Nitrogen Cycle

[jjigg]

So I just got my first aquarium and I am very excited though I found out need to do a thing called the Nitrogen Cycle. I researched it a lot and right now I’m doing fish less cycle, just started last night and I’m using fish food for the ammonia, what should I expect or any advice?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ Check our this helpful link. ^

Make sure your Ammonia is at 0ppm at all times. The link can explain it a lot better than I can.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Get some ammonia or you're going to be waiting a very long time. Even with ammonia it will be 4-6 weeks. I never could keep my ammonia at zero ppm at all time until the bacteria started growing. The problem with using food instead of ammonia is that the smell can become horrendous. I did a bit of food and the recommended ammonia then quickly stopped adding the food once I saw and smelled what was happening. Get ammonia at the grocery store, usually bottom shelf of the cleaning supplies (floor mop products) - make sure it has no other detergent - just ammonia. Got a huge bottle for $1.50. It's an old time cleaner, once had a housekeeper for my mom that used this to excess and it can be a huge lung irritant.

At first you'll see a spike of ammonia, for a long time. Then eventually you'll start seeing your ammonia amounts decrease while your nitrite levels increase. Wait a bit longer and you may see the nitrites convert into Nitrates - then you are getting close to being done. Then it's just a matter of time before you'll see all the ammonia disappear in one night only to convert to nitrites and then in to nitrates. Once you see this phenomenon two or 3 days in a row then your tank is cycled - but just barely, don't add too many fish at once. I think it's also good to add Tetra Safe Start Plus at some point to push things along. Not only does it de-chlorinate your water it provides you with an excess of good bacteria - speeding up the process and increasing the amount of bacteria so you can add more fish faster. That's what I use now exclusively when I have to re-cycle a tank and there are fish already in it so I can't add ammonia.

 

[Retired Viking]

I agree with @Jan Cavalieri Pick up a bottle of Tetra SafeStart Plus, and look at the cycling instruction on this forum. I have used it and it works and will help save you some time and hassle.

 

[Retired Viking]

Before I forget, Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[JuiceBox52]

Welcome to the forum
It's ok for your tank to have ammonia while cycling, once the ammonia gets to zero at the end of the cycling process you can add fish

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Welcome to the forum
It's ok for your tank to have ammonia while cycling, once the ammonia gets to zero at the end of the cycling process you can add fish

Also don't forget to have your other parameters in check! Nitrate 10ppm and below (Should never be over 20ppm), Nitrite 0ppm (Always, anything over that is harmful to fish), and ph 7.4-7.8. I recommend keeping it at 7.6.

 

[Essjay]

For fishless cycling, a bottle of ammonia is much more controllable than fish food. With food you can never be sure how many bacteria have grown so you would need to stock slowly as for fish-in cycling. When you use ammonia, and follow the method on here https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ you know at that at the end of the cycle you have enough bacteria for a sensibly stocked tank of fish.

During fishless cycling, nitrite needs to stay below 15 ppm (though our test kits cannot measure that high, which is why the method in the link was written, to stop it reaching that level) and nitrate can be as high as it likes. Once the cycle has completed, a huge water change is done to remove all the nitrate made during cycling. It is only after the cycle has finished that ammonia and nitrite should be zero and nitrate below 20 ppm - though of course cycling with fish is different as those levels need to be maintained during a fish-in cycle as well.

pH does not have to be 7.4 to 7.8. Soft water fish are happier in a pH below 7.0. It is only hard water fish which need a pH above 7.0.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

For fishless cycling, a bottle of ammonia is much more controllable than fish food. With food you can never be sure how many bacteria have grown so you would need to stock slowly as for fish-in cycling. When you use ammonia, and follow the method on here https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ you know at that at the end of the cycle you have enough bacteria for a sensibly stocked tank of fish.

