How we make it
Levende Pumella is matured in fishless tanks on our premises at Storegade 32, kept apart from the shop's aquariums. No fish, water or equipment goes from the shop to the production. The bags stay in the tanks until they are sold.
Preparation
We sieve the stones, rinse them until the water runs clear, pour boiling water over them and sort out everything that still floats. Then we fill them into mesh bags with a batch number.
Maturing
The bags lie in tanks at 26–28 °C with strong aeration and a pump that draws water through them, and without light. The tanks get living nitrifying bacteria and a fixed daily dose of ammonia until the bacteria are established in the stones. A new tank is mature after 4–6 weeks.
Release test
No batch is sold before it has passed a test. We put two random 1-litre bags, each in 10 litres of water at 26 °C with aeration, and add 3 mg/l of ammonia nitrogen, that is 30 mg per litre of stones. After 24 hours both ammonia and nitrite must be below 0.2 mg/l. Otherwise the batch stays in the tank and the test is repeated a week later.
Batch number and log
Every bag has a batch number that follows it all the way to you. The batch log records the raw material, the tank, the daily measurements, the test result and the number of bags. The log is the documentation behind what we write about the stones.
Packing
The bags are only packed when you are in the shop. The mesh bag goes into a bucket with a tight lid and a little water in the bottom, a cotton bag goes on the outside, and a label gets the batch number, the packing date and ”Use by”. It takes about five minutes.
What we write, and what we do not
We only write what the tests show: that the stones contain living bacteria, and that every litre can convert 30 mg of ammonia nitrogen a day. We do not promise that all fish can be added at once – the fish are always added gradually.