Benificial Bacteria in the water column

[schooncw]

I am trying to point out to a new hobbyist, that there is precious little nitrifying bacteria in the water column; that the ammonia oxidizers are benthic and they mainly they colonize surfaces. Can someone that is smarter than me chime in or post a link please?

 

[Dan_P]

You are right, but I don’t have a reference.

You could point out that changing water rarely impacts an aquarium but changing 10-20% of the substrate can cause all sorts of issues. Changing 100% of the water does not diminish the system’s capability of processing ammonia.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

There are lots of beneficial bacteria which serve lots of purposes. Some are in the water column and some on surfaces. Most nitrifying bacteria do bind to surfaces.