met. In an aquarium the two things that are the most limited for the bacteria are food and oxygen. Filters provide flow which provides food and oxygen. The surface area of the biomedia provides a surface for the bacteria to grow on where they can sit and allow the oxygen and food to come to them. At the end of the day it is not the biomedia itself that is anything magical, it is nothing more than surface area per volume. The bacteria are happy to grow on any surface, but they do not simply spread out evenly throughout the aquarium. Although any surface area in the tank (decor, glass, substrate, etc.) are otherwise perfectly acceptable, they do not have the same flow as the filter and therefore will not house significant colonies of bacteria."
http://advancedaquariumconcepts.com/how-to-cycle-an-aquarium/