# what is cycling



## lwstinkinsweet (Aug 2, 2005)

I am a newbie here and to fish. I have seen a lot of people say they are cycling thier tanks. what does that mean


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

ok, I'll walk you through the simplified process.

fish produce ammonia through respiration and pooping. ammonia is toxic to fish, bacteria that is generally everywhere kicks in in the presence of ammonia. this bacteria grows best in well aerated area, ie your filter. the bacteria converts the ammonia to nitrites, still toxic to fish, so a second bacteria converts that into nitrates, the least toxic of them all. and they are removed naturally with plants or water changes.

So when you cycle your tank you are adding ammonia with either the fish method (obviously using fish) or the fishless method (obviously not using fish) the fishless method involves buying pure ammonia (no aditives, perfumes, dyes) from the store and adding it to your tank.


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## AshleytheGreat (Jul 24, 2005)

Well I thought that was hard to understand.

From my views when you have a new fish tank (uncycled...just added water) think of it as nothing good, or bad in it. When you start to add fish to an uncycled tank the fish start to go to the bathroom ext. and start to produce ammonia which is bad for them. The ammonia then turns into Nitrite and then NitrATe. These idk compounds?are all really bad for your fish. When you cycle your tank you are producing GOOD bacteria that aids in getting rid of all those bad things. (ammonia, nitrite,nitrate) You can cycle it using pure ammonia. Bio-spira, or fish ( NOT the way to go!)

Alrught IDK if all my terminology (hah wow) was right with compunds or bacteria but thats how I understand it. Anyone can correct me if they would like.


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## lwstinkinsweet (Aug 2, 2005)

how often should you cycle a tank and how long does it take
i have a 2.5 gal and i never knew of this. i had a fish earlier this week and he was so sick i took him back after a few days then i got a new one today. i completely rinsed his tank when i took the old one out and threw out the plant and gravel cause they stank bad and i only had them in there like four days. i only have the tank to put him in and a cup he came in for changes. i only put him in there for however long it takes to clean tank and acclimate him back in. i wouldnt put him in there for more than a few hours. do i need to learn how to properly cycle my tank?


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## Hamm35924 (Jun 13, 2005)

is it a betta?


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## lwstinkinsweet (Aug 2, 2005)

yes it is a betta


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Well simply, nitrogen must go thru a chemical-biological process in which the 1st products are toxic to fish and the last one is better and can be moved out of the water. It takes time to complete the cycle. If you start stocking fish right after you put water in, the fish must go thru the stage where the nitrogen products are toxic then it's dangerous. If the cycle is complete, adding the fish gradually and the cycle will be gradually accustomed to the waste and can 'handle' them...
Hope that makes sense...


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

I've used fish for cycling but have always seeded the tank with bacteria first. the nitrifying "good" bacteria grows exponentially,t he more there is the faster it grows. the bacteria grows on any and all surfaces of the tank, but grow best with high DO (dissolved oxygen) levels of around 80% which your filter will be closest to. I dont think the 2.5 gallon has a filter, but to seed the tank you can take something with lots of surface area, like the filter media and just put it in your tank. i dont think you even need to cycle a 2.5 gallon, bettas use a labyrinth organ that enables them to breathe air, making them more hardy against ammonia and nitrite. i think one or the other affects the fish's gills or uptake of oxygen into the blood or something

you only need to cycle your tank once, as long as the bacteria doesnt die off. drying out will kill it, salinity changes will kill it, extreme temps will kill it, and no food (ammonia/nitrite) will too.

the length of time to cycle depends on a couple things. if you seed with bacteria then you can almost skip the whole cycling process. the nitrifying "good" bacteria actually grows pretty slow compared to hetertrophic bacteria, but are very efficent at their job. most of their energy is devoted to the calvin cycle using co2, so they reproduce pretty slow, they use binary division and optimally they divide around once a day.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

you only theoretically need to cycle the tank once, but if you clean that tank to well or take out the filter or gravel you may encounter another "cycle" Id do some simple procedures to reduce the risk that your fish will die from "new tank syndrome" or in other words the dreaded "nitrogen cycle" (both terms are for the same thing, and can be used interchangably). You have the following options
1. Go and take the fish back, cycle your tank properly with pure ammonia from the grocery store, you will need a test kit to test the levels of ammonia nitrite and nitrates if you don't already have one (usually in a small tank things take a whole lot less time, usually 2 weeks will suffice and you can put fish in)
2. Go to your lfs and ask for bio spira, or if they don't have that stability. These two products are the best products on the market to instantly cycle your tank. Add the products as directed. You may need to do a water changeYou will need a test kit to test the levels daily until you get acceptible readings indicating the cycle is complete.
3. Do a water change every day about 1 gallon a day until you are fully cycled. You guessed it you will need a test kit here as well.

When you break it down, the best way to run a cycle is to do it fishless. If thats not an option I'd go with the biospira.


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## AshleytheGreat (Jul 24, 2005)

I have a question for if this would work. I dont think it would but....I have a 10 Gal and to cycle it can I add water from one of my other tanks (85g)? Would it be considered cycled?


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

In the original two responses to lwstinkinsweet's question, I prefered shev's to yours, because although it was simplified, it did explain what was going on. I think yours was really too vague. In fact shev's post contained the answer to your question: "this bacteria grows best in well aerated area, ie your filter". So adding water won't do a thing, because none of the good bacteria is in the water. If you could put some of the filter media from your 85g into the 10g that would definitely help. Bacteria also grow in the gravel (although not as much as in the filter) so adding gravel form the 85g would help some.


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## AshleytheGreat (Jul 24, 2005)

Like I said, I wasn't sure if it was right. That was just how I though of it.


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