THE 7 STEPS OF THE NITROGEN CYCLE

When starting a new tank (or pond) you must “cycle” your aquarium (pond).

The Seven Steps must be complete to cultivate the right bacteria in your filter system by allowing nature to take it’s course.  Do not expect a tank or pond to be ready to introduce livestock as soon as you fill it with water.   If you start off without a bacteria colony in your fitration system, you will need to do frequent water changes to bring the ammonia and nitrites to a safe level.    The Nitrogen Cycle will be complete in about six weeks (+/- 2 weeks on average) to be complete.

There are seven steps in the Nitrogen Cyclce.  Once your tank (pond) is fully cycled, your system will have the right biological and chemical balance for livestock.

Step 1:   Waste from livestock (fish respiration, waste, plant waste) creates the ideal habitat for good bacteria.   This is the start of the cycle.  Most people start with a few very inexpensive fish in their pond or aquarium.  Some people use a piece of shrimp to start the cycle in their aquarium

Step 2:  Waste creates ammonia in the water (the water will look hazy).   Ammonia is deadly toxic to livestock.

Step 3:   Nitrosonomas bacteria consume Ammonia.

Step 4:   Nitrosonomas bacteria produce Nitrites (convert Ammonia to Nitrites).    Nitrites is deadly toxic to livestock.

Step 5:  Nitrospira bacteria consume the nitrites and produce Nitrates (great plant fertilizer).

Step 6:   When Nitrites are converted to Nitrates, the ammonia and nitrites will be equal to zero and nitrates will be less than 10 ppm.   At this point the aquarium / pond is fully cycled and can support livestock.    The pH may need to be adjusted to a neutral range during this process—adjust the pH slowly until it is in the desired range for your livestock.

Steps 7:  Add fish slowly!  You want to keep pace of the waste stream and keep the bacteria balanced so the ammonia and nitrite stay a zero!   Nitrate is toxic over 30ppm–it is best to target keeping nitrates less than 10 ppm.   You will need to do a 20% water change once per month or 10% every two weeks.    You should also consider products to lower nitrates if water changes are less frequent.   It’s a balance—fish and plant waste / water changes / filter media changes.

Happy Fish Keeping!

Pond De-Icer’s and Heaters

Keep a hole open on your pond during freezing weather!  It is very important to keep a small hole open in the ice to allow gasses to escape.  These gasses will kill your pond creatures!

Pond Heaters and De-icers do not heat the pond, they are designed to just keeps the immediate area from freezing over to allow toxic gasses to escape.

Options to keep the hole open in the ice:

• Pond Heater / de-icer will keep the water temperature around 40 ºF around the unit, therefore keep the hole open in the ice.
• An aeration / air pump and air stones (make sure it is protected from the elements).
• You can also use child’s bouncy floating ball to keep a hole in the ice.
• Warning! Never bang the ice to open keep it open, this can kill your fish (concussion).

July Pond Tips:

Why is aeration necessary in my pond?

The Importance of Oxygen!

Fish, snails, and tadpoles all need oxygen to survive underwater. The invisible life, like bacteria, that keep the pond water clean also require oxygen to keep the pond healthy. Oxygen enters the pond by diffusing into the water from the atmosphere. Submerged aquatic plants also produce oxygen during the day.

Decomposing algae and fish waste, plus the normal respiration of aquatic life, use up the oxygen faster than it can diffuse back into the pond water.

Importance of oxygen in ponds:

This is especially true during hot summer months. The warmer the pond water is, the less oxygen it can hold.

You must run an aeration device like a fountain or waterfall 24-hours a day, especially in summer.

Do not turn off the pond pump at night. The pond will continue to use up the oxygen. Turning off the pond pump during this crucial time could result in finding dead fish floating on the pond surface.

Pond plants provide oxygen during the day and give off carbon dioxide when the sun goes down.   If you pond does not have enough dissolved oxygen, you will notice your fish ‘piping’ at the surface–they are suffering and could die.  Oxygen is very important to all aquatic creatures!

What do you know about Complete Water Changes?

Are you thinking about doing a complete water change because your pond has too much muck and algae? Before doing that, you may want to consider what will happen to the good bacteria keeping your pond ecosystem balanced.

It is important that you do not completely change the pond water! Doing this will result in the loss of all your “good” bacteria and this has been known to make algae problems worse! Without the “good” bacteria in place, your pond is no longer a balanced ecosystem. You tend to see less algae in mature ponds because the good bacteria has been allowed to grow and multiply for years.

Try to avoid Complete Water Changes and your pond will become balanced, keeping your fish happy!