| If you ask a pet store employee if you can have fish | | | | After you have Nitrate, test carefully to make sure |
| right away after setting up a tank, a good employee | | | | all Ammonia you add gets converted, then do a |
| will tell you yes. A nice fish lover will tell you that you | | | | massive water change with properly treated water. |
| need to cycle the tank, or you will be coming back to | | | | (Treated water is water with a de-chlorinator added |
| get more doomed fish soon. | | | | so that you will not lose the effort you just made |
| The cycle is when an aquarium is readied to support | | | | due to chlorine or chloramine in tap water. ) Now add |
| life. An newly setup aquarium is incapable of | | | | fish. You can normally nearly fully stock the fish tank |
| supporting any kind of life, as it does not have the | | | | now that it is cycled, just stop adding ammonia when |
| correct bacteria and such in place to convert waste | | | | you add fish, and make sure there is no ammonia or |
| into less harmful forms. This change is a constant | | | | nitrite present before you add them. |
| cycle in an aquarium, but the first time is the | | | | Cycling with Fish (Traditional Cycling) |
| important one. | | | | Materials: |
| There are two ways to cycle a tank. Most other | | | | Some fish you don't like |
| ways are just variations on these two. The first is | | | | Fully setup aquarium |
| fishless cycling, and the second is cycling with fish. | | | | Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate Test kits |
| Fishless Cycling | | | | Time |
| Materials: | | | | Buckets for twice weekly water changes |
| Clear Ammonia (should not foam, or have colors or | | | | Time: 4-6 weeks |
| dyes added) | | | | Add several fish you do not care for, as they will |
| Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate Test kits | | | | often be very damaged by the cycling. Common |
| Tank, fully setup, but with no animals in it. | | | | choices are danios, or feeder goldfish. |
| If you can decorations, gravel, or filter media from an | | | | Test the water, and when Ammonia begins to |
| already cycled tank | | | | appear, start your water changes. You want to keep |
| If you are going to keep live plants, add them now. | | | | the ammonia as low as possible, because ammonia |
| They will speed the cycle. | | | | kills fish. The main reason this method takes so long |
| Time: From 9 days-3 weeks | | | | is the water changes that continue to dilute the |
| The first step is to add ammonia to the tank. Add | | | | ammonia and keep the fish alive. The water will |
| enough that the test kit measures ~ 5 ppm. | | | | slowly go through the same cycle as in Fishless, but |
| Remember how much you had to add to get that | | | | don't forget that Nitrite is also very poisonous to fish, |
| amount, as ammonia comes in very different | | | | and that level needs to be kept very low as well. |
| concentrations. Add the same amount every day. | | | | Once you get Nitrate, your cycle is done. Do a large |
| After 3-4 days begin testing for Nitrite, but continue | | | | water change to lower the Nitrate level. Now you |
| adding Ammonia. | | | | can return the fish you used to cycle, and get only |
| When nitrite appears wait for it to spike, i.e. no | | | | as many fish as you returned. Or you can add a few |
| Ammonia 24 hours after adding it, but tons of Nitrite. | | | | fish every few weeks because the bacteria only |
| Cut the Ammonia dosage by half and begin testing | | | | grew enough to process so much fish waste, so |
| for Nitrate. It takes longer for Nitrate to appear than | | | | more than its expected amount would just start the |
| Nitrite. When Nitrate appears Nitrite should disappear. | | | | cycle again. |