I'll tell you how long it takes to change the water for fish tanks and when to add nitrifying bacteria?
I received a question like this under my comment section, which was roughly like this: 'When changing water, is the water that is put in the same water as the three days of water? Or is it directly using tap water? How long after opening the tank should water be added? Although I have received many questions about water changes, this question is somewhat more special. In these past few articles, we will all use them to answer various questions from fish friends, so please feel free to leave questions in the comment section or private message. Okay, let's get back to the main topic and answer this question.'
What water should be used for water changes?
The questioner gave two options: water that has been aged for more than three days, or tap water. Water that has been aged for more than three days is generally called 'aged water', and aged water can remove chlorine. Directly using tap water contains chlorine gas. Chlorine is a substance that harms the gills of ornamental fish. Although chlorine will eventually evaporate after it enters the water, it will harm the gills of ornamental fish if it enters the water early on. If the fish tank is full of gill-breathing fish, it doesn't matter, chlorine will not harm their gills. But if you use gill-breathing fish, you need to use aged water to replace it.
In addition to chlorine gas that evaporates after aged water, fish friends living in rural areas can use well water to change water, which will be more convenient. Therefore, fish friends living in cities should collect two buckets of water and place them in a cool place, and when changing water, they can use it. Even some fish friends use mineral water to change water, of course, most people, including me, don't have this condition, so don't use so expensive water for water changes. Next, let's enter the next topic: how long does it take to add nitrifying bacteria after opening a tank?
How long after opening the tank does it need to add nitrifying bacteria?
Why do we need to 'cycle' water after opening a tank? The 'cycling' process is actually to cultivate nitrifying bacteria and establish a bacterial system. We often add nitrifying bacteria at the beginning when the tank is just opened, which shortens the cycling time. In fact, most nitrifying bacteria are bacterial cultures, and live bacteria are relatively few. The culture itself is bacteria food.
After the water is well-cycled, bacteria have multiplied a lot. The questioner asks how long it takes to add more bacteria. My answer is that after the water is well-cycled, you don't need to add nitrifying bacteria anymore. The bacterial system is basically stable in the later stage. They are constantly dying and reproducing, and the population is gradually increasing. In the later stage, there are many fish in the fish tank, and you can provide food for the bacteria, so adding bacterial culture is unnecessary, and even adds more burden to the bacterial system. Bacteria are not omnipotent.
If you add bacteria in order to make the water look clearer and more transparent, it is unrealistic. When you add bacteria, the water will be more turbid, and after a while, the turbidity will be the same as before. The only way to make the water clear is to improve physical filtration. Physical filtration, such as the holes in the filter cotton, are too large, and some small impurities will leak out, so it won't filter impurities. Improve physical filtration while increasing the water pump power. Physical filtration solves turbidity, while bacteria solve the decomposition of harmful substances.
Adding bacteria is actually not a panacea. Perhaps the questioner is worried that bacteria will die off and decrease, until they are all dead. This doesn't need to be worried about. The speed of bacterial division and reproduction is faster than the speed of death. They will not decrease, but increase.
If you really need to add bacteria every three to five days, bacteria in the ocean, in nature, must be dead.
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