Your aquarium is a living ecosystem which provides a safe, clean environment for your fish to live & thrive in. The biggest aspect of this environment is its chemical & biological composition!

There are various chemicals which reside in your aquarium naturally, these chemicals are -

• Ammonia

• Nitrite

• Nitrate

These chemicals operate in a step by step process.

Ammonia is produced as a by-product from the waste your fish produce as well as from left-over food you feed them! Ammonia is a toxic element when found in an aquarium that can cause the gills of your fish to turn red as well as causing red, abrasive wounds known as ammonia burn to appear on your fish. This element is toxic and must be removed to keep your aquarium healthy. Luckily for us aquarists as well as our fishy friends, a natural process occurs through bacteria that cultures and grows on every surface within our aquariums - most commonly on media which sits within our filtration systems .

This bacteria effectively eats the ammonia, converting it into the next step of the process!

Nitrite is produced as a by product of the ammonia eating bacterium. Nitrite is also toxic to aquatic life (sensing a common trend here?)

Nitrite causes fish to struggle in retaining oxygen, causing their immune systems to weaken leaving them susceptible to diseases within your aquarium. Long term exposure to high levels has been known to permanently cause damage to their immune response causing their life spans to reduce significantly! Thankfully a second set of bacteria exists to solve this problem, feasting on the nitrite to their hearts content.

The by product of this 2 course dinner produces Nitrate, the last of the 3 elements which form the nitrogenic cycle.

Nitrate is the last step of this imperative cycle, having much the same impact on fish as Nitrite, affecting their immune system and creating a dangerous environment for your aquatic animals.

Nitrate can be the most difficult to remove as the bacterium which eats it lives primarily in a anaerobic environment, which means a non oxygenated environment (difficult considering fish need oxygen to live!)

Luckily, a very simple process exists to remove Nitrate - regular water changes!

That leads us onto Maintenance!

Maintenance of your system involves a multitude of tasks, this can range from water changes to the cleaning of algae off your aquarium glass.

Close attention to your filtration systems including the quality of your filter media, plumbing and how much build up of waste product in your system allows us to understand what condition your aquarium is in.

This gives us the ability to create a maintenance plan focused on keeping your aquarium in tip top shape!

Below is a small snapshot of the services we offer -

• Glass cleaning

• water changes

• filter cleaning

• Siphoning of the substrate (Sand, rocks or gravel that you have on the bottom of your tank)

• Health check on the aquarium’s inhabitants