Aquarium/Pond Filtration Summary

**darxtar** · 22-12-2009, 01:53 PM

Sekedar sharing, kalo ada kekurangan atau ada yang salah mohon ditambahkan.
==============================
Aquarium/Pond Filtration Summary

To minimize the lost of fishes and hassle in maintenance, all aquarist (people who want/like to keep fishes/water creatures) MUST use filtration system, MUST understand the nitrogen cycle and some basic water parameters such as PH (acidity) and GH/KH (hardness)

We need to have 3 kind of filtration in our filter (2 of which is mandatory) in the following order:
A. Mechanical filtration (Mandatory) to remove debris. i.e: Vortex system, expensive filtermat/jap mat (recommended), sand filter. This will have to be cleaned/replaced regularly.
B. Biological filtration (Mandatory) to remove ammonia and nitrite as in the Nitrogen Cycle. i.e: Bioballs (recommended), ceramic ring, crushed coral, gravel.
C. Chemical filtration (Optional) to remove colour and dissolved chemical such as medication. i.e. active carbon (recommended), zeolit (not recommended because it is not work if we add salt, or worse it will release ammonia that previously absorbed if we add salt)

We will also need proper aeration, either using air pump or setup a waterfall.

Nitrogen Cycle

Fish => Ammonia (NH3/NH4) => Nitrite (NO2) => Nitrate (NO3)

- Fish produce Ammonia (NH4/NH3) constantly
- Bacteria called Nitrosococcus (Previously believed as Nitrosomonas) eat Ammonia and produce Nitrite (NO2)
- Another bacteria called Nitrospira (Previously believed as Nitrobacter) eat Nitrite and produce Nitrate NO3
- NO3 will be released to the air with good aeration or absorbed by water plant (if any)

Some Toxicity Facts
- With PH =6, Ammonia is dangerously toxic at level 10 ppm (mg/l)
- With PH =7, Ammonia is dangerously toxic at level 1 ppm (mg/l)
- With PH =8, Ammonia is dangerously toxic at level 0.1 ppm (mg/l)
- Nitrite (NO2) is Toxic al level 5 ppm (mg/l) or above, more toxic with PH <7 (in contrast with ammonia)
- Nitrate (NO3) is less toxic, however could be dangerous at level 50ppm or above.
- Adding aquarium salt (not kitchen salt) between 0.1% - 0.3% will reduce the nitrite toxic effect.

Some Nitrifying Bacteria Facts
- Both Nitrifying bacteria (Nitrosococcus & Nitrospira) are colonized on hard surface. Thus we need to provide media with lots of surface to host these bacteria, such as bioball, ceramic ring, gravel, crushed coral, filter mat etc.
- For new filtration system, it will take approx 10 days for Nitrosococcus to mature and consume almost all ammonia produced by fish.
- It will take approx additional 20 days after that to have Nitrospira to mature and consume all Nitrite produce by Nitrosococcus.
- Nitrosococcus will not start grow if the Ammonia level still high.
- Both bacteria require oxygen, thus proper aeration required. More is better.

Summary
1. Need to keep PH between 7-8.
2. Need to keep Ammonia (NH3/NH4) and Nitrite close to 0 ppm.
3. Need to maintain balance between numbers of fishes, size of aquarium/pond (Water volume) and the filtration system. Bigger water volume and bigger filter always better.

Practical Tips on How To
1. Build/buy as big as possible aquarium/pond. Bigger is better.
2. Build/buy as big as possible filtration system (up to 30% of the pond/aquarium size) if we plan to crowd the aquarium/pond. Bigger is better.
3. Keep as less as possible numbers of fishes. Less is better.
4. To keep PH above 7, we can use aquarium salt and/or crushed coral. Crushed coral will increase the hardness (KH) for which can prevent the dramatic PH Swing.
5. To keep Ammonia and Nitrite close to 0, we need to have both Nitrosococcus and Nitrospira matured in the filtration system. Use lots of filter media that can host these bacteria. The cheapest recommended media is Bioballs.
6. Add 0.2%-0.3% aquarium salt (that is 2-3kg per 1000 ltr) to maintain PH and reduce nitrite toxic effect.
7. If we are not patience and want to add fish immediately, we should buy at least the PH, NH4/NH3, and NO2 test kit to monitor the water parameter continuously.
8. If we found the Ammonia or Nitrite level is dangerous, the easiest way to reduce it is by having partial water change as often as possible and then stop feeding the fish for 2-3 weeks.
9. The recommended way to let the filter cycle is to buy 3 cheap fishes (which we will not regret if the fish die), give lots of food and wait for 30 days.
10. Setup waterfall or install airpump, in the pond/aquarium and in the filter(or near filter intake). We can aerate the water near the filter intake at the pond/aquarium to ensure the water that flow into filter is aerated to increase the dissolved oxygen required by the nitrifying bacteria in the biological filter.

Some facts related to Fish health
- High level of Ammonia and nitrites are toxic and may reduce fish immune system. For which fish would be more vulnerable to diseases such as ulcer and other bacterial infection such as popped eye and pot belly.
- Poor water condition will also trigger the boom of parasites such as: Lernaea - Anchor worm, Argulus - The Fish Louse, Dactylogyrus - The Gill Fluke, Gyrodactylus - The Skin Fluke. These parasites may cause damage to fish tissue which may trigger further infection (ulcer) if left untreated.
- To kill parasites the most effective way is by using dimilin available at fish shops with dose 1 gram per m3 of water, priced at Rp. 25000 / 5gram.
- To heal ulcer, we can use methylene blue and/or malachite green according to the dose as specified in the bottle. (1 drop for 4 ltr of water) Recommended brand is Blitz Ich priced Rp. 5000/bottle at fish shops.
- If the ulcer infections seems bad use Tetracycline with dose 1 capsule/ m3 of water daily for 3-5 days. Tetracycline can be found at regular drug store (Apotik) priced at Rp. 3000/ stripe (10 Capsules)

**Rizal61** · 22-12-2009, 02:52 PM