In youre pond and aquarium things can wrong when there are to much
waste products produced by youre pond and aquarium animals
For this reason its important to have an basic understanding of
the nitrogen cycle.
That cycle starts with ammonia.
Ammonia
Ammonia is produced by all animals by there urine, dead animals
or plants and food waste. Ammonia is very toxic so if there
is no removal of ammonia , poisioning of youre
animals will soon occur. Nitrosomonas bacteria remove the ammonia
by transforming ammonia into nitrite. Nitrosomas bacteria are
slowly growing, and they need oxygen.
**problems with ammonia are most fequent seen at the startup
of a pond or aquarium, as there are no nitrosomas bacteria.
**Dead fish and waste food are the other causes of ammoniapoisioning.
Nitrite
Nitrite is produced by nitrosomas bacteria and removed by
nitrobacter bacteria. One sees only problems in nitrite levels
if the filter is cleaned and thus the Nitrsomasbacteria are
removed
Nitrate
Nitrate is produced by nitrobacter bacteria and removed by plants.
If there are to little plants ,nitrate fill be a danger for youre
pond and aquarium animals. Nitrate is no poison but a fertilizer
and algae will become a problem if nitrate is to high.
**Nitrate problems arise with to little waterplants or to much fish.
Duckweed
Duckweed is a floating waterplant that has the unique
quality to use Ammonia and nitrite and nitrate directly,
so without the help of bacteria. More about this here
