Cycle confusion

[danedodger]

I've read quite a few posts on here (and other boards) stating that you have to set up your tank, equipment, water, and such then let it sit to "cycle" before you add fish. Maybe folks are talking about something else because you CAN'T cycle a tank with nothing in it. When people say "cycle" I assume they're talking about the nitrogen cycle. In the nitrogen cycle you put something in the water which will produce ammonia, a fish, ghost feeding, a raw shrimp, or even liverock. The ammonia goes up causing bacteria to multiply in response. Those bacteria take the ammonia and convert it to nitrites so you see your ammonia go up, then back down as your nitrites rise. Then more bacteria grows in response to the nitrites going up which convert that to nitrates so the nitrites go back down as the nitrates go up. When you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates the tank is said to be "cycled" meaning you have a working colony of bacteria for biological filtration essential to the health and wellbeing of aquarium creatures. You do a partial water change and you're set for another fish.
Personally I prefer cycling with ghost feedings or raw shrimp since you aren't risking a fish or expensive liverock with those methods but many people will cycle with a good hardy fish which is why damsels are so popular for cycling a tank. Of course cycling with damsels has it's own set of drawbacks besides risking the life of a fish like damsels can get fairly nippy as they get larger making new tank additions more problematic. Cycling with a damsel doesn't make them any more or less aggressive they simply ARE.
Am I reading these posts correctly? Maybe I'm misinterpreting? Either that or posters on the net or me are giving the wrong advice! So which way is it?

 

[airforceb2]

The last part of the cycle is the nitrates being broken down to nitrogen gas. I haven't done a water change yet and my nitrates are 5PPM. You can see bubbles on my LS where the nitrates were converted to gas. Don't get me wrong, water changes are needed but primarily to replenish trace elements needed by other organisms.
Usually people will get their LR from here or other places on the net. Even though the rock was fully cured when it left the facility, it will have die off while in shipping so adding shipped LR to a take will cause a spike. I personally used a raw shrimp to cycle.

 

[danedodger]

Right! So why are so many people being encouraged to let an empty tank of water sit for ages saying "it needs to cycle"????? I don't get it...

 

[0verfl0w]

Yesterday I added 43lbs of LR and 55lbs of the aragonite(sp) sand to my 65 gal. The rock was precured but I'm guessing there was some significant die off during the ride home and the amount of time it took me to get the water in the tank. Today I was planning on adding on of the cocktail shrimps to my tank to start the cycle. Should I do that today or wait a couple of days?

 

[seahorse11]

Whats ghost feeding?

 

[jojo_b]

where you put food in the tank like you were feeding fish, but there aren't any actual fish.

 

[danedodger]

Overflow: Test your water and see where the ammonia is at right now. If it's already high you'll be risking anything still live on the rocks by adding the shrimps.
Seahorse: Ghost feeding is putting fish food in a tank with no fish. The feedings, since nothing's there to eat the food, rot in the tank causing the levels to go up and start the cycle.

 

[0verfl0w]

Thanks...I'll get my water tested today and see where it's at.

 

[0verfl0w]

Dane, here's a link to another thread where I posted the results from yesterdays water test.
thread

 

[acekjd83]

here are a couple of previous posts about cycles that might be helpful again...

the nitrogen cycle in a nutshell:
1) ammonia added: throw in some shrimp, some flake food, some uncured rock...
2) nitrosomonas grow: these bacteria oxidize ammonia and turn it into nitrite.
3) ammonia converted to nitrite: after the first bacterial population boom, the ammonia will be converted to nitrite, and the bacteria will starve and populations drop.
4) nitrobacter grow: a second set of bacteria will grow, and break down the nitrites into nitrates.
5) nitrite converted to nitrate: the second population boom will convert the nitrite to nitrate, and these bacteria will decline.
6) cycle basically complete: the end product, nitrates, will build up as the other wastes are broken down, and the two types of bacteria reach population equilibria. once the balance is reached between ammonia production and breakdown, the tank is considered "cycled"
Nitrate cannot be broken down by aerobic bacterial processes, so it will continue to accumulate unless removed by foam fractionation (skimming), chemical filtration (carbon) or anaerobic bacteria (DSB).
Sand more than an inch or two deep will become anaerobic (oxygen-depleted), allowing bacteria to grow that use nitrate as a final electron acceptor instead of oxygen. the nitrate will be changed from NO3 (dissolved nitrate) to N2 (nitrogen gas). nitrogen gas is a harmless gas that will accumulate in pockets beneath the sand and percolate up through the water and into the air.
This is by far the easiest and least expensive means of nitrogen export for aquariums, but it should be emphasized that this process is far less efficient than the aerobic nitrogen oxidation processes, so it cannot process as much nitrate as the other steps. This just means that a larger bioload may overload the processing capacity of a DSB, unless it is supplemented by another form of nitrate export...

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by DaneDodger
Right! So why are so many people being encouraged to let an empty tank of water sit for ages saying "it needs to cycle"????? I don't get it...
I understand the cycle concept and importance and using LS,LR and shrimp and NOT damsels; where are you reading what you are talking about? Not on here that I can see, and I read alot on here everyday!

 

[jdragunas]

i don't understand what you're so confused about... you said you see people saying that you have to let the tank sit and "cycle" before adding fish. Then you go on to explain the cycling process. then you say that you shouldn't add fish before the cycle's over because it's cruel to the fish...
i don't understand what you're confused about. You shouldn't add fish before the cycle's over. People are letting their tanks full of water sit, while it's cycling... i'm really confused about why you're confused :notsure: Are you saying that people are only adding water to the tank to cycle? no one on here i've ever seen has done that... they all add their LR and sand prior to cycling...
Jenn