Introduction

Installing an aquarium needs you to a develop or have a very good deal of patience. There is a lot more to establishing a very good aquarium than just dumping some fish in a tank and feeding them. The 1st thing you have to do is to generate bacteria colonies that will consume the ammonia and nitrites so they do not kill your fish off.

Bacteria

When you establish an aquarium you will begin to create ammonia and nitrites that are toxic to your fish. Ammonia really should be kept at zero ppm and nitrites ought to be &lt. 1 ppm to avoid them from killing your fish. You have to have a mechanism to take away these toxic chemical compounds before they reach the levels that will kill your fish.

That mechanism is the development of a bacteria colony that will reside in the substrate and your water filter. This bacteria colony will consist of nitrosomonas and nitrobacter bacteria.

The nitrosomonas bacteria will consume the ammonia that is produced by the decay of fish waste, food and plant material. The ammonia that is consumed by the bacteria is converted to nitrite. The nitrite is then converted by nitrobacter bacteria to nitrates.

Even though not as toxic as ammonia and nitrite, nitrates can trigger large scale algae growth. Nitrates are removed by the plants in your aquarium and by typical water exchanges.

Developing Your Bacteria Colony

Here are two methods that I have utilized to grow my personal bacteria colony:

• Making use of Established Colonies – You can take substrate and a water-filter from an aquarium that has been up and operating for at least two months. Place the substrate in your aquarium, fill your aquarium with water and start your filter and aerator. Then put 3 hardy fish in your tank such as Three Spot Blue Gourami. When you commence to feed your fish and they start to create waste, you will start to generate ammonia. You will notice what is referred to as an ammonia spike this will eventually turn about as you create much more and more bacteria and drop to zero.
• Buying Your Bacteria – You can also get bacteria from your nearby pet shop. This is the technique I employed and had my aquarium prepared to go in about two weeks. Utilizing this technique I waited to add my fish till following the ammonia spike.

1 precaution you need to have to know when you start off to produce your own bacteria colonies, is to make certain you keep your filter and aerator running simply because your bacteria will need oxygen to reside.

Conclusion

Establishing a very good bacteria colony is essential in keeping ammonia and nitrite levels down so that they do not grow to be toxic to your fish.