cycle my tank??

[kingshrimp]

hi iam new to saltwater fish this my sound domb to most people but what does it mean to cycle your tank?? what do you do to do this??
please help thanks

 

[striker]

I don't know the specifics but I can help you with some points. You can cycle your tank in several different ways. With live hardy fish(damsels), a raw piece of shrimp or live sand and live rock. The best method IMO is to purchase ls and live rock. 1 1/2 lbs of ls and lr from a retail or online store, a power head or 2, and a good test kit to check the conditons during cycling. After a few weeks your nitrate, amonia and nitrite levels will eventually fall to zero and your tank will be safe for a new additon or two. Using Damsels for cycling is cruel and if they survive they can be very territorial, making it hard to add any new fish. Sand can be purchased for less than 5.00 for 50lbs at a home depot and you can add live sand over this to add benificial bacteria and critters. You can also purchase uncured live rock at a great price. 1 1/2-2 lbs per gallon are recommended to act as proper filtration. Do a search for past discussions, read some books for info and don't be afraid to ask questions. Some questions can be answered by doing a search. Good luck, Frank.

 

[thewolfman777]

cycling is the process of building bacteria that convert harmful toxins into less harmful toxins etc. when you first introduce something into your tank (hardy fish, raw shrimp, l/r or l/s) it will give off waste products which create ammonia (which is the most toxic to your livestock). a bacteria colony will shortly grow and they will convert the ammonia into a less harmful toxin which is called nitrite (still harmful to livestock but less harmful than ammo.)more bacteria will grow and soon convert nitrite to nitrate (which is the least harmful to livestock but can become dangerous in high numbers. this is your basic explanation of the cycling process. you first have to introduce something into the tank like descibed above to get this started. all tanks will cycle, it is unvoidable. do some reading ask tons of Q's and you will be alright. dont just jump in and add a lot of fish to your tank. this is a "sensitive" hobby and can be done successfully with patience. good luck. the only stupid question is the one not asked. bring them all to these boards.

 

[fshhub]

cycling is basicaly the process of getting your tank stable, kinda like wolfman and striker mentioned , the reason it is referred to as cycling is because you will go through cycles or stages, which include a severe ammonia and nitrite spike which can and does kill many fish, that is why many of us sw LOVERS prefer to use either shrimp or lr and ls methods, the ammonia is highly toxic to the fish, some asay it is not inhumane, but basically you are putting your fish in poison whe this happens, so i have to say it is
anyhow the end result is your ammonia levels breeds bacteria which wil grow on everythign, the glass and sand adn rocks, thish bacteria breaks down your waste and keep s your water levels stable, this is known as your biofilter, which is highly effective much better thana ny type of filter you can buy, so these bacterias youwant, this is also why many of us prefer to not use a uv sterilizer, some like them, but most think that they kill way too much stuff in the water,
welcome aboard
HTH adn good luck

 

[karlas]

to cycle is the beginnin of the nitrogen cycle amm, trites, then trates as long as you have amm ot trites it is not a good idea to add any live stock. here is an article that explains it very well
<a href="http://www.reefcorner.com/Manual/nitrogen_cycle.htm" target="_blank">nitrogen cycle</a>