During fishless cycling, nitrite needs to stay below 15 ppm (though our test kits cannot measure that high, which is why the method in the link was written, to stop it reaching that level) and nitrate can be as high as it likes. Once the cycle has completed, a huge water change is done to remove all the nitrate made during cycling. It is only after the cycle has finished that ammonia and nitrite should be zero and nitrate below 20 ppm - though of course cycling with fish is different as those levels need to be maintained during a fish-in cycle as well.

pH does not have to be 7.4 to 7.8. Soft water fish are happier in a pH below 7.0. It is only hard water fish which need a pH above 7.0.

I was just pointing out that a typical basic freshwater tropical tanks ph should be at 7.4-7.8.

 

[Barry Tetra]

cycle a tank is when you put ammonia and nitrite down to 0 by using nitrosomonas bacteria to "eat" ammonia and turn them to nitrite then another bacteria name nitrobacter and nitro spira will "eat" nitrite and turn them to nitrate, you can speed up the process by buying the ‘bacteria bottle’ I would recommended tetra safe start. This is the copy of answer from another thread I answered so dont expect too much of it lol

 

[Essjay]

The recommended pH depends what fish are in the tank. A tank full of soft water fish should have low GH and this usually (but not always) comes with a pH below 7. It is misleading to say that typical freshwater tanks should have pH 7.4 to 7.8. Newcomers to the hobby could read this and think that although they have very soft water and low pH they need to increase the pH. The ideal pH for any freshwater tank depends on what fish are in it. Byron's tanks usually run at very low pH, for example.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I was just pointing out that a typical basic freshwater tropical tanks ph should be at 7.4-7.8.

PH depends on what fish you have. There is no one size fits all level

 

[PheonixKingZ]

PH depends on what fish you have. There is no one size fits all level

As I said above, ph of 7.4-7.6 is a very basic, broad spectrum. I’m not saying that you can keep any fish at 7.4 ph, I’m just saying that for a beginner that is just starting to cycle their tank, this is what they need to aim for.

 

[Essjay]

There is no pH that we should aim for. Our pH is what it is and we should choose fish to suit the hardness and pH of the water we have. Saying people should aim to have a specific pH is telling the unwary that if their pH does not fit that pH they should add chemicals to alter it. Adding chemicals to change the pH to some mythical target is a very bad idea.

There is no target range "to aim for". If we have soft water and want to keep soft water fish, pH 7.4 to 7.6 is a bit too high.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

I'll up the PH battle by saying I have to chemically alter my PH or all my fish would be dead. (I hear the screaming NO not CHEMICALS) Standing overnight water in my house is at 9.03 ph. That's no good for anybody. I have semi-hard water. I use Neutralizer Equalizer as well as PH up and PH down to get my PH as close to 7.00 as possible. A number of people don't think I should use chemicals to alter PH. Here's how I do it - during a water change, I alter the PH of EACH bucket of water rather than wait and do the entire tank - that way the fish are always being given water of a similar PH to what it was the week before. This has some interesting outcome that has to do with my GH - but I can get my aquariums spot on to 7.0 and over the course of a week they will drop down as low as 6.05 but usually 6.5 and then I add the chemical to each bucket and it's back close to 7 for a while. I wish it would just stay at 7 but it won't due to my city's water natural qualities so I do as best as I can so the fish aren't shocked with a big PH change. Others want me to use reverse osmosis water and to get and use an apparatus big enough for 4 tanks would be prohibitive - I can see all the trashcans filled with water and the huge amount of water wasted to get a small amount of Reverse Osmosis. My landlord probably wouldn't be too pleased either and I live in a HOME not a fish store. This has worked very well for me and allows me to keep fish I might not otherwise be able to have. When you are into the 8's there are a few fresh water fish that prefer it but it's mostly salt-water fish that like the higher PH. There are quite a few fresh water fish that prefer the PH 6.0 or slightly above too. Rather than PH try to go by general hardness (GH) and compare your GH with what is recommended for that fish - get it close - it doesn't have to be spot on - I have some outside the recommended GH as well as temperature and as long as it's not extreme they seem to do well. Some, however, will say - and they are probably correct - that you are shortening your fishes lifespan in some cases.