Nitrifying Bacteria Population
VS Heavy Bio-Load Ratio Reaction
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Compiled by Debbie and
Stan Hauter
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Population  |
VS |
Bio-Load  |
| Whether you have a newly cycled tank or a well established one, whenever the bio-load placed on the aquarium "exceeds" the beneficial bacteria population in it, a spiking or recycling problem of some degree will occur. |
When the bio-load placed
on the aquarium is so heavy that the bacteria are overwhelmed, an ammonia
spike associated with the reapperance of nitrite will in all likelihood
occur until the bacteria can multiply in numbers large enough to equal
the bio-load and consume it. With this type of "excessive overload" it
may take a week or two, or even longer for the tank to level out and become
stable again.
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STOP!!! DO NOT ADD ANYTHING NEW TO THE TANK! In this situation your aquarium is reacting as if it were somewhere in the "second phase" of the nitrogen cycling process. To what degree of severity the ammonia and nitrite levels will rise depends on how heavy of a bio-overload it is dealing with. It is suggested to treat the tank as one that is new and still cycling, which is to wait until the ammonia and nitrite levels return to zero, and then proceed as if it were a newly cycled tank. ~Debbie & Stan Hauter |
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