🥇🐠 How to Cycle a Fish Tank

The nitrogen cycle in a marine aquarium (it is essentially the same in freshwater aquariums) is a chain reaction in nature that results in the birth of various types of nitrifying bacteria, each with its own job to do. . Each new bacteria born consumes the previous one and gives birth to the next bacteria.

The three components involved are ammonia (NH³ or NH³ + 4), nitrite (NO²) and nitrate (NO3). Typically, the nitrogen cycling process takes around 30 days, but there is no specific time frame for this process to be completed as every aquarium is different. Factors such as the number of fish, other livestock, and organics present in the tank can vary run time in one way or another. It is very important to test your aquarium water while cycling, as this will tell you what phase the aquarium is in at any point in the process.

To accomplish the life cycle or nitrogen process, ammonia is needed to get it all started, and this is usually introduced into the aquarium by adding a few fish. Ammonia is produced in many ways. It comes not only from the waste of live fish, but also from all other marine animals and organisms, as well as dead or decaying material, including plants. Why do you think it’s so important to remove excess uneaten fish food, dead animals, or rotting plant material from an aquarium as soon as possible? They contribute to an increase of unwanted ammonia in aquariums. Also, why is it important not to overfeed your fish, especially during the cycling period? More food = more waste = more ammonia!

During the cycle, some bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite, and at different stages these two elements reach extremely toxic levels, endangering the lives of animals. Do you see capture 22 here? If fish are needed as a source of ammonia to start the cycle and during the process ammonia and nitrites reach toxic levels that put them at risk, which many aquarists do not want to do, how can do we go around the tank “without” the fish?

Tank cycling options without using fish

• Instead, add hermits and/or real crabs. They are fairly hardy animals, rather inexpensive, and will cycle your aquarium as well as fish do. Also, they can be a lot of fun creatures to have. Just feed the hermit crabs and real crabs, flakes, pellets, or frozen fish, and they will do the rest by starting to produce the ammonia needed to feed the bacteria.
• Operate the tank with live rock and/or live sand. These are the two living parts of the reef that produce waste. Not only will they go around the aquarium, but they will become the main source of biological filtration. When you use a live rock or live sand from a recycled tank, they already have the two living bacteria (nitroso and Nitrobacter) that you will need to complete the cycle. There won’t be a huge population of these bacteria, so be sure to slowly add living creatures to your tank until the bacteria population has a chance to spread to the rest of the tank.
• Add ammonium chloride. Read John Tullock’s article “Cycling the Tank” or check out “The Marine Aquarium Handbook by Martin A. Moe, Jr .: Beginner to Breeder” (read review). compare prices) for step-by-step instructions on how to use this method of cycling.
• Use the cocktail shrimp cycling method of putting a few cocktail shrimp in the tank and letting them decompose, creating ammonia. Once the shrimp have produced enough ammonia to start your cycle and the cycle is complete (nitrate present and nitrites reduced to zero), remove what is left of the shrimp and slowly start adding your cattle to the tank.
• Shrimp Bike Chat
• It might sound a bit offbeat and people have done it before, but you can use human urine as a source of ammonia.

Did you know that there are ways to speed up the nitrogen cycling process rather than waiting for nature to take its course?

Source article: 🥇🐠 How to Cycle a Fish Tank

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