The Nitrogen Cycle

Here we see that, it takes roughly 6 weeks (against 4 weeks from some local online forum) to say that enough 'good' bacteria is present in the biofilter, taking into account the bacterial growth rate (e.g. 24 hours splitting for the second stage), etc to handle the ammonia produced by the fish tank's occupant(s).

Note that I wrote 'enough' to indicate that of population rather than 'mature' which would imply stability as it takes longer to mature the biofilter. In some online sources, give or take 6 months should be a good take off point assuming the following conditions are met: no sudden increases in 'bioload' from addition of new or more fishes, or decaying organic matters (excess feeding or uneaten food, poor filter media maintenance, die-offs, etc.) and, adequate oxygenation (which is an entire topic on its own that I will be dealing with in later posts). Suffice to say that oxygen is a necessity for both the fish and the bacteria as the bacteria do require the element to convert ammonia to the other by-products. Although there are other pathways, this is the major one.

Next I will be writing on this 'little' knowledge of nitrification into practical applications in the hobbyist's day to day situation.