Denitrification for your new aquarium by Dolphin Pet Village
Dentrification:
The third and last stage in biological filtration is dentrification. Dentrification is the biological reduction or breakdown of nitrate and nitrite to either nitrous oxide or free nitrogen. The above steps continue over and over on a daily basis, but not as dramatically as in the initial cycle, because there are now millions upon millions of each type of bacteria to carry on the process without notice.
The reason for cycling an aquarium with hardy species initially is that many species of fish cannot tolerate the high levels of ammonia and nitrite that develop during the 3 to 6 week process, and thus, would kill them. Fortunately for the aquarist, these hardy “starter” type fish are tolerant to the high chemical levels, and are readily available and inexpensive.
The “starter” fish should not be removed and your “ideal” community fish added until it has been verified by chemically testing your water to confirm that the nitrification, or colonization of sufficient bacteria has been completed. The test should be conducted with a fresh sample of water from your aquarium. Water over one hour old, or that seems excessively warm or cold could give a false reading. The container used to transport the test water should be clean (free of any residue) with an airtight lid. Zip lock bags are best.
The following tests should be done on your initial water sample:
1. – Ammonia
2. – Nitrites
3. – pH
All the tests, except for pH should register at the bottom of the test color chart.
