Are You Giving Your Tank A Good Cycling?

You need to “cycle” your tank before you can put in all your fish. This means making sure the nitrogen cycle is up and running properly in your tank.

The nitrogen cycle (more correctly, the nitrifying cycle) involves the conversion of toxic ammonia that enters the water via fish waste into relatively harmless nitrogen compounds.

This conversion is done by nitrifying bacteria, which are present everywhere (e.g. in the air). Once there’s an ammonia source in your tank, it’s only a matter of time before these desired bacteria establish a colony in the filter bed.

The Cycling Process

The most common way of getting this ammonia source is by placing one or two hardy inexpensive fish in your aquarium. The bacteria will thrive on their waste. However, don’t over feed the fish as more food means more ammonia, and consequently, more risk of toxicity.

This begins the cycling process. The ammonia has to reach significant levels before nitrite-making bacteria appear. Then, the ammonia will plummet suddenly as the bacteria begin to take hold, converting the ammonia into nitrite form.

Nitrites can still be dangerous to your fish and need to be converted into a safer form—nitrates. This involves a second species of bacteria. Again, a significant level of nitrites is required before these bacteria can act.

When the bacteria convert nitrites to nitrates and ammonia and nitrite levels are close to zero; your tank is reasonably safe.

There are test kits you can buy to determine when the cycle has been completed. The cycling process normally takes anywhere from two to six weeks.

More Doesn’t Equal Faster Process

An important note is to avoid the temptation to get more fish until the tank has fully cycled. More fish means more ammonia production, thereby increasing the stress on all fish and the likelihood of fish deaths.

When ammonia levels reach highly stressful or toxic levels, your tank has succumbed to “New Tank Syndrome.” The tank has not yet fully cycled, and the high concentration of ammonia is lethal to your fish.

So be conservative and add your fish slowly. This will ensure you have a great time watching healthy fish instead of having to scoop them out continually.

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