"It can change ammonia levels as all naturual organic material will."



---I agree, and that is basically where my thought process has been headed on this....That the Melafix is where the Ammonia "Spikes" are coming from....Not beneficial bacteria die-off. If the beneficial bacteria were dying-off to any significant degree...it would cause more than a "Spike". But along the thought pattern that the beneficial bacteria are not significantly harmed....they are there to deal with the "new" ammonia and it only shows as a "Spike". Otherwise, it wouldn't be a "Spike"....rather a Problem.



"The benificial bacteria settles best in your gravel, and many undergravel filters move the water in the gravel to much so the benificial bacteria is constantly bieng circulated and some is removed."



---I am familiar with the arguements for and against undergravel filters. I still use them, I alway have and I probably always will. That said, in the pic below You can see an AquaClear 802 powerhead. Its set in reverse-flow (175gph) with a sponge prefilter. The Rena Filstar xp3 Canister, logs, rocks, etc will all hold more than enough beneficial bacteria to make up for any loss in the gravel bacterial bed and the live plants (lots of them) will be more than happy to do their part with the ammonia.

A Side Note: I have no idea at this point whether these snakes defecate in their hide or exit the hide for that purpose. I thought long and hard about the heat, vibrations, etc of adding an UGF....I decided to give it a shot. Below is a pic of the 2 stacked small kitty litter pans that I use for this snakes hide. He uses it faithfully and it is his secure homebase. Since it is bottomless....the UGF creates a circulation within the hide box that probably would not otherwise occur. The copious amount of ammonia inside that small hidebox would be a major concern if not for the circulation created by the UGF and powerheads. The UGF and powerheads have been in there for a couple of months now and the snake has absolutely no issues with it. He has settled in beautifully and I could not be happier

PS. You can barely see the fins of a comet...top almost center.

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