This is a forum to help out beginners (Mainly Y!A) users who need basic help.
Cycling - Here are the ways to cycle:
Instantly Cycle:
Add Instant Cycling Bacteria Product:
I wouldn't recommend these as they sometimes seem to work but in other cases they don't. But here's some information collected from reviews online.
Success rate: 94.8%
(Based on 24 reviews)
This product seems to have the best reviews out of all of them. I'll try it next time I need to cycle a tank and post the results here.
Success rate: 76%
(Based on 25 reviews)
I tried this product (my review is included up there) and it was a complete failure for me. Some people says it's good and some don't. It's up to you really.
Mainly you can add fish while using these products but if not add the correct dose of ammonia discussed next to keep the bacteria alive. These are the only 2 I can get to review at the moment. More will be added later.
Fish-Less Cycle:
There's many questions about the fish-less cycle. Here's how to do it:
You'll need Pure/Janitorial Grade Ammonia which can be found in some stores such as Wal-Mart.
You can use the Aquarium Calculator to find out how much Ammonia you'll need.
Turn the heater to 81F if you have one and if you have an aerator, turn it on.
With Pure Ammonia, you add until you test and reach the desired level. Test the water every day and once you see ammonia levels dropping, add enough ammonia to get it back up to 5PPM.
Use the calculator. For example, a tank has 3PPM Ammonia after 1 night. Using the calculator, I need 2mL of Ammonia to bring it back up to 5PPM. That's how much I add to get the desired level. Eventually you'll see the Nitrites start to rise and fall after a few weeks. Once Nitrates are the only thing increasing for a week and you have 0 Ammonia and Nitrite, your tank is fully cycled and ready to add fish. Keep adding ammonia until you add fish. Do a 70% water change to reduce Nitrates before adding fish.
There's other Fish-Less methods but I don't recommend them.
Fish-In Cycle:
This is the least favored way of cycling as the fish get very stressed and it doesn't work as well as the other methods but here's how.
On day one after 24h of the tank running, add a few fish which are described as hardy such as Zebra Dainos, Mollies, Platies, Rasboras, Bettas, Guppies etc. There's others just do a little research and you'll find some others. Always research before adding fish and make sure you have the correct tank size to accommodate these fish after the cycle. Also make sure to add the correct fish/amount of fish according to your tank size. Google "Aquarium Stocking Calculator" and click the first link and you'll have a calculator which is accurate but not always. So always ask and research if the results seem funny.
So to cycle just add fish and test the water every day until Nitrates are rising and everything else is 0. Do 50% water changes to keep the Ammonia and Nitrite levels below 1PPM. After cycling, slowly add fish so the bacteria can accommodate. You may loose some or all of your fish. Remove dead fish immediately. If you lose all your fish, buy more or find some ammonia and continue with a Fish-Out cycle. This method is inefficient so I don't recommend it.
FAQ's
Why is my water cloudy?
Does your tank look like someone poured milk into it? It's a natural part of the cycle and it's basically caused by extra bacteria floating around in the water because the bacteria that turns Ammonia into Nitrite grow faster than the ones that turn Nitrite into Nitrate. So they grow so fast that they run out of room to live and thus, cloudy water. It should clear up in a few days to 2 weeks.
What are the names of the bacteria?
The ones that convert Ammonia into Nitrite are called Nitrosomonas and the ones that convert Nitrite into Nitrate are called Nitrobacter.
My pH has turned acidic during the cycle. What should I do?
This is apparently caused by the ammonia being converted. The lower the pH, the slower the cycle goes. If the pH gets too low (5-6) the cycle can stall completely. The pH can be fixed by performing a 30% water change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is just the section on cycling. I'm going to edit in other sections later. Any suggestions for FAQ's etc. will help. Feedback is appreciated and mistakes will happily be fixed.
Cycling - Here are the ways to cycle:
Instantly Cycle:
Add Instant Cycling Bacteria Product:
I wouldn't recommend these as they sometimes seem to work but in other cases they don't. But here's some information collected from reviews online.
Success rate: 94.8%
(Based on 24 reviews)
This product seems to have the best reviews out of all of them. I'll try it next time I need to cycle a tank and post the results here.
Success rate: 76%
(Based on 25 reviews)
I tried this product (my review is included up there) and it was a complete failure for me. Some people says it's good and some don't. It's up to you really.
Mainly you can add fish while using these products but if not add the correct dose of ammonia discussed next to keep the bacteria alive. These are the only 2 I can get to review at the moment. More will be added later.
Fish-Less Cycle:
There's many questions about the fish-less cycle. Here's how to do it:
You'll need Pure/Janitorial Grade Ammonia which can be found in some stores such as Wal-Mart.
You can use the Aquarium Calculator to find out how much Ammonia you'll need.
Turn the heater to 81F if you have one and if you have an aerator, turn it on.
With Pure Ammonia, you add until you test and reach the desired level. Test the water every day and once you see ammonia levels dropping, add enough ammonia to get it back up to 5PPM.
Use the calculator. For example, a tank has 3PPM Ammonia after 1 night. Using the calculator, I need 2mL of Ammonia to bring it back up to 5PPM. That's how much I add to get the desired level. Eventually you'll see the Nitrites start to rise and fall after a few weeks. Once Nitrates are the only thing increasing for a week and you have 0 Ammonia and Nitrite, your tank is fully cycled and ready to add fish. Keep adding ammonia until you add fish. Do a 70% water change to reduce Nitrates before adding fish.
There's other Fish-Less methods but I don't recommend them.
Fish-In Cycle:
This is the least favored way of cycling as the fish get very stressed and it doesn't work as well as the other methods but here's how.
On day one after 24h of the tank running, add a few fish which are described as hardy such as Zebra Dainos, Mollies, Platies, Rasboras, Bettas, Guppies etc. There's others just do a little research and you'll find some others. Always research before adding fish and make sure you have the correct tank size to accommodate these fish after the cycle. Also make sure to add the correct fish/amount of fish according to your tank size. Google "Aquarium Stocking Calculator" and click the first link and you'll have a calculator which is accurate but not always. So always ask and research if the results seem funny.
So to cycle just add fish and test the water every day until Nitrates are rising and everything else is 0. Do 50% water changes to keep the Ammonia and Nitrite levels below 1PPM. After cycling, slowly add fish so the bacteria can accommodate. You may loose some or all of your fish. Remove dead fish immediately. If you lose all your fish, buy more or find some ammonia and continue with a Fish-Out cycle. This method is inefficient so I don't recommend it.
FAQ's
Why is my water cloudy?
Does your tank look like someone poured milk into it? It's a natural part of the cycle and it's basically caused by extra bacteria floating around in the water because the bacteria that turns Ammonia into Nitrite grow faster than the ones that turn Nitrite into Nitrate. So they grow so fast that they run out of room to live and thus, cloudy water. It should clear up in a few days to 2 weeks.
What are the names of the bacteria?
The ones that convert Ammonia into Nitrite are called Nitrosomonas and the ones that convert Nitrite into Nitrate are called Nitrobacter.
My pH has turned acidic during the cycle. What should I do?
This is apparently caused by the ammonia being converted. The lower the pH, the slower the cycle goes. If the pH gets too low (5-6) the cycle can stall completely. The pH can be fixed by performing a 30% water change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is just the section on cycling. I'm going to edit in other sections later. Any suggestions for FAQ's etc. will help. Feedback is appreciated and mistakes will happily be fixed.
