If you had a system with aerobic bacteria in a filter
medium, with good water movement growing well with lot's
of oxygen, and lot's of nitrates, and then you were to
seal it off from fresh oxygen and there was plenty of food
there for the bacteria to continue growing, how long do
you think it would take for the nitrates to reach 0 nitrates?

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Stoutman wrote on 9/16/2006 8:19 PM:
If Patterson believes that oxygen is removed by the enzyme and only N2 is
produced. What happens to the oxygen? Where do you/he think it goes?
Do you think it stays in the enzyme?
Not enzyme. Bacteria. Yes, that's exactly what happens. The oxygen is
consumed by the bacteria.

First:
These denitrifying bacteria are anaerobic. They thrive in LOW oxygen
conditions. Anoxic conditions are required for their survival. This means
they do not need nor do they consume oxygen to survive. Why do you insist
that anaerobic bacteria involved in denitrification consume oxygen? Oxygen
is a TOXIN for most anaerobic bacteria. They do not produce nor consume
oxygen. Anaerobic bacteria can not even grow in the presence of oxygen.

Second:
Oxygen is NOT produced. The end result biproducts of nitrate metabolism by
denitrifying bacteria are N2 and H2O.

I am not guessing here.

nitrogen cycle:
http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/a...ogencycle.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denitrification