After talking for a long time, everyone didn't say hello to us, which hurt self-esteem. No wonder we are too young. If you don't use a microscope, you can't see us at all. Well, since we can't be seen, let's describe ourselves: we are all slim and call us "Bacillus" (like telephone poles). After bathing in Gram stain (special stain for bacteria), we are all red. Most of our compatriots have long flagella. With it, we can swim freely in the water like rowing.
Do you know our importance? I'm not bragging. If it weren't for our two brothers, it would be almost impossible for us to raise fish and grow grass in the aquarium. Uncle Guan will lose his job, too Really, show it off for everyone.
Nitrogen is ubiquitous in everyone's haystacks. It can be found in aquatic plants, fish, feed, algae and even fish feces. It is the basic element of protein. Then, where are the rotten leaves of aquatic plants, dead fish, unfinished feed, apoptotic algae and nitrogen in fish feces? Some people may say that I never paid attention to them, but they all disappeared in the end. In fact, it was decomposed by some guys named saprophytic bacteria, and organic nitrogen became inorganic ammonia, just like dead fish is tasteless, and when it rots, it will produce a pungent smell with ammonia inside.
Ammonia is highly toxic to fish, which can denature protein in fish blood, lose its physiological function and lead to fish death. When the concentration of ammonia in water exceeds 0.2ppm, it will lead to acute death of fish.
Ammonia is so poisonous, why is everyone's fish still good? Haha, it's because of our nitrifying bacteria. The younger brother nitrite bacteria is responsible for oxidizing ammonia into nitrite, and then the older brother oxidizes nitrite into nitrate. Nitrite is also toxic, but much smaller than ammonia, and nitrate is non-toxic. It is a good nitrogen fertilizer for aquatic plants such as aquatic plants. We grow aquatic plants without adding nitrogen fertilizer. The descriptions of liquid fertilizer, base fertilizer and root fertilizer are very clear: there is no nitrogen or phosphorus, so why do we still raise aquatic plants so well? We have brothers.
Some people think that fish waste can be used as nitrogen fertilizer for aquatic plants, but aquatic plants cannot directly use fish waste. With the help of saprophytic bacteria (not our brothers, this kind of thing can't win credit), these excreta must be turned into some small molecular inorganic substances such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide (all toxic substances, these boys). We must clean up the mess for them and convert ammonia into nitrate that can be directly used by aquatic plants. This will make everyone's grass grow fat and strong, and fish will avoid the pain of ammonia poisoning.
The following focuses on the characteristics of our lives:
1, we are self-sufficient bacteria. Scientists call us autotrophic bacteria. We use the simplest inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide as carbon sources to form our own bodies, and the energy source for building ourselves is the energy released during the oxidation of ammonia and nitrite. It can be seen that our work is not only for everyone, but more importantly for ourselves. What's the story? It's a bit unkind not to say, "If bacteria don't work for themselves, God-". Let's see if our lifestyle is similar to that of aquatic plants, except that aquatic plants feed themselves with light energy, while we use chemical energy. Others are much smarter than us. They are called heterotrophic bacteria (those guys who specialize in making poison), and they use organic matter as carbon source to build their own bodies.
2. In addition to the carbohydrate synthesis reaction like aquatic plants (carbon dioxide and water are synthesized into glucose under the action of chemical energy), we also need other nutrients, such as iron, manganese, phosphorus and potassium, to metabolize some substances needed for growth, such as protein and fat, so we also accepted the fertilizers and carbon dioxide applied to aquatic plants. Sorry I didn't say hello.
The last place we like to stay is an environment full of organic waste (such as fish poop), because we can't stand too much organic matter, let alone treat it as food. Too much organic matter will inhibit our growth and reproduction, but my brother's nitrifying bacteria are not so sensitive to organic matter, and sometimes they can even "eat" some water-soluble organic matter (ah, defects), but most of the time we have a tacit understanding. Because we have this characteristic, we can't be expected to settle down on dirty filter cotton with a lot of fish poop. The most suitable places for us to live are biochemical balls, biochemical rings and biochemical cotton. Of course, before the water flows through our house, it is best to filter out the fish poop and rotten leaves in the water. Otherwise, these things are stuck in our house, and we will be miserable. Please.
