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Why It’s Important for Fish Tanks to Have Good Bacteria
Whether you have a saltwater or freshwater aquarium, creating the correct environment will result in success and a thriving ecosystem. One of the most important things to get right is to have the presence of good bacteria, which allows for the aquarium nitrogen cycle to function the way it should. Therefore, it’s vital to maintain the proper amount of good bacteria in your aquarium and establish a working biological filtration.
Biological filtration creates the perfect environment for good bacteria strains to grow in an aquarium, and it begins with the initial addition of good bacteria at startup when you add your first fish. The importance of adding this initial beneficial bacteria strain is that is elevates waste buildup caused by things like decaying food, dead fish, and fish excrement. These bacteria convert the waste to ammonia, ammonia to nitrite, and finally nitrite to nitrate.
Ammonia, nitrite, and high amounts of nitrate are all toxic to fish, which is why there is a cycle to remove them from the water. While ammonia and nitrite are converted and removed by good bacteria, nitrate cannot be removed by the bacteria. Nitrate can only be removed by removing a small percentage of the aquarium water on an ongoing biweekly maintenance cycle.
Changing the water in a fish tank is important to the health of the fish. However, as we mentioned, only part of the water should be removed because it allows the good bacteria to remain in the tank while removing the buildup of nitrate. Continuing to change the water when needed will allow a healthy colony of good bacteria to remain and result in a healthy fish aquarium.
While maintaining good bacteria in an established aquarium isn’t difficult, it can be a challenge to get it started in a new tank. There are a few ways to accomplish getting good bacteria in a brand-new tank. One of the ways you can do this is to add some hardy starter fish that can survive in water where there is more ammonia or nitrites. You can keep these starter fish until the nitrogen cycle is established, then change them out or keep them if you desire. Remember to always start your aquarium with a high-grade bacteria like Night-Out II by MicrobeLift:
Just using water from an established aquarium has been proven to only hold trace amounts of bacteria, and weak strains at that.
Creating an appropriate level of good bacteria can take approximately 21 days to cycle. However, it’s important to be patient. Make sure the levels are proper so your fish survive and continue to be healthy. Some fish are delicate, and you need to make sure the nitrogen cycle has resulted in the formation of good bacteria before they can thrive.
Remember you need 3 things to make an aquarium go through its initial cycle: bacteria, fish (fish waste), and fish food (oxygen also, but we’re assuming you set up your aquarium correctly).
To learn more about caring for fish aquariums, reach out to Aquatic Warehouse. We carry a wide array of high-quality supplies to help you properly maintain your aquatic environment. Visit our store in Kearny Mesa, or give us a call today at 858-467-9297 to speak with one of our knowledgeable representatives.