Cycling a New Tank.

[Arrowana Boi]

I have noticed that some bros still have many queries about tank cycling and how to go about doing it therefore i decided to
post this little "article" i have written in a previous thread that i was answering to.
Hope this could help bros who might be interested to know some basic procedures in cycling their new tanks to await the arrival of their prized fish.
This "article" serve only as a general guide to help those who need it. Its not to assume that im totally correct as this article only sort of consolidate some things i have learnt from very experienced bros here, through my readings and personal experiences.
I have included watever that i noe in this post so those new bros dont have to search through the whole list of old threads jus to gets bits and pieces of loose info.

This is gonna be a long read but i think it will definitely benefit those who have no idea about cycling their new tank.

I have included the general guide, the science behind cycling and some some extra info which u might be interested if u are getting new tanks.

The proper way to cycle tank will take about a week or two the very least by either going the fishless or with fish way.Recommended is 4-6 weeks for complete cycle. But of cos i noe many guys wont be that patient. But pls cycle for at least 1-2 weeks. And during that period all ur filtering stuff should be set up and running properly.

U WILL need the ammonia to be present in the water from fish waste decomposition in the first place to kick start the whole cycling process. Wat cycling can u expect if u intend to run the tank empty. Recommended is to use some cheap fishes to go thru the cycling process, or u can go the fishless way by doing daily ammonia drips into the tank.
Use cheap fishes to cycle tha tank completely before the introduction of ur prized fish. Would u want ur precious aro to go thru the cycling process which might be lethal or cause irreversible damage to its health during ammonia or nitrite spikes? Ammonia burns can blind fishes, cause severe gill inflammations and also scald barbels if its aros (sotong barbels).

If u expect an empty tank to be cycled without any kind of intervention......... let me tell u, even if u keep running it for weeks, i can safely say that no BB will cultivate. Even if it did by any chance, it will not cultivate a large enuff colony to be able to handle the bio-load from ur aro. U WILL NEED THE SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF AMMONIA IN THE FIRST PLACE to kick start the whole cycling process.

In normal cycle process, be prepared to check for pH-levels to monitor the ammonia spike. pH drastic drop is sign of ammonia spike. Go get a few test kits and check ur paremeters to be safe. SeaChem test kit is not bad.

Before u proceed i would like to let u noe that generally in a cycled and running aquarium, ammonia and nitrite should be kept to 0 PPM as much as possible as they are really very toxic to ur fishes. As for nitrate, it gets pretty bad only when it reached level of around 20PPM. But of cos its better to keep that as low as possible as well. All this depends largely on ur total bioload and the efficiency of ur filter. Generally ur water is considered cycled when Ammonia and Nitrite is approx 0 PPM with some traces of nitrate.

With Fish Method: Choose fishes with alot of waste like blood parrots, gold fishes or other large cichlids(not recommended).

1. Initially Ammonia from fish = Ammonia Level-High, Nitrite Level-0, Nitrate Level-0

2. Nitrosomonas will form = Ammonia Level - Lower, Nitrite Level - Increase, Nitrate Level - 0 or still very low.

3.Nitrobacters then form = Ammonia Level - Contd lowering, Nitrite Level - Maintains or start falling, Nitrate Level - Start to go up.

When there attains a level where ammonia and nitrate falls to very low level or zero PPM leaving only acceptable level of nitrate then water is fully cycled. Use test kit on water everyday or every other day to check paremeters and decide.

Fishless Method:

U will need pure ammonia(school type) to replace that from the decomposition of fish waste and food. Jus start dripping these ammonia into the tank daily.
Do the similar monitoring as above in the fish method. The pattern on the readouts should be similar. This method supposedly to be even faster than method using fishes. Can get this ammonia if u or ur friends have access to a chem lab. Or if not, throw in a few pieces of market prawns to serve as decomposition sites for ammonia to form. This method however is abit more stinko.

Speeding cycling process by "Seeding" :

"Seeding" is a process that can speed cycling up really fast and save u alot of waiting and monitoring. But its feasible only if u have another tank or have some ppl willing to help u out. They act as a form of BB transfer from old established tank to new tank. But take note to do so only after water is clear of chlorine. I.e Start on 2nd day after full tank topping. Chlorine in the very new water will kill the BB from ur "seeds" almost instantly so its just a big waste. Can use plants, gravel ,old filter media etc from old tank. But jus becareful that the old tank is disease free.

The Science behind the cycling process: "Nitrogen Cycle"

Ammonia(toxic), will need to be broken down to nitrite(toxic) which will be needed to be broken down further into nitrate(ok level of toxic for fish). Then first water change of about 20-30 %

Ammonia (NH3) from fish ---Nitrosomonas form and break them down to nitrites(NO2)---Nitrobacters form and break them down to nitrates(NO3). During then will the cycling be complete.
Incase some ppl still dunno, these Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacters are termed as BB(Benificial Bacterias) widely in forums.

Clorine kills these BB so if u were to do large water changes u might want to bubble the new water for at least 4-6 hours prior to changes, alternatively u can use aged water or use antichlorine. This is also 1 of the reasons why some hard core hobbyists swears by aged water. Aged water will have lesser chemicals in it.

Extra info:

Geo liquid is a kind of mineral concentrate which when introduced into water will act as an "extra" surface (the minerals) to absorb the harmful chemicals etc and oso to act as extra ground for BB to bind onto and let the water itself act as a giant ever flowing filter. And NO its not a magic potion that will ensure 100% healthy water. Weekly or bi-weekily water changes is still the best bet. Use Geo when ur water is cycled or during cycling, no prob.

New tank prep is really very simple. Jus get a new cloth and rinse thoroughly. Get a good amount of salt on the wet cloth and give the EMPTY but relativelyl wet tank a good rub down especially on the sillicone sealed linings and sides and edges etc. Hose down a little. Then repeