Cycling Your New Aquarium
Cycling your aquarium may be something that you have never heard of unless you're already an aquarium hobbyist. Some people refer to this process as the "New Aquarium Syndrome” or “The Nitrogen Cycle” http://www.fritzpet.com/article_nitbac.html
"Cycling an aquarium" means that you are creating a hotel for the bacteria in your biological filter. These bacteria convert ammonia http://www.fritzpet.com/ammonia.html to nitrite http://www.fritzpet.com/nitrite.html and then convert the nitrite to nitrate http://www.fritzpet.com/nitrate.html Ammonia and Nitrite are harmful to your fish. High levels of Nitrate put stress on your fish, cause them to lose their appetite and cause algae problems
It can take up to 60 days or longer to cycle an aquarium but we jump start the process by using a product called Turbo Start http://www.fritzpet.com/turbo700_main.html and http://www.fritzpet.com/turbo900_main.html
TURBO START fully cycles our aquariums in 5 days. Turbo Start may also be used after the initial cycle to radically drop lethal ammonia & nitrite levels in record time.
The cycle begins when you add fish to the aquarium. Between excess uneaten decayed food and waste that is generated by these fish, toxic ammonia is formed.
Aerobic bacteria ( Aerobic bacteria are bacteria that can grow and live in the presence of oxygen) called "nitrosomonas" grow to sufficient quantities in the filter to convert the ammonia to toxic nitrite. (Nitrite destroys the hemoglobin in the fish's blood and eventually prevents the blood from carrying oxygen). As this happens, the ammonia levels will quickly begin to drop as the nitrite levels slowly increase. These nitrite levels will continue to increase. Aerobic bacteria called "nitrobacters" start growing & multiplying in the filter to convert the nitrite to nitrate. Again, as the nitrite levels quickly decrease, the nitrate levels will slowly increase. Once the aquarium has reached this point, it is “cycled". Completing the nitrogen cycle, nitrates are reduced to gaseous nitrogen by the process of "denitrification." This process is performed by organisms such as fungi and the bacteria Pseudomonas . These organisms break down nitrates to obtain oxygen.
Using Mother Nature to clean aquariums
Fish produce poop - Bacteria gets rid of poop.
Fish produce Ammonia(NH3) with their feces. Ammonia in our aquariums is toxic to fish. Fortunately, there are bacteria that use Ammonia. They convert it to Nitrite(NO2). Nitrite is also very toxic to fish. There is another type of bacteria that eats Nitrite and convert it to Nitrate(NO3). The types of bacteria are Aerobic Bacteria, which means that they use Oxygen. Without Oxygen, they cannot live. That's why it's very important to have good dissolved oxygen readings in your aquarium.
Through mineralization heterotrophic bacteria (NOT nitrifiers) break down complex proteins and organics into ammonia. These “sludge eating” Bacillus bacteria break down solid waste, excess food and sludge. Each Bacillus species has a unique, preferred food source. Some species break down carbohydrates; others feed on proteins. FRITZ-ZYME #360 Gravel Cleaner contains billions of these necessary, aquarium cleaning bacteria. By incorporating high concentrations of these bacteria in your aquarium, FRITZ-ZYME #360 Gravel Cleaner greatly reduces messy maintenance and odor. Unlike their nitrifying cousins, the Bacillus in FRITZ-ZYME #360 Gravel Cleaner multiply very rapidly and can live in a broad range of water conditions. Select species thrive in both fresh and saltwater. They multiply so rapidly that the population consumes all its food and dies back. They cannot be sustained long-term in large numbers in an aquarium. Nitrifiers need only be added when the system is first setup, but Bacillus bacteria should be added to your aquarium every week to sustain a stable abundant population. Without a large quantity of the Bacillus bacteria in FRITZ-ZYME #360 Gravel Cleaner, solid waste would pile up in the aquarium & within the filter. Nitrification would not take place.
NITRIFYING BACTERIA FACTS
AUTOTROPHS vs. HETEROTROPHS
There is a lot of confusion among aquarists about nitrifying bacteria. This is due in large part to the recent emergence of a wide variety of bacterial products claiming to be nitrifiers or nitrifying aids. The confusion results from the overabundance of misinformation presented in advertisements and the aquarist's general lack of knowledge about bacteria. Most of these products actually contain species of heterotrophic bacteria from the genera Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Escherichia, and others.
True nitrifying bacteria are considered to be those belonging to the family NITROBACTERACEAE . These bacteria are strictly aerobic, gram-negative, chemolithic autotrophs. They require oxygen, utilize mostly inorganic (without carbon) compounds as their energy source, and require carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) for their source of carbon. In the case of the Nitrobacteraceae these energy sources are derived from the chemical conversion of ammonia to nitrite, or, nitrite to nitrate.
