Cycle???

[dutchess57]

I just got a new 10 gallon aquarium. I set everything up and put in 4 danios. What is a cycle, what happens during a cycle, and how long does one take.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

to the forum. Introduce yourself in the newbies forum.

Go to the pinned articles in the beginners section. There should be more in-depth information there than can be offered here.

The basics: ammonia is converted to nitrites, then nitrates, becoming less deadly to fish along the way. It takes over a month, and you need a test kit in order to check the porgress.

In the end, you shoudl have no ammonia, no nitrites, and the level of nitrates depends in the end...

 

[aqtaquaman]

The filter you have has a sponge, that sponge will soon grow a colony of benificial bacteria(nitrosomana)-sp? turn ammonia( fish waste, food etc..) into nitrite. Then a second type of bacteria (nitrobacter), turn nitrite into nitrate/much less toxic to fish.

 

[Bignose]

Actually, aqtaquaman, recent scienctific evidence shows that members of the nitrospira genus are responsible for most of the nitrification in freshwater aquaria. Nitrosoma are present, but not the main oxidizers. It was assumed that -soma was since they can be dominant in some wastewater treatments and inertia (and a little bit of ignorance of newer research) keeps -soma being named in a lot of aquarium literature, but modern scientific analysis by Dr. Tim Hovanic and others have shown that -spira are most prevalent in aquaria.

But to dutchess: the pinned article is good (and you do not need the scientific names to understand any of this), if you have any questions about most anything feel free to ask. It cannot be overemphasized that a critical understanding of the nitrogen cycle is necessary to keep your fish in the best of health. A wise aquarist once said, "fishkeeping is really water keeping and bacteria keeping." So, again, welcome to the forums, and feel free to ask for clarifications about anything.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Oh, Bignose. Can you find a link or the title of the work?

 

[Bignose]

Here are some .pdf files of some of the peer-reviewed papers that show that -spira are more dominant than -soma. Yes, they are from Hovanec's commerical site on Marineland.com, but the papers themselves are from scientific journals, today's gold standard for research.

 

[sylvia]

- I just got a new 10 gallon aquarium. I set everything up and put in 4 danios. What is a cycle, what happens during a cycle, and how long does one take. -

I'll answer your questions but first - when you say danios you must mean zebra danios - correct? These are very active fish with wonderful characters. Unfortunately, they do much better in at least a 20 gallon tank. Small tanks, like your 10 gallons, are better for small hardy livebearers like platies.

I also agree with what has been said and a link to one of the pinned topics is in my signature so you can go there straight away.

A 'cycle' is when the ammonia produced by a fish (it's waste) is converted by bacteria to the less toxic nitrIte and then to the almost harmless nitrAte by further bacteria.

It generaly takes about 6 weeks when cycling with fish and it is essential that you test your aquarium's water (test kits available at any LFS ) for ammonia/nitrItes/nitrAtes.

As you are cycling with fish, your priority should be the fish' lives (obviously). Ammonia is very toxic and even if it doesn't kill your fish it will be detrimental to their future health. To keep ammonia down you should do water changes with de-chlorinated water regularly. Partialy change the water (about 25%) every 2 days for the first couple of weeks. If you see any signs of the fish gasping for air, breathing quickly or other signs of distress, do a larger water change immediately. After 2-3 weeks, your ammonia will have spiked and gone down. Once it has gone down you know the beneficial bacteria have colonised and multiplied in your filter and within your tank's substrate to handle the current ammonia load.

At this time you'll probably be encountering a nitrIte spike. NitrIte is also dangerous but not to the same extent as ammonia. Monitor it as for ammonia and make sure you do water changes if it goes off the chart or the fish show signs of distress. You should be doing weekly water changes now. More may be necessary due to the size of your tank (smaller tanks need more frequent changes).

Once both ammonia and nitrIte are at 0, your tank has cycled. Your nitrAtes should be monitored weekly (before a water change) and you should try to keep them below 40. Below 20 is even better. If you are over-stocked you will know as you'll need to change water much more frequently to keep the nitrAtes down. Ammonia and nitrIte should never fluctuate. If they become anything above 0 do partial water changes to bring them back down and try to identify the cause and correct your problem.

Causes of ammonia, as well as nitrIte, spikes include adding too many fish too quickly (with 4 zebra danios you realy can't add more than a couple more small fish anyway though) which means the bacteria have to multiply quickly to cope with the extra waste, if you change your filter media (most bacteria grows in there so don't change it unless absolutely necessary and then never all at once - if your filter gets clogged up, rinse the media in a bucket of de-chlorinated aquarium water - what you take out during a water change is ideal) and if you don't use de-chlorinated water or wash filter media under the tap you can again cause ammonia spikes, even a re-cycle, as the bacteria will die if they are subjected to the chlorine in your tap water.

Also make sure you don't ever feed your fish to much. If food remains in the water it'll rot and the result is more ammonia, polluting your water and causing problems. Considering you are still cycling, this is even more important. It is better to feed less at this stage to keep the waste produced to a minnimum. Once your tank has fully cycled it won't be as likely to cause problems if you accidentaly over-feed.

Don't vacuum your gravel while you are cycling but once you are done cycling, regularly vacuum up any left over food (there shouldn't be any though anyway) and vacuum during your weekly water change.

It may seem quite complicated at first (I reccomend a fishless cycle in future ) but you'll soon get the hang of it. If you are prepaired to do so, I'd return the 4 danios and try a fishless cycle (read link in signature). Then you can choose your fish more carefuly and have less to worry about. A fishless cycle also gives you the opportunity to aquascape and plant your tank if you wish to and to research your fish more thoroughly.

I've probably missed a lot out so, as was said earlier, feel free to ask questions. Someone's bound to know the answer
Good luck! And have fun

 

[aqtaquaman]

Yes I'd heard that Bignose, but only have so much time to research aquaria related information and the nitrogen cycle was at the top of the list.