Bacterial initial phase

Beneficial bacteria in the aquarium

Cleansing bacteria – millions of little helpers for your aquarium

In each biotope, even in your aquarium, beneficial bacteria take care of the degradation of pollutants and therefore maintain the biological balance.

When is the issue of "bacterial help" important for your aquarium?

There are situations in which you should definitely seek bacterial help. These include in detail:

Bacteria to support plant growth

When setting up a new aquarium a very interesting and effective way to promote plant growth and to prevent blue-green algae (Cyanophyceae) is by inoculating the substrate with mixed cultures of bacteria. These bacteria colonise the substrate immediately and thus prevent harmful bacteria (Cyanobacteria = blue-green algae) from doing so. At the same time they have the properties to supply the plant roots with soil-bound nutrients and minerals. These bacteria visibly promote plant growth! JBL has with JBL PROSCAPE PLANT START such a product in its range.

After filter cleaning or when using a new filter

The majority of the cleansing bacteria live in your filter. After cleaning and, of course, when starting a new filter, you need to re-establish the bacterial strain. For this purpose JBL FilterStart has been developed, whose contents comply with JBL Denitrol , but has a higher concentration and is suitable for filters up to three litres.

In case of troublesome ammonium (NH4) and/or nitrite values (NO2)

If the nitrite is measurable and/or the ammonium test indicates critical levels you need to search for the cause, as described under Daily care , carry out a partial water change and add useful bacteria with JBL Denitrol . But also bear in mind that the bacteria in Denitrol need a few hours before they become active. This means that an improvement of the values can’t be expected AT ONCE, as it comes after a delay of several hours. Please also remember that a water change can raise the pH value when there are high ammonium levels, changing a large part of the non-toxic ammonium into toxic ammonia. A cautious reduction of the pH concentration with JBL pH-Minus can solve the problem of a high ammonia level (NH3).

A very effective alternative is the addition of JBL Denitrol , which converts the harmful nitrogen compounds ammonium/ammonia as well as nitrite into non-toxic amines. This process starts immediately after the addition of the product and solves the problem of poisoning right away. However, it does not, of course, eliminate the causes such as overstocking or overfeeding. Therefore after applying the immediate solution, you’ll need to optimise the care conditions and add helping bacteria with JBL Denitrol to get the system back under control long term.

Initial setup of your aquarium

Run-in phase

What do you need to consider during the initial phase (run-in phase) of your aquarium? When can you add fish?

Find out more

How to start an aquarium?

Why do we need a bacteria starter? What happens if we run an aquarium without a bacteria starter? We show how to take the right steps to start an aquarium. Biologist Heiko Blessin explains in a clear and understandable way how to give an aquarium the right start with water conditioner and bacterial starter.