The filter does not do anything till the water temp hits 60 supposedly, and I am not even there yet.
Does seeding with another pond work?
- Thread starter Malak
- Start date
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
different strains have different temp tolerances @ 50* some are active, but a small percentage. as the temp rises so does the bacteria count.
I grew up in the northern half of Wisconsin, where the water temperature in lakes would get above 60 sometime in June, and would be below that in September. Do you seriously believe that nitrification occurs for only three months of the year in the north central US? What about those great-for-fishing Canadian lakes where the water never gets that warm?
The people who do research on nitrification in natural ecosystems are always detecting new kinds of nitrifying bacteria, some of which they cannot even isolate, let alone grow in culture. (They detect them by their DNA and RNA which can tell which phylogenetic group they belong to. ) Your filter bacteria wouldn't grow in my filter and vice versa. And I suspect factory-grown bacteria wouldn't really grow in any of our filters. They may very well stay alive long enough for the natives to grow up in a new filter. Once the natives populate the filter they will crowd out the purchased guys.
The people who do research on nitrification in natural ecosystems are always detecting new kinds of nitrifying bacteria, some of which they cannot even isolate, let alone grow in culture. (They detect them by their DNA and RNA which can tell which phylogenetic group they belong to. ) Your filter bacteria wouldn't grow in my filter and vice versa. And I suspect factory-grown bacteria wouldn't really grow in any of our filters. They may very well stay alive long enough for the natives to grow up in a new filter. Once the natives populate the filter they will crowd out the purchased guys.
Good to know, since I've had the trickle tower running for 3-4 weeks already. Getting four more fish tomorrow.
A gallon of pond water will be a drop in the bucket. Plus if there's any parasite/disease activity going on in the old pond, adding it to a new pond that isn't biologically stable could cause some problems, albeit unlikely. I wouldn't do it when the alternative is much simpler.
To counter one comment about 'off the shelf' bugs not containing the same indigenous populations... I'm not sure about other products, but we use non-gmo, natural and indigenous bacteria that thrive best in those environments and are found everywhere good water features are, but in concentrated form. Other manufacturers use different/modified strains and I can't attest to their effectivity, but I know some work, but most don't. Also, many off the shelf options don't contain enzymes (they rely on the bacteria to produce their own), making it more challenging for the bugs to do their work, ESPECIALLY in ponds with an existing organic load. The enzymes go ahead of the bacteria, breaking down the organic material to make it easier for the bacteria to digest the nutrients and get a leg up.
I hope that helps.
To counter one comment about 'off the shelf' bugs not containing the same indigenous populations... I'm not sure about other products, but we use non-gmo, natural and indigenous bacteria that thrive best in those environments and are found everywhere good water features are, but in concentrated form. Other manufacturers use different/modified strains and I can't attest to their effectivity, but I know some work, but most don't. Also, many off the shelf options don't contain enzymes (they rely on the bacteria to produce their own), making it more challenging for the bugs to do their work, ESPECIALLY in ponds with an existing organic load. The enzymes go ahead of the bacteria, breaking down the organic material to make it easier for the bacteria to digest the nutrients and get a leg up.
I hope that helps.