Backup bio filter media

[Voylike]

Hi guys hope alls well , running a Fluval U2 filter and alls good in aquarium, had no issues for months. Was just wondering if there is a need for a backup of ‘bio filter ‘ media(ceramic rings etc) at any point and if so which is the sensible way to do this.

[fr499y]

I wouldn’t say there is unless you are planning another tank, then you can move the media over for an ‘instant’ cycle.

[FishBubs]

This is a topic that i am , on the one hand, quite interested in but on the other, find it can fry my brain cells.

If i am correct, the munchers will populate the environment (say filter bio media for talking sake) to a level sufficient to accommodate the current bio load. Soooo, here are my multiple questions put in a very simplistic way.

i have an fx4 and 307, half stocked 340l tank . how are my munchers spread out? Are they spread out over the two filters ?

Hypothetically speaking , if i started with my fx and ran that for a year for example to filter a half stocked tank and had the correct water parameters then decided to add another filter after a year without altering any of the bioload. Would that second filter contain any munchers after a period of time or would there be no change to the level of munchers as the current bioload are only producing enough to sustain one filter full? I hope that makes sense what i am trying to ask.

[plankton]

Over time (say from 6 months) the munchers will be divided over the two filters until at some point they would be almost equally divided so if you took one out the other would only cope with about half the bioload in the tank. It may not be 50/50, but would be getting on for it.

[FishBubs]

How does it achieve this split over the two filters. Just through the process of some munchers dying off and being replaced with new fresh ones?

[Martinspuddle]

How does it achieve this split over the two filters. Just through the process of some munchers dying off and being replaced with new fresh ones?

The bacterial colony grows over time ...imagine you filter is like a Rabbit warren. You start with two, very soon there more than you can count!

[FishBubs]

i kind of got the birds and the bees part, it was more to do with if the bioload doesnt require the presence of more bacteria then they will not be producing above a certain amount of their current population other than to replenish what ever dies out. Putting it another way will there ever be more bacteria than the bioload requires?

[black ghost]

There will never be more bacteria than their food supply (ammonia, nitrite) can support.
Healthy bacteria each produce a “baby bacterium” every day. These “babies” float off in the flow and stick to whatever surface they eventually make contact with, so over time the second filter will become colonised because all of the tank’s water flows through it. The bioload can’t support both bacteria, so the “baby” or it’s parent will die. Over time both filters will contain bacteria, in proportions governed by their flow rates (amount of food available).

[FishBubs]

Makes perfect sense Black Ghost cheers.