Cycling Your Aquarium
In the fish-keeping hobby, we say that your aquarium is "cycled" once your tank has built up a healthy supply of these beneficial bacteria. The cycle is complete as soon as ammonia and nitrite levels are no longer measurable by test kits. Cycling a tank can take up to (4) four weeks.
The nitrogen cycle is a chain of biological reactions that produces chemical results. It begins when decaying food and fish waste produce ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to fish and, in the small confines of an aquarium, can eventually kill them. Fortunately, however, ammonia is "food" for nitrifying bacteria, which are present in water. The nitrifying bacteria "eat" the toxic ammonia, producing nitrite. Another strain of nitrifying bacteria "eats" the toxic nitrite, producing the less toxic byproduct nitrate. Since nitrate is relatively harmless to fish unless it accumulates in large quantities, the toxic effects of the ammonia and nitrite are canceled out by the biological food chain. To keep nitrate levels safe for your aquatic life, you’ll need to filter your aquarium water and change a portion of it regularly. The nitrogen cycle is what keeps the chemical balance of water at life-sustainable levels for plants and fish. It is important to test your aquarium's water regularly and make necessary adjustments by completing a water change and adding or replacing activated carbon, filter media and water conditioners as your water test levels indicate.
Using Pure Ammonia to Cycle the Aquarium
Instead of using fish or fish food for ammonia production, you can introduce pure ammonia to the tank. After the tank has been set up, add five drops of ammonia per ten gallons into the water on a daily basis. Ammonia will rise to five ppm and higher. As soon as nitrites are measurable, reduce the ammonia input to three drops per day. Nitrites will rise to similar levels. Keep adding two to three drops until the measurements of ammonia and nitrites come out with zero ppm. The tank has then completely cycled.
Other products needed to cycle an aquarium/fish tank:
- BACTERIA
- WATER CONDITIONER
- WATER TEST KIT(S)
New Tank Syndrome
This is one of the most critical stages in setting up an aquarium and the most common area of failure for beginners. If you do not allow your aquarium to complete the nitrogen cycle before adding aquatic life, it can result in New Tank Syndrome, or ammonia and nitrite poisoning.
Common symptoms of New Tank Syndrome in fish include loss of coloring, hiding in corners with clamped fins and lying near the bottom of the aquarium. Ultimately, New Tank Syndrome is lethal to your aquatic life.
