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nitrogen cycle
Bacteria and the Nitrogen Cycle
Dead and decaying material, fish waste, and left-over food will all produce ammonia in an aquarium, ammonia is very toxic to most forms of marine life.
In a process called the Nitrogen Cycle, bacteria will utilize the ammonia and produce nitrites which is still toxic but less so than ammonia. The bacteria that utilize ammonia do so in an environment with oxygen and are called aerobic bacteria. Aerobic bacteria also utilize nitrites and produce less toxic nitrate. Other bacteria that only live in an environment without oxygen, anaerobic bacteria, will utilize the nitrate and reduce it to nitrogen gas that can safely be emitted from the tank in the form of tiny nitrogen bubbles. Again, ammonia and nitrite are very toxic to most marine life, nitrate is much less toxic. However, these forms of nitrogen are used by algae as food. This algae may be in the form of ugly nuisance algae that overruns your reef tank and turns your relaxing hobby into an eyesore that is a chore to constantly clean, so you will want to eliminate as much nitrogen waste in your reef tank as possible. To measure the water levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate use Salifert brand test kits. They are accurate, inexpensive, and easy to use. These test kits are available from most online reef related dry goods suppliers. To test for pH, you should use an electronic pH monitor because all saltwater pH test kits are inaccurate and the results are unreliable. Get a Pinpoint brand pH monitor and keep it calibrated for the best pH monitoring, these are also available from most dry goods dealers for about $100.
A Reef Aquarium Is All About Balance
The key to running a successful and nuisance algae free reef tank is balancing the wastes (ammonia leading to nitrite then nitrate) produced by the inhabitants in the tank and nutrients added to the tank in the forms of impure freshwater and food balanced with nutrient and waste exports it is a critical balancing act that can mean the difference between live or dead fish and corals or a beautiful reef and one overgrown by algae. The goal is to remove as much waste as possible and then rapidly reduce any remaining wastes into nitrogen gas and have it emitted from the tank. To do this you must balance the amount of animal waste and food or other nutrients added to the tank with the amount of waste and nutrients taken out of the tank. To do this most folks use several means of nutrient removal.
A good protein skimmer can remove some waste, a sand bed can harbor aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that break down wastes including nitrates into nitrogen gas but a sandbed can also become a nutrient sink, water changes can remove some nutrients and waste and dilute the amounts of remaining waste, algae utilize waste as food this can be in the form of ugly nuisance algae growing in your main tank or as intentionally kept macro algae in a separate refugium that grows and uses wastes as food. Cured live rock also has anaerobic bacteria deep inside and aerobic bacteria on its surface and these bacteria drive the nitrogen cycle that turns waste to ammonia, then nitrite, then nitrate, and eventually nitrogen gas. Good quality cured live rock is the foundation for your reef tank's waste management system, and the support structure on which corals will be placed.
