What is Cycling in Fish Tanks and Aquariums

Most hobbyists have never heard about cycling a fish tank, but cycling is an important step in keeping your fishes healthy. Cycling is also known as a new tank syndrome. When setting up new fish tanks or aquariums, there is an initial period where you are culturing a bed of good bacteria in your biological filters. The bacteria act as a very efficient filter to remove toxins from your fish’s waste. Therefore, having a proper cycle determines the health of your fishes.

Toxins from your fishes contain ammonia which can alter the pH of your water and is also highly toxic to fishes. Bacteria in your filters can break down the ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrates. Nitrates are less harmful than ammonia, but you still need to remove it from the water by changing the water from time to time.

If ammonia is not removed from your fish tanks, they will cause stress on your fishes and eventually death. A proper build up of bacteria to treat the ammonia reduces the possibility of death by toxicity and also lessens the frequency required for water change. To cycle the tank, you need to start by introducing ammonia into the tank bit by bit. This ammonia is food for the bacteria, and only when they have been introduced into the tank, can the bacteria start to establish a colony on your filters.

You can start by rearing a few relatively hardy fish in your tank. These fishes can withstand higher limits of ammonia toxicity, so they have no problem living in a tank where biological filters have not been established. As they produce waste and generate ammonia in your fish tanks, a colony of ammonia feeding bacteria will gradually form on your filters. When the bacteria are sufficient established, you will be able to add in more fishes, to continue to grow the bacteria.

Remember to add in only a few fishes at a time when cycling your tank or a large build up of toxic wastes could occur quickly, killing both your fish and any bacteria colony that have been established. Go for small fishes at the start of the cycle since they create a low biological load on your tank. Large fishes produce much more wastes making it harder to regulate your cycling. Cycling your fish tanks is an important part of setting up your fish tanks. Unfortunately most people don’t put in effort in cycling their fish tanks properly and this is a number reason for most fish aquarium failures.

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