Sludge & Filter Cleaner
(Reformulated AquaClearer Sludge Cleaner)
Aquascape Sludge & Filter Cleaner now contains 5 pure strains of concentrated heterotrophic beneficial bacteria. This combination of natural cleaners helps to maintain a strong biological balance in your pond while quickly cleaning between rocks, gravel and keeping filter pads from becoming quickly clogged. Aquascape Sludge & Filter Cleaner maintains a strong biological balance providing clean, clear and healthy water conditions. The specific beneficial bacteria are most effective at reducing sludge or organics that can cause poor water quality and unsightly water conditions
- Keeps ponds clean and clear
- Reduces pond maintenance
- Safe for fish, plants & animals that might drink pond water
- Helps keep biofall & skimmer filters clean
- 1.5 Billion CFU per once potency
- Contains marigold & humic acid
- Product is a yellow/brown color (see photo below)
- Available in 4 size containers
Application Rates:
Initial Dosage: 1 pump per 100 gal./18,921 liters daily for the first 10 days.
Maintenance Dosage: 1 pump per 100 gal./18,921 liters weekly
Calculations: Approximate gallons in pond: Length (ft.) x Width (ft.) x Avg. Depth (ft.) x 7.48
Please Note:
Water temperature should be a minimum of 60F or 15C. This product is very powerful and will quickly go to work consuming sludge. We recommend a higher water temperature to insure that biological filter systems will be functioning and able to handle the extra bio load.
Keep out of reach of children. Store at room temperature
Available in the following sizes:
8.5 oz./250 ml - Treats up to 5,000 gal./18,921 liters
16.9 oz./500 ml - Treats up to 10,000 gal./37,842 liters
33.8 oz./1 liter - Treats up to 20,000 gal./75,684 liters
1.1 gal./4 liters - Treats up to 80,000 gal./302,744 liters
What’s in the products?
Heterotrophic Bacteria
Heterotrophic bacteria are responsible for the reduction and decomposition of organics including pond sludge. Heterotrophic strains of bacteria are easy to source and found in many products currently on the market for various purposes including waste water treatment.
Lithotrophic Bacteria
The most common and important types of lithotrophic bacteria in a water garden are nitrosomonas and nitrobacter. These are vital in the active removal of ammonia and nitrite caused by the decomposition caused by the heterotrophic strains. There are many theories on the name of the actual bacterial genus responsible but most agree on these two strains. Lithotrophs are harder to source and reproduce at a slower rate, making them relatively more expensive.
If Aquascape bacterial products are added on a regular basis and populations found in our products become dominant, it helps promote competitive exclusion (The competitive exclusion principle, sometimes referred to as Gause's Law of competitive exclusion or just Gause's Law, states that two species that compete for the exact same resources cannot stably coexist.).
What does this mean for you and your pond?
A stable, clean, clear biotope for the pond inhabitance and your family!
The higher the bacteria count in the pond, the more bacteria will start to utilize other elements that can cause unsightly water conditions including algae. Some scientists have also proven that the use of beneficial bacteria can also eliminate bad bacterias like salmonella found in captive turtle environments.
How it works: Accumulation of nitrogen is one of the most critical problems of a re-circulating "water re-use" system. Nitrogen in the system, commonly referred to as Total Ammonia-Nitrogen (TAN), is a by-product of protein metabolism. TAN is excreted from the gills of fish as they digest food and is produced when bacteria decomposes organic waste solids within the system. When the water in a system has a pH of about 7.0, the system is stable and the majority of TAN is ionized and does not adversely affect the system. But when a system has a pH of about 9.0, up to 30 percent of TAN may not be ionized and levels of ammonia-nitrogen can become extremely toxic to fish.
Nitrite-nitrogen results from the oxidation of ammonia-nitrogen. When nitrifying bacteria (nitrosomonas) consume ammonia-nitrogen for energy, they produce nitrite-nitrogen as a by-product. Nitrite-nitrogen then binds with hemoglobin to form methemoglobin, which is not capable of binding and transporting oxygen. This ultimately suffocates the fish. In most cases re-circulating systems with mature nitrifying bacteria colonies should maintain nitrite-nitrogen concentrations below 1 mg/l. Fortunately, nitrobacter bacteria, also present within the system, use nitrite-nitrogen for energy and produce a much less harmful nitrate-nitrogen by-product.
Nitrifying bacteria are the foundation of biological filtration and safely grow on all surfaces of the aquatic environment, including substrate, plumbing and the walls of the tank.
Combining science with simplicity, Aquascape's complete new and improved line of water treatments now make it simpler to maintain a healthly, well balanced water garden. Gone are the products with long names & confusing application instructions. Aquascape's new pump-top liquid bottles and bubble tabs make dosing simple and affordable. Each product now has a gentle scent and color to help consumers remember each product. So enjoy a clean, clear, healthly pond with the complete new line of Aquascape Water Treatment Products
