Mike’s Fish Tank – Tank Cycling

What it means when we say a tank has to cycle. There is a good bacteria that forms when fish are put into an aquarium. The bacteria that grows lives off the urine the fish produce, also known as ammonia. This bacteria eats the ammonia and converts it to nitrites. There is another bacteria that eats the nitrites, it is commonly referred to as nitrifying bacteria.That bacteria produces nitrates. The ammonia and the nitrites are the two things that are bad for fish.

The nitrates are not as bad and those you get rid of by doing a water change. Siphoning the bottom of your fish tank is important. 20% or so once a month will help keep nitrates in check.

Ammonia and nitrites can kill fish if they are too high. That is why it is so important to go easy on how many fish you put in a new tank. For example if you put 12 fish in a newly setup 10 gallon tank, that’s 12 fish producing ammonia and with no good bacteria in your tank yet, they are swimming in high concentrations of ammonia. It also causes your tank to be cloudy. Do just a few fish until the ammonia eating bacteria has grown, then go slow until your nitrite eating bacteria has grown. all in all I tell people it’s going to take 4 to 6 or 7 weeks until your tank is cycled and you have all the beneficial bacteria you need. Go to our website and look at our care sheets. They will give you more helpful hints: www.petsaplenty.com