Equipment Review and Discussion :: Nitrogen cycle / your best friend

Various accessories and equipment discussed here.

Post Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:12 am   Nitrogen cycle / your best friend

Even the best filter on the market is not designed to do everything. Especially when most come with a media setup for fish. Once at the first pad on a fish setup will become block up and require maintenance quickly. You know how we all just love doing maintenance especially that weekly type. To help a filter do it’s job more efficiently for a turtle one must do your part by changing the media to a setup that works for turtles. Also instead of chemicals use nature , the nitrogen cycle. This will break down solid waste to dissolved waste so a good media setup in the filter will catch it and “hold” it. Like some pre filter material and lots of bio media. One can read up on this and must discern the documented fact of it if done correctly. A cycle if maintained the bio media will hold and grow “good bacteria” doing most of the work for you and the filter. A foam pre filter media catches the dissolved waste to protect the bio media so it can do it’s job. Bulk waste not clogging up the first pad it touches. Proper percentages on water changes are important to match your setup. Large water changes will only cause blooms clouding up your water killing off a cycle. Smaller is better until you find the correct percentage needed to maintain the cycle for your setup.
A cycle is to help dissolve solid waste with good bacteria and to convert toxic ammonia to nitrite’s which are still toxic then converted to a safer nitrate. That’s your part now , only way to remove nitrates are partial water changes on a schedule at correct %’s to maintain the cycle. With ammonia at (0) and nitrites at (0) yes a cycle is started “only”. Once correct percentages on water changes are achieved and you have the nitrates at (0) then and only then is a cycle “maintained” ! Across the board all at (0). This is a learning curve , takes patience. Will greatly help your filter work much better and you on all that weekly maintenance. If not you will always be starting the cycle all over again which kills off all that “good bacteria” you want. Just to have a cycle start takes several weeks even if you seed a tank. Then it’s your job to maintain it along with the good bio media setup ! This method can get you away from that weekly maintenance you just love doing. I do not have anything in my filter setup that can not last months not even carbon. I have another method for that so I don’t have to open filter for several months because carbon must be changed in 4-5 weeks. If a nitrogen cycle is used and a good bio setup and your water changes are scheduled at the correct percentages the water in the tank even the day before it’s filter cleaning time will stay crystal clear. The filter will catch and hold the dissolved waste. Then a simple squeeze and rinse is all needed and done. If one’s maintenance schedule is based on when the tank water gets cloudy and dirty then you media setup is not working for you , must adjust properly the media to your setup and use the nitrogen cycle. I do this for my 125 gallon setup and do maintenance once every 3 months and because of this method even the day before cleaning my filter the water is still crystal clear, filter catches and holds the dissolved waste. Very simple and easy if one use’s correct percentages on water changes to maintain a cycle. It’s worth doing a little reading on a nitrogen cycle to help a filter work more efficiently unless you just love doing all that weekly or even monthly maintenance. Also never use tap water to clean bio media it kill's your good bacteria ! Use the tank water you remove on the water changes to simply rinse it off. That grayish brown stuff is you good bacteria needed ! This is all for that living animal in our care.
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