Nitrogen Cycle Bacteria..Bio Filtration

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rcarbonell

rcarbonell

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2007
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Las Pinas
I was just reading the aquarium nitrogen cycle from wikipedia and i was womdering on the bio filtration.. Is it good to have a large bio filtration?

It seems that the bacteria transforming amonia - nitrite and bacteria from nitrite - nitrate are essential to the aquarium and bio filtration helps these bacteria to grow.

What if I setup a huge bio filtration to create these bacteria? Will to much of these bacteria affect the fish? Will it lessen the water change?

My 500 gal pond 25' x 2' x 2' (fishes: 9pacus, 9 oscars, 1 gourami, 4 FH & 1 RTC all around 6 mos old) only has a 5 gal sump.. I was thinking of putting a submerged large bio filtration (still figuring out how to DIY). Pond is usally green because of direct sunlight, but it don't matter. Im just after the health of the fish and minimizing the water change (maybe to once a month.)
 
First off, that tank is more like a 1500g. 5 gal sump is NOTHING. You NEED more. It won't lessen your water chagnes, and too much won't hurt your fish.
 
with a larger biological filter it allows you stock your tank with more fish. not neccesarily a good thing in some cases. bacteria will only grow the amount needed to handle the production of waste. if you have a tendancy to over feed then it will come in handy to help bacteria grow, take care of the problem, and then die off if the food becomes scarce.
 
rcarbonell;1176895; said:
I was just reading the aquarium nitrogen cycle from wikipedia and i was womdering on the bio filtration.. Is it good to have a large bio filtration?

It seems that the bacteria transforming amonia - nitrite and bacteria from nitrite - nitrate are essential to the aquarium and bio filtration helps these bacteria to grow.

What if I setup a huge bio filtration to create these bacteria? Will to much of these bacteria affect the fish? Will it lessen the water change?

My 500 gal pond 25' x 2' x 2' (fishes: 9pacus, 9 oscars, 1 gourami, 4 FH & 1 RTC all around 6 mos old) only has a 5 gal sump.. I was thinking of putting a submerged large bio filtration (still figuring out how to DIY). Pond is usally green because of direct sunlight, but it don't matter. Im just after the health of the fish and minimizing the water change (maybe to once a month.)
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It is extremely important to have good bio filtration. In a cycled tank, there is enough beneficial bacteria to handle the bioload of the tank. This means that all the ammonia wastes will be consumed and converted to nitrite which in turn will be converted to nitrate. In a cycled tank, there should be 0 ammonia and nitrite when you test the water. Unfortunately, there is no bacteria to consume the nitrate, so it will build up, unless you have an extremely heavily planted tank or denitrator equipment. Nitrate is not as toxic as ammonia and nitrite, but in high concentrations has been implicated in stunting, failure to thrive, premature death and hole-in-the head disease, to name a few conditions. For most fish, ideally, the nitrate should not be higher then 20 ppm. Some fishkeepers keep the nitrate much lower. The easiest and quickest way to reduce nitrate in the tank is to do a water change. Testing the water for nitrate will dictate how often and how much water you need to change out. Unless you have a way to reduce nitrate, you will have to do water changes.
 
:iagree:

If you dont have enough bio-filtration then you can get ammonia or nitrate building up in the water. Thats a VERY bad thing.

So more filtration can help your fish, but the end result is nitrate, less toxic, but you still have to get rid of it, usually by water changes.

So set up a bigger filter, and test for nitrate as a guide to how often you need to change the water.

Cheers

Ian
 
pacu mom;1178157; said:
Unfortunately, there is no bacteria to consume the nitrate,
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sorry mom... but there are bacteria which eat nitrates and release nitrogen gas....there are anoxic and need different conditions than the aerobic which eat ammonia and nitrite....see books on wastewater treatment.....i am hoping to go this route to reduce my massive water changes :)





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Tnx guys!

I just tested my pond water with the tetra test Nitrate

I guess by keeping the water low on nitrate i could lessen the water changes..
Are there any chemicals to treat nitrate?

Iv read somewhere that there are indications when your water has lots of nitrite the water tends to be cloudy (i'm not sure though).. Are there any other indications regarding water chemistry?

I'll be putting a sun cover above my pond to minimize the algae build up & green water. Is there any other way to prevent algae build up to? And what are other causes of algea build up? Tnx!
 
Problem is, anoxic conditions and fish isn't a good mix :confused:

I think it should read - there are no bacteria that will live in a normal fish tank and consume Nitrate?

Cheers

Ian
 
Ianab;1178357; said:
Problem is, anoxic conditions and fish isn't a good mix :confused:

I think it should read - there are no bacteria that will live in a normal fish tank and consume Nitrate?

Cheers

Ian
Click to expand...


You're right. I was referring to the bacterial colonies usually present in the typical biological filter.
 
Ianab;1178357; said:
Problem is, anoxic conditions and fish isn't a good mix :confused:

I think it should read - there are no bacteria that will live in a normal fish tank and consume Nitrate?

Cheers

Ian
Click to expand...


i am planning to build a large external filter........i am looking for a safe source of carbon to feed the little bugs ???
 
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