Cycling a fish tank is an important part of ensuring that your aquarium is happy and healthy. This article will teach you about the nitrogen cycle and how to properly cycle your aquarium.
What is the Nitrogen Cycle?
In an aquarium, the nitrogen cycle is the way that toxic fish waste (also known as ammonia) is converted into safer compounds by either plants or bacteria (Biological filtration). This is important in an aquarium to ensure that there are as few toxic nitrogen compounds in the water as possible. By cycling your tank, you can allow for a safer less toxic environment for your fishy friends.
How to cycle your aquarium
There are several ways to cycle a tank. in this article we will go through 3 ways to cycle your aquarium:
1) Fish-in cycling
One of the most common ways to cycle a fish tank. This method is usually used because people can’t handle looking at an empty fish tank waiting for bacteria (which is not fun to watch as they’re practically invisible) to grow. The issue with this method is that the fish used is more likely to be stressed being an uncycled tank. But here are some tips to put you in the right direction
- Only use a few fish, most experienced aquarist recommend 1 small fish every 10 gallons of water. Make sure the fish used is a hardy species.
- Feed your fish sparingly in the beginning (this will prevent any big ammonia spikes due to decomposing uneaten food). Then gradually increase feeding over a 4 to 6 week period (This does not mean overfeed your fish!)
- Tip: If you know anyone that already has a cycled aquarium, ask for some substrate or filter media from their tank. This will have beneficial bacteria which can speed up the cycling process. You can also buy live nitrifying bacteria which you can add to the aquarium.
2) Fish-less cycling
This method has been gaining popularity due to not having to stress fish to cycle the aquarium. Fish-less cycling is done by placing a source of ammonia (which can be fish food or another external ammonia source) This process should be used for more experienced fish keepers as it can be difficult to properly do and it can take time to complete the process
- Unlike the fish-in cycling which uses a fish as an ammonia source, fish food or ammonia additive itself is used to cycle the aquarium
- Because this method uses fish food, it takes some time as you have to wait for the fish food to decompose and start producing ammonia
- I recommend seeding (with live nitrifying bacteria or filter media or substrate from an already cycled tank)
- Test your water quality every 1-2 days. If there are ammonia or nitrite levels above 0.2ppm do a partial water change to remove the toxic compounds.
So how do you know when the cycle is complete?
To properly monitor where your aquarium is in the cycling process you will need a water test kit. from my experience, the water test kits which use liquid drops are more accurate than test strips.
you will need to know:
- Ammonia (Most toxic)
- Nitrite (Less toxic than ammonia but still quite toxic)
- Nitrates (Much less toxic than ammonia and nitrite
When your aquarium is completely cycled:
- Ammonia and nitrite should be at 0ppm
- Nitrate levels should be below 40 ppm
Make sure to continue to test your water regularly to ensure that there are no spikes in ammonia or nitrate. Regularly change your water as Nitrate can become toxic at higher levels (above 40ppm)
Summary
Cycling your aquarium is an important part of having a happy and healthy aquarium. make sure you don’t rush the process as it can take some time. But it is all worth it in the end
Happy cycling!
