At the local watering hole for fish keepers:
DUTCHIE: It’s just the way things work in nature when a process works nature uses that process over and over. Look at how oxygen moves into water. I used to think there was the exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen but now i know it dosen’ t work that way. What happens is in a solute the components of greater volume move towards areas of lesser volume until there is equilibrium established. This happens with all elements that enter water. The mechanisms that move gaseous states to dissolved states are independent process moving gaseous elements as oxygen or carbon dioxide and inorganic nitrogen and other gases into water.
Philbert: So Dutchie are you saying there are contingencies to the movement of elements -into water such as molecule density and temperature and pressure and the ratio of the element to its state of equilibrium with the air.
DUTCHIE: Yes that right as the molecule loses thermal energy it becomes denser closing off pathways by increasing pressure on the elements, as oxygen or carbon dioxide, traveling (defuses) down these pathway and holding the elements in place inside the molecule and as the molecule warms and reduces pressure and molecular density these pathways open up allowing the element to reach equilibrium at pressure that is how temperature and pressure works to control the flow from heavier concentrations to lesser concentrations.
Philbert: So in cooler water there are more dissolved elements than in warm water.
DUTCHIE: Cooler the water the greater is the capacity for the water molecule to hold elements as dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide, but there is a tick in this called water vapor. Just think about a planted tank with a 6500K lights beating down on the surface of the water for 12 hours a day creating water vapor that is trapped by the hood creates a positive feed back loop between the hood and water surface that increases the relative temperature reducing the effectiveness of the process that move oxygen into the water and also restricts the movement of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Philbert: What’s that got to do with a tropical freshwater aquarium that almost feels like a cool bath?
DUTCHIE: Nothing but while we are thinking tropical tanks i have to mention he’s talking about a fishless cycle for the orphan aquarium.
Philbert: I’ve heard, all that i can say is its a good thing he gave up the idea of having a plenum based substrate for that orphan he’s got! Who would consider putting a undergravel filter plate under 5 inches of sand. For the purpose of creating an environment for denitrifying bacteria. It’s just not the right thing to do.
DUTCHIE: Yea all he would have gotten is hydrogen sulfide you know the smell of rotten eggs. though He might have something with his notion of deep sand bed.
Philbert: Not a chance. A deep sand bed only works with saltwater where there are all of those burrowing critters. I know he is thinking about using snails and those California black worms. It’s just a pipe dream I’ve heard this before.
DUTCHIE: I heard that he is planning on making the substrate the bio-filter. it’s his first step toward establishing the nitrogen cycle. It’s going to be done by not using any filter media with that small fluval 2 plus. The intention is that by not providing real estate for the bacteria in terms of media then the bacterial will be forced to colonize the sand substrate. I think this odd approach to cycling is an attempt to separate the different filtering process.
Philbert: it’s one thing to conceive a notion and another thing to see the notion actualized. Back to the notion of cycling a tank. I was reading a post at TFK that nitrification bacteria produced carbon dioxide.
DUTCHIE: Yes it dose but it is not similar to respiration. It is the result of a chemical action of oxidizing ammonia to nitrite and the oxidizing of nitrite to nitrate some like the process of photosynthesis in producing dissolved oxygen they are both chemical reactions.
Where as respiration is the movement of elements of greater density to areas of lesser density. Isn’t it amazing how similar and balancing oxygen is to carbon dioxide in terms of processes and functions, both in chemical and in equilibrium.
the views expressed by DUTCUHIE and Philbert represents speculation and not necessarily facts.