cud u explain it breifly as the really long articles puzzle me.. thanks
Fish basically poop and pee ammonia, which is lethal in any quantity to them- if you do not go about stocking and cycling your tank correctly this will kill them as fish are essentially living in their own toilet.
So we cycle tanks to help prevent this nasty toxin building up in our tanks, also including nitrites which are also poisonus. In your filter sponge lives beneficial bacteria that can break down ammonia and nitrites into harmless substances, but when you buy your filter it has none of this bacteria- so you have to gradually grow it before you can go fully stocking your tank or chucking loads of fish in; this process is called "cycling". The beneficial bacteria needs to have a constant source of ammonia to stay alive and multiply though.
The 2 most common main ways you can go about cycling your tank is either via a fishless cycle or a cycle with fish. A cycle with fish generally basically involves adding just one or 2 small fish to the tank and doing lots of regular small water changes, keeping an eye on ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels via test kits so these toxins do not build up in any dangerous levels that could harm the fish, and very slowly ading a couple of fish every week or so depending on the results. After maybe about 3-4months or so of this your tank should be fully or nearly cycled and half way there to fully stocking it- of course this depends on all kinds of factors though.
Fishless cycling of course involves no fish as it does not rely on having fish in the tank to produce ammonia for your beneficial bacterial colony to grow. When you do a fishless cycle you basically add loads of pure ammonia to the tank, in much larger quantitys than what you would ever allow in a tank with fish, and regually test the tank for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates until the nitrites and ammonia have finally reached 0- you then imediatly add fish to the tank and fully stock it once it is stable.
I never did a fishless cycle in my tanks years ago when i first started, but a fishless cycle usually just takes a couple of weeks to do and does not put any fish's health at risk, so most people prefer this more modern, faster and safer method of cycling.
Here's a link on how you go about a fishless cycle, i strongly advise you read it;
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=73365
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