PB_Smith
Aquarium Advice Addict
I wonder why anaerobic bacteria are not attempted more for freshwater? Are we a bunch of slackers??
Three main reasons;
1) nitrate is far less toxic to freshwater fish and is very toxic to corals and inverts kept in reef tanks.
2) live plants help utilize the nitrates and keep the levels low.
3) It is much safer/easier to do a large water change in fresh water than it is in saltwater, so in fresh you can also keep nitrates under control with more frequent/larger WC's than are safe in a reef tank.
but beyond that it is actually kinda hard as the two types of bacteria have opposite environmental needs, but I guarantee that all types reside in an established tank.
One other thing to bear in mind is that the colonies of anaerobic bacteria take about 2-3 times longer to get established in a tank and they reproduce much slower.
So while it takes 4-6 weeks for the aerobic bacteria to take hold, it takes 8-12 weeks for the anaerobic colonies to really flourish.