Cleaning foam w/out killing nitrfying bacteria?

I have a 2 gallon moon jellyfish aquarium by JellyFishArt. The stock aquarium has a piece of foam in the back compartment that is the only biological filtration (see photo). At times, I will do large water changes (70% or 100%) with water with pricesely matched salinit and temp.

What are tips for cleaning this foam wihtout killing the nitritfying bacteria?

How long can the foam be out of the water before the bacteria start to die?

Can you wring out the foam to get the food, waste, etc. out of it without damaging bacteria?

I also have bag of matric in mine as extra filtration that I understand can be wrinsed in tap water without damaging the bacteria OR left out of the water for 60 seconds or so with no problem.

Thanks, Doug
 

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I would avoid using tap water on the media, as it will tend to kill marine bacteria on contact, although the amount of contact might be short enough to be safe. I would rinse it and maybe squeeze a bit in a container of saltwater. Scraping off debris gently likely should be safe, as well.
 
Jonathan....Thank you for your feedback.

When I'm doing a significant water change, the filter is not surrounded by water for about 1-2 minutes as the water level drops below the level of the foam (but it is obviously still damp). Is the bacteria likely still fine during this amount of time?
 
Wring it out in the water you siphoned out of the tank. It will keep the bacteria alive and remove the waste.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Wring it out in the water you siphoned out of the tank. It will keep the bacteria alive and remove the waste.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I second this as a good alternative to freshwater rinsing. I have been working with nitrifying bacteria all of my adult life and have found them very hard to kill excessive temperatures and light are their Achilles heal not freshwater or exposure to air. If you are interested I could send you some reprints but they would probably just put you to sleep. PM me a mailing address if you're in need of a cure for insomnia. Ron
 
I second this as a good alternative to freshwater rinsing. I have been working with nitrifying bacteria all of my adult life and have found them very hard to kill excessive temperatures and light are their Achilles heal not freshwater or exposure to air. If you are interested I could send you some reprints but they would probably just put you to sleep. PM me a mailing address if you're in need of a cure for insomnia. Ron

Ron......just to clarify, are you saying freshhwater and air are NOT the problem but excessive heat and light ARE bad for nitrifying bacteria.
 
That is correct. The ammonium oxidizer are especially sensitive to light it usually doesn’t kill them just shuts them down for awhile. Excessive heat kills them (greater than 100 F). Nitrite oxidizer are less sensitive to light but are just as sensitive to heat. Actually there’s a lot of variation but those are the outliers I am talking about the organisms we find in our tanks. Ron
 
That is correct. The ammonium oxidizer are especially sensitive to light it usually doesn't kill them just shuts them down for awhile. Excessive heat kills them (greater than 100 F). Nitrite oxidizer are less sensitive to light but are just as sensitive to heat. Actually there's a lot of variation but those are the outliers I am talking about the organisms we find in our tanks. Ron

Ron...thank you for clarifying. I apprecite it!
 
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