What Is Cycling

[Tetraking]

what are people talking about when they refer to cycling, what are the benefits of it? i did not do it, have i gone wrong?

set up is four months old and i have not lost anything yet.

 

[tangokitty]

You most likely cycled with fish then. Cycling is the "Breaking in" period for the tank where all the bacteria that breaks down the fish waste establishes itself. It is normaly started with a spike of ammonia, then Nitrites and finaly Nitrates, as each group of bacteria get settled in. You may not have had any losses because you either cleaned the tank regularly, or had very hearty fish. Check the stats on your water at least weekly and do water changes if ammonia or nitrites are present.

 

[minxfishy]

For a guide on fishless cycling read here: http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/

 

[tenohfive]

As tangokitty said, you were reasonably lucky - to be confidant of no losses when cycling with fish in, you'd want to be doing regular big water changes.

Check the link out minx posted up, if you stay in the hobby (and set up future tanks) It'll come in handy.

If you haven't already, invest in a decent ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/pH testing kit, the API liquid ones have a very good reputation.

 

[Tetraking]

Thanks all

I suppose i did get lucky, had my water tested today, they did'nt give me any stats but told me my water was spot on, since setting up i have done, without fail a %10/15 water change on wednesdays and sundays every week.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Tetraking,

Get your water tested again and don't accept them saying everything is ok. Ask them to write down the exact values for each test and then post them up here.

LFSs have a bit of a reputation for telling you everything is fine, when maybe someone else would have a different opinion.

That said, the best thing to do is get your own test kit, so you can test the water whenever necessary. As said above, the API tests have a good reputation, and i personally use Nutrafin tests with no problems.

Cheers

BTT

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I agree with BTT, you need to get numbered results or the interaction is fairly meaningless.

It may be that you were stocked lightly enough and had frequent enough water changes that the levels of the poisons were just kept below those that would give visible stress, or it could be that you've had gill and other damage and are just unaware of it.

Doesn't matter, the thing now is to learn to operate a good test kit like BTT describes and begin to be on top of it so you'll be ready to handle things if something goes wrong with the filtration system.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

JUST ANOTHER LINK WHICH MAY HELP YOU OUT 'WHATS CYCLING' LINK IS IN MY SIG