mrupallnit
New Member
I have been talking about "cycling" of an aquarium. What is that exactly. Does the aquarium need to "cycle" b/4 fish get put in?
Cycle?
- Thread starter mrupallnit
- Start date
T
thomas712
Guest
On my 90 I just put one large raw Prawn in to cycle my tank. I hung mine by using some fishing line in the middle of the tank so that it was in the path of the spraybar that is in the top/back of my tank. It doesn't take long for the shrimp to start decomposing. After a couple of weeks there should be plenty of first stage bacteria that should be well established, and should be able to keep up with the amount of ammonia created by the dead prawn and changing it into nitrites. After 3-4 weeks your second stage bacteria will begin to proccess the nitrites into nitrates, and will build quickly, then all of the sudden your nitrites will drop and you should be able to check this with your test kits, After that you should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates. At this point I like to recommend at least a 30% water change after the cycle is complete.
This is where you should add your first fish to keep the cycle going, that is the nitrafication cycle, that way your bacteria have somethng to process and stay healthy and can handle the bio load, as you slowly over the next few weeks add more fish, the bacteria will grow to keep up with that bio load.
Using a dead raw shrimp to cycle with instead of fish is a very good way to go. Some let ordered liverock start the cycle for them, as there is usually some die off from the rocks that can easily send your tank into a cycle.
Got it?
Thomas
This is where you should add your first fish to keep the cycle going, that is the nitrafication cycle, that way your bacteria have somethng to process and stay healthy and can handle the bio load, as you slowly over the next few weeks add more fish, the bacteria will grow to keep up with that bio load.
Using a dead raw shrimp to cycle with instead of fish is a very good way to go. Some let ordered liverock start the cycle for them, as there is usually some die off from the rocks that can easily send your tank into a cycle.
Got it?
Thomas
mrupallnit
New Member
What the hell, this is biology! Woooooooo!!!
I understand it kind of...it just got confusing about the whole process. What I don't understand, to have a fish swimming in water, why does all this bacteria life need to occur?
These are dumb as questions, I know, but I am very very very new and have NO idea about this --- I'm learning and reading a lot as I go.
I understand it kind of...it just got confusing about the whole process. What I don't understand, to have a fish swimming in water, why does all this bacteria life need to occur?
These are dumb as questions, I know, but I am very very very new and have NO idea about this --- I'm learning and reading a lot as I go.
