Aquarium and Pond Care with EcoBio-Block

Initial conditioning of aquarium water, also known as “aquarium cycle,” can be one of the most stressful tasks in fish keeping. Oftentimes, when pet owners decide to add fishes to their extended family, they want to acquire the new pets right away, especially when they’ve visited the fish store and have fallen in love with some of the lovely creatures there. Conditioning a fish tank to make it suitable for the new fish — a process that normally takes weeks — could be a real test of patience.

Many new fish keepers make the mistake of taking shortcuts when cycling new aquariums. It’s a mistake quite easy to make because cycling involves the growth and proliferation of essential bacteria, which are invisible to the naked eye. Without a clear understanding of how cycling conditions the water into a healthy environment for fish, pet owners will tend to become impatient and cut corners along the aquarium cycle process, to the detriment of the fish.

The time frame that water conditioning follows depends on how fast beneficial bacteria are grown and colonized in the aquarium. Growth and colonization, in turn, depends on how much bacteria is introduced into the tank in the first place, and how much “food” is available with which the bacteria can continue to multiply. For the nitrosomonas bacteria, its food is ammonia, and for the nitrobacter, its food is the nitrites produced by the nitrosomonas.

In traditional cycling, a few hardy fishes are added to a newly setup tank to provide the ammonia to feed the nitrosomonas. This process normally takes several weeks to condition the water, not to mention the potential fish fatalities associated with the spikes in ammonia and nitrites during the process. Traditional cycling is stressful not only to the fish but to the owners as well.

In fishless cycling, on the other hand, household ammonia is used to treat a new tank to grow the bacteria. This method may spare the fish sacrifice, but diligence is required in regularly adding ammonia and closely monitoring water quality. The conditioning still takes several weeks, which can prove taxing especially when there’s nothing interesting to watch in the tank.

For fish keepers who don’t appreciate having to wait many weeks to cycle their aquarium, the solution is a highly rapid growth and proliferation of beneficial bacteria in the tank. The quickest ways to grow bacteria includes bringing in already prolific colonies from a healthy established aquarium, adding commercially available bacteria cultures to the tank, and/or putting a bacteria-multiplying product called EcoBio-Block in the habitat.

The EcoBio-Block Family Products are mineral-rich porous volcanic stones that are embedded with beneficial bacteria called “bacillus subtilis natto” from Japan, including the nutrients they need to proliferate. Once the EcoBio-Block is placed in water, the bacteria immediately come to life and multiply every half hour, performing the nitrification process associated with cycling and overall water conditioning. This special strain of bacteria effectively degrades organic matter and makes the tank clear, healthy, and odor-free for years.

With the fast-multiplying EcoBio-Block strain of bacillus subtilis natto, there’s no need to wait anxiously for many weeks before bringing fishes to their new home. Also, because of the continuous growth and proliferation of EcoBio-Block bacteria, maintaining ideal water conditions should henceforth be stress-free.

Aquarium Cycling Using EcoBio-Rock

Much of an aquarium’s success depends on the tank’s startup. Setting up a healthy freshwater fish habitat involves a complex process of bacterial growth and sustenance even before the tank’s intended inhabitants are introduced to their new home.

Aquarium cycling, or the process of cultivating beneficial bacteria that make the water quality ideal for the fishes, can be done in three different ways: fishless cycling using household ammonia, traditional cycling with “starter fish,” and infusion of “canned” live bacteria. The main objective is to grow large communities of two types of bacteria – one that converts toxic waste products or ammonia into less toxic nitrites, and one that converts nitrites into relatively non-toxic nitrates, which plants absorb as fertilizer. Sufficient beneficial bacteria ensure that the water quality remains ideal for healthy fishes.

In the fishless cycling method, initial bacteria are acquired from a healthy and stable aquarium. A small quantity of substrate, décor, filter media, or plants from long-established setups is introduced to a newly assembled tank, then a regimen of regular treatments of household ammonia feeds the bacteria until water testing results reach the desired stable level. This method normally takes several weeks depending on how quickly the bacteria multiply. Fish are introduced only after the tank has stabilized.

Traditional cycling involves the use of starter fish, which are usually hardy species like tetras, danios, and some livebearers. The waste products of the starter fishes feed and cultivate the beneficial bacteria. More fishes are added a few at a time until a growing community of bacteria is able to sustain a stable water quality for the intended inhabitants of the tank. Similar to fishless cycling, traditional cycling can take several weeks to stabilize, with some of the starter fishes failing to survive the stressful cycling period.

Cycling with “canned” bacteria is a method that relies on commercially prepared bacterial cultures. These cultures are marketed specifically for cycling aquariums, some claiming to make a tank ready for its intended inhabitants within several hours. As with other cycling methods, regular water testing must be conducted to monitor spikes in ammonia or nitrites, which are best addressed by partial water changes or additional infusion of the bacterial culture.

Undoubtedly, ideal water conditions depend on the community of beneficial bacteria in the tank. One type of beneficial bacteria that has been used extensively in water conditioning is bacillus subtilis natto. Uniquely cultured in Japan, the bacteria degrade ammonia and nitrites into safer nitrates, keeping the water clear and odor-free. Bacillus subtilis natto is currently used only in EcoBio-Block products, which are mineral-rich porous volcanic stones that disperse these fast-propagating bacteria regularly into the water, keeping the levels of beneficial bacteria consistently high. EcoBio-Block products aid in cycling and remain effective in maintaining ideal water conditions for approximately two years.

Whatever cycling option is preferred, as long as beneficial bacteria are prolific and actively breaking down toxic elements in the water, the aquarium will remain a healthy environment for the fish.

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