Nitrogen Cycle Question - Air Pump

[seranko]

Guyz,

I have a new (15 days) Planted 75 Gallon Tank with 15 Neon Tetra, fluval 404 canister filter, CO2 with Carbo Plus and 250 Watts (12 hours per day).

The tank finished the first cycle (Ammonia) and 3 days ago started the Nitrite cycle. I'm doing 20 % daily water change in the mornings, adding Stress Coat and salt every day. Salt in small quantities. I used "Cycle" to accelerate the Ammonia-Nitrite cycle.

The ammonia is stable, really close to 0, PH is 6.8, Nitrite is 2 ppm after every change, goes up 4 ppm, Nitrates 20 or something like that, and Temp 86 F stable.

I've read that Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter are aerobic bacteria and need a constant flow of oxygen in order to survive and to perform their tasks, Can I connect in the Filter's water input an air pump (running small air quantities) in order to accelerate the process ??? Normally, how long takes the Nitrite-Nitrate cycle ???

Do I still have to add "Cycle" since my tank is in Nitrite-Nitrate cycle ??? I tested the "Cycle" product and shows that only contains Nitrite, so I'm scared to add more Nitrites if I already have to many.

Another question is maintenance, when and how should I do it since my tank is 15 days ???


Thanks for your advice,


Seranko

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

There is oxygen dissolved in water, which is what the bacteria (and your fish) utilize. Air bubbles in of themselves do not increase the dissolved oxygen...what they can do, is provide some surface agitation, so that there is better gas exchange at the surface.

Regardless, increasing the dissolved oxygen in your water would not increase the rate of bacterial growth. The growth of the bacteria that oxidize nitrite to nitrate is generally much slower than the growth of the ammonia oxidizers, because the oxidation of nitrite is not a very engergetic reaction. Patience is the key.

The product "cycle" doesn't actually give you much of a leg-up on anything, from my understanding (it doesn't contain the appropriate bacteria). The only product (and I assume it'll be patented as such) that contains the appropriate bacteria is bio-spira. Wouldn't bother with the cycle at this point....worst case scenario, it actually could muck things up in your tank, and for right now things aren't looking too bad. Remember to only add enough salt to replace what was taken out in your water changes.

If you have a great deal of waste and uneaten food in your gravel, you might want to do a small gravel vac. the problem is that this can set back your cycle, since a great deal of the bacteria initially colonize there. You can split it up, vaccuum only the gravel on one half of the tank, or something.

 

[seranko]

Thanks sweetsuvvyb for your advice . I don't really have problems with waste or uneaten food, usually I feed the fish in small quantities, when they finish I feed again. I have been changing the water w/o vac.

What do you guys think about the canister filter's maintenance ??? In my fluval 404 I have (bottom to top) foam, carbon, ammonia remover and Biomax.

Thanks again for your help,

Seranko

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

I don't have a canister filter, so you might want to wait for someone else to jump in. Take a look at this thread, though, in the Freshwater General Discussion forum:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=12083

I think you could probably take out the "ammonia remover"...the only purpose it's serving is inhibiting the growth of your bacterial colonies (I think you'll find that you have a much stronger biological filter, and thus a much more stable tank, if you don't use products that remove ammonia...either filter inserts or additives).

Carbon is also not generally a necessity. I use it to keep my water from tinting (driftwood), but to keep it effective, it needs to be changed once a month. Filter media (floss or foam) can last a lot longer (my filter uses cartridges that I rinse in tank water when they get really mucked up...every 2 weeks or so...they then last for a couple months).