Okay, so I know I will probably sound like the most dumb person in the world ... but what is cycling your tank? How do you do it? Is it hard? How long does it take? And how does it make a difference for the fishies?
Thank you, and Im sorry if I sound dumb: p
Don't worry, it's not a stupid question. In fact, it's great that you asked it because it means you will be responsible about fish keeping.
Cycling a fish tank prepares it for adding fish. It's a little confusing, but here is a basic explanation.
Cycling a tank is when you add a source of waste to the tank to imitate fish excrement (poo). This makes a good kind of bacteria grow. The bacteria will "eat" the waste. This means that when you add the fish they won't die from ammonia (which is in fish poo) poisoning because the good bacteria will take care of it. So basically when you cycle you are creating bacteria that will make it safe to add fish. Make sense?
If you don't cycle it might kill your fish's because there will be too much waste in the water and they will suffocate. Cycling is the difference between a tank full of dead fish and a tank full of living fish. It takes about 4 weeks to cycle a tank.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
To cycle you set up your tank like you want it, gravel, plants, decorations, filter, and heater. Then you add water and water conditioner (like Tetra Aqua Safe). Then you must create a source of ammonia for the bacteria to grow . You can buy a product, like Cycle, at a pet store. You can also use pure ammonia. If you know somebody who has a fish tank you can use some water and gravel from their tank. You could also add a pinch of fish food every day. After a while the water will get cloudy. This is the "bacterial bloom". Before you put fish in you must test the water. You can get water testers at the pet store for ammonia, nitrite (with an i ), nitrate (with an a), and ph. You could also just take a cup of water to your local pet store and ask them to test it for you. This will probably be free. Once the ammonia and nitrite levels are at 0 , and the nitrate levels are very low, and the ph is between 6.5 and 8 (depending on the fish you want to keep) you can add fish.
You can only add 1-4 fish at a time, or else your bio-load (the bacteria in the tank) will become unbalanced. Add 1-4 fish, wait a week, and add the next 1-4 fish, until you have the desired amount of fish in your tank.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Does that make sense to you? If not you can email me your questions and I'll try to explain better. If you are young (under 15ish) I think I can explain it better than some sites geared towards adults because I had my first tank when I was 12, and I had to do tons of research before I understood cycling, but now I'm pretty clear on it.
Thats not dumb at all. Most people don't know what it is and usually don 't do it. But to ensure healthy fish it is critical. Here is a good article:
What Is Cycling The Tank?
Unfortunately, many people have never even heard of cycling and if they have, many ignore it. However, if you want to ensure your fish live in a healthy environment, it is imperative.
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Cycling is also called "New Tank Syndrome", meaning you are making a bed of good bacteria in your biological filter as a way of removing toxins created by the fish's waste. While cycling is not necessarily difficult or time-consuming, there is a right and wrong way
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
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The goal of cycling a fish tank is to establish a bed or colony of bacteria in your biological filter to help eliminate toxins made by the fish's metabolism.
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The bacteria grown will then digest the ammonia from waste, turning it into Nitrite. Although Nitrite in hard water or water with a high pH level is actually more toxic than ammonia, what happens is that the bacteria filter turns the Nitrite into Nitrate, which is relatively less harmful to the fish.
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If the water in your fish tank is not changed on a regular basis, the Nitrate accumulates and becomes harmful, causing fish to stop eating and becoming stressed. Additionally, the growth of algae is accelerated. Therefore, it is imperative that you follow the cycling process and maintain a clean tank (which regularly removes nitrates) for the health of your fish.
I recommend cycling without fish! Google it and you'll find some more great info.
Good Luck, Hope this Helps.
Easy, & Its fine I didn't know ether for a while ...
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Fish make ammonia (pee/waste)
Its very toxic, and can kill them.
It turns into nitrate, over time. (Nitrate is still very toxic)
Then into nitrites, this is a much less toxic chemical than ammonia,
It makes the "Good Bactria" that remove the toxic ammonia
After you have no nitrates/ammonia in your tank, its safe (Testing kits are sold almost everywhere, so you can check)
It takes about a month.
You have a Tank, you have a Filter, you put in some Beneficial Bacteria from the bottle you get at a pet store, you put water conditioner in your tap water to fill your tank, you let everything run for a long time, you can put like 3 fish of decent size they will produce Ammonia for your Bacteria to eat ... Get something called a Bio Filter ... or something that has a place for these white roundish rocks with holes in them .. the bacteria set up shop there ... the water runs through them .. they eat the Ammonia .... ammonia is poison to fish ... then after 6 weeks or so your ammonia lvls should all go away. ... the Bacteria produce Nitrate/nitrite......its like Germ poop think of it that way ... you get rid of those with 10-25% water changes with water Conditioner ...... when your tank is doing the Cycle maybe every 3-4 days change 10% water.