As mentioned earlier, many of our brothers are excellent swimmers, and we can move in the water voluntarily. Although this is very physical, if our home is disturbed by foreign countries, there is no food, there is a foreign invasion, and the living environment changes suddenly, we will still take the initiative to make strategic changes. We won't eat anything during the transfer, so once we leave our hometown, please find us a home quickly and let us settle down. Don't worry about the problem that we can't fix it on a solid surface. Our brother is an expert in this field. When we wander around in the water, if we find any solid substance, we will immediately secrete a sticky substance and stick ourselves firmly on it, layer by layer, until a film is formed. Everyone calls the membrane we form "biofilm", and it is it that purifies the water quality.
5. Revealing some privacy issues is our reproduction. Our reproductive speed is a bit embarrassing. We are "elephants" in the field of microbiology, and the breeding cycle is very long. Just compare it with those heterotrophic saprophytes. Within 20 hours, 1 heterotrophic bacteria can divide into 10000000, but we are still in the state of 1, which is not surprising. The substances that we maintain life and reproduce are made by ourselves, which requires a lot of energy and time, while those heterotrophic bacteria can make use of many ready-made things. Having said that, we can't help but say a problem that will easily happen soon after opening the cylinder. Let's call it open cylinder syndrome for the time being. Some people will die inexplicably within a month after opening cans. This is mainly because fish excrement is decomposed into toxic substances such as ammonia by those heterotrophic bacteria, and they reproduce too fast. I believe everyone knows the speed of food deterioration in summer, and more and more ammonia is produced until it exceeds the tolerance limit of fish and shrimp, and they are just ... so sad. Then people ask, what did you do? I gave you a free meal! Don't worry, everyone. It's not our fault. In the first month after opening the can, because we were born too slowly, we couldn't handle so much ammonia at all. We are outnumbered. So remind everyone to change the water frequently, feed less fish and use some bacterial preparations within one month after opening the can.
6. People may think that our brother is too weak, born slowly and grows slowly. Why hasn't he been eliminated? Darwin's theory seems to have many problems. Wait a minute, although our brother has weaknesses, he also has advantages that other bacteria don't have! The most important thing is that we can "sleep" like bears in winter in harsh environments such as food shortage, and avoid the fate of starvation like other bacteria. Our dormant period can last for two years. Using this principle, some people sell us as liquid, which can be preserved for a long time. In fact, there is a "dormant" us.
7. We also have a sincere preference for oxygen. Without oxygen, we can't handle ammonia and nitrite efficiently at all, and even cause our survival crisis. So if you want the water quality of the straw tank to be really good, let the aquatic plants make more oxygen for us, and everyone will get something.
8. Some people may not know how much we hate light. Nitrite is very sensitive to visible light near ultraviolet rays, so don't shine Philip 865 on us, because ultraviolet rays are more destructive to us. So let's work in the dark, and we will thank you.
9. In terms of PH value, we also put forward some small requirements: in weak alkaline environment, we live more comfortably. If it is a straw cylinder, it is best not to adjust the pH below 6, which is very harmful to our health. In addition, the most suitable temperature for us is 25 degrees.
10, some poisons are also harmful to our health, such as some fish medicines for treating fish diseases, copper sulfate or copper chelate. Therefore, when treating fish diseases, we must pay attention to it. If we all die, even if your tank is not new, you may have tank-driving syndrome.
Finally, one problem is clarified, that is, even if we are added to the aquarium, it will not help to improve the turbidity of water, because we are used to dealing with ammonia and nitrite, rather than fine particles, bacteria and even algae suspended in water. But one thing is certain, that is, we will make the water in your aquarium better and more suitable for the growth of living things.