Why cycle a tank?
Cycling an aquarium can seem like a lengthy and tedious process, but it is crucial to having happy healthy fish. I know its really tempting to buy a tank and just add everything in on the first day, but I promise this will be worth it, result in less fish deaths and be less maintenance in the long run.
What does it mean to cycle a tank?
Cycling a tank means creating a nitrogen cycle in your aquarium tank. This cycle removes the bad, while keeping the good. In order to complete the cycle, you will need to add the ammonia sources that your fish will produce artificially so you don’t harm fish in the process.
What is the Nitrogen cycle?
As you can see from this cycle, once you add your fish, they will produce waste, or drop some food. This will be converted into either NH3 or CO2. Both of these chemicals are bad for your fish if the concentration becomes too high in the water.
The nitrogen cycle eliminates these chemicals to keep the your fish healthy.
So, what do you do and what do you need?
- a tank
- a filter suitable to the water volume. (If you’re planning on housing an axolotl, double the tank volume when choosing a filter)
- water
- water conditioner (Seachem Prime is best, especially if you have an axolotl)
- a source of ammonia (Dr Tims is popular, but many people use fish food too)
- bottled beneficial bacteria (Seachem Stability is best, be careful of others as some contain aloe vera that will kill an axolotl)
- Substrate (remember nothing but sand or bare bottom for axolotl)
- bonus item – if you are able to get beneficial bacteria from an established tank, you will shorten the cycle process.
Now that you have your items, what next?
Before you add anything to your tank, get a cup of water from your tap and let it rest for a couple of hours. Then check the water parameters of your cup of water. (The API master test kit is the one I recommend. The test strips aren’t as accurate.)
This step is important to find out what your tap water is at when you start. Sometimes our tap water is totally off, and people spend a lot of time trying to balance a tank, only to find their water source is actually the issue. If your water is all neutral, you’re good to go, if not, try to source water elsewhere.
Next look at is your substrate. If you are adding sand or pebbles, wash them well in a bucket of water. They will be dusty and make your whole tank murky and not pleasant for fish if you don’t wash them first. If you are using Shrimp Stratum, it will go cloudy briefly, but don’t rinse it, everything in the bag is great for your plants. (see substrates for more information on this)
At this point I like to add my substrate and hardscape to the tank and play around with if for a couple of days to make sure I am happy. You don’t have to do this, but I find it easier to move the hardscape in an empty tank.
Once your substate is in, add your water, be sure to pour it onto a rock or something else to disperse the water or it will push everything around that you have put in place. Then add the correct quantity of water conditioner, ammonia and beneficial bacteria to your tank.
Every day, you will need to add the ammonia and the beneficial bacteria. The bacteria will only need to be added for the first week, but you will need to keep adding the ammonia source daily.
After a week, test your water. You should find that your ammonia and nitrites are very high, this is a very good sign. It means the process is starting to happen.
Keep checking your water every few days and watch the process happen as the chemicals change from high ammonia and nitrites to zero ammonia and nitrites, but a little nitrates.
These first tubes are from a test part way through the process of cycling. The ammonia on the left is already getting lower, but the nitrites and nitrates are still high. If it gets this high, it can be beneficial to do a water change to reduce these numbers.
The second test is how the levels looked after a 50% water change. Still high and not yet fish safe, but the process is still happening from this stage.
Your tank is now on the way to be cycled, but what is the perfect chemical balance and how do you read this chart?
This is a little cheat sheet I created to show what you’re looking for. If the colour of your test tube falls into a thumbs up colour, you’re good, if not, you’re not there yet.
Once your tank is testing as all thumbs up for 3 days in a row, you are ready to add your plants and your fish, but don’t rush out and buy all the fish at once, remember to read my blog on setting up a community tank. Starting with your least aggressive fish first, unless you’re adding only one fish, then go get it!
Your tank should be reading like this when you check it weekly, once cycled.