Five genera are generally accepted as ammonia-oxidizers and four genera as nitrite-oxidizers. Of these, NITROSOMONAS (ammonia-oxidizers) and NITROBACTER (nitrite-oxidizers) are the most important. Species of marine nitrifiers are different from those that prefer fresh water, and yet, are very closely related. Each species has a limited optimum range for survival. They are very slow growing because of the manner in which they must obtain energy. Under optimal growth conditions, they will double in population every 15-24 hours. Heterotrophic bacteria, on the other hand, can reproduce in as little as 15 minutes to 1 hour.
Where does ammonia in the aquarium come from? Some of it is released directly by the fish; by diffusion from the blood across the gill membranes. Excreted urea http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/U/UreaCycle.html
or uric acid is also converted to ammonia through a process called mineralization. Solid organic, nitrogenous, waste material (a.k.a.- sludge) is also converted to ammonia through mineralization. Sources of this waste material are from fecal material, the decay of plant and animal tissues, and from the decay of excess food. Mineralization is accomplished by any of a number of species of heterotrophic bacteria. Species from the genus Bacillus are the most common.
Ammonia is the primary compound produced by this process. Some species of heterotrophic bacteria can oxidize or reduce nitrogenous compounds directly to nitrites (NO 2 ), nitrate (NO 3 ), or other forms of nitrogen (as NO or N 2 ). In the absence of an organic nitrogen source, many heterotrophs can utilize ammonia instead. This is much more likely to happen in the laboratory, under ideal conditions, than in actual practice. In the aquarium, as in nature, an organic, nitrogen rich, food source is constantly being produced and is readily available for these bacteria to utilize. Heterotrophic bacteria have little or no need to resort to utilizing ammonia as their source of nitrogen.
This ability of heterotrophic bacteria to utilize ammonia has led to the erroneous belief that they are as effective as true nitrifying bacteria in establishing the nitrogen cycle. These bacteria, however, generally cannot utilize nitrites. Experimental data has shown that up to one million times more (10 3 - 10 6 ) of these heterotrophic ‘nitrifers' are required to perform a comparable level of ammonia conversion that is attained by true autotrophic nitrifiers. When using heterotrophic ‘nitrifiers', the nitrogen cycle in the aquarium basically follows the same course as when no bacteria are added and the system cycles naturally.
Another negative aspect to heterotrophs is that under certain environmental conditions they can operate in the reverse direction. In other words, they can convert nitrate back to nitrites and ammonia through a process called dissimilation. This is generally an anaerobic process, but, can occur during periods when dissolved oxygen levels are very low (DO £ 2.0 ppm). Dissimilation is a part of the denitrification process. Denitrification is the conversion (reduction) of nitrites and nitrate to gaseous nitrogen (N 2 , NO, N 2 0).
Heterotrophic bacteria can be either gram-positive (ex: Bacillus) or gram-negative (ex: Pseudomonas). Some are strictly aerobic, but many are facultative anaerobes (they can survive in both the presence or absence of oxygen). Many species tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions: temperature, pH, salinity, etc.
They can also survive adverse conditions by forming spores, increasing the shelf life of the products. Because of this ability, they can be dried, packaged, and sold as viable cultures. Nitrifying bacteria do not form spores and cannot survive drying. This process kills the bacteria leaving no viable bacteria which might inoculate another culture. It has been debated whether or not nitrifying bacteria could survive freeze drying, but, even this is doubtful.
Dry product formulations are by far the most common. These products consist of sludge removing and other nonpathogenic, heterotrophic species of bacteria and their culture media. Formulations may vary to some degree, but, they all perform the same functions. They all contain bacteria species that digest proteins, fats, oils, cellulose, and starch.
These are similar to liquid sludge removers with broader applications. They often contain species of bacteria that function well in fresh, brackish, or salt water. Most liquid type bacterial products available in the pet industry contain little or no true nitrifying bacteria. Instead, they rely on their ability to maintain tolerable levels of ammonia until naturally occurring Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria can become established. Both of these liquid and dry products should be considered as biological aids to nitrification.
Some manufacturers recommend the addition of gravel or water from an established aquarium. This is their only source of nitrifying bacteria. An element of risk is involved with this method because the potential exists for introducing disease causing pathogens into the new aquarium.
Turbo Start 700 (freshwater) and 900 (brackish and marine) contain pure cultures of LIVE Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria. Turbo Start 700 give nitrification a tremendous boost by introducing over 3 million nitrifying bacteria per ounce of product while Turbo Start 900 introduces over 37 million nitrifying bacteria per ounce to rapidly accelerate the nitrification process. Ammonia and nitrite levels are quickly and significantly reduced to safe levels. Fish stress induced by high levels of ammonia and nitrites is also reduced and mortalities normally associated with "New Aquarium Syndrome" are sharply curtailed.
For effective and safe removal of ammonia and nitrites during the critical conditioning phase of a new aquarium always rely on Turbo Start Water Conditioners. It's the brand that really works!!
NITRIFYING BACTERIA - KEY POINTS
True nitrifying bacteria are strictly aerobic autotrophs. They can only use nitrogen from inorganic sources such as ammonia and nitrite. Nitrosomonas (ammonia-oxidizers) and Nitrobacter (nitrite-oxidizers) are the most common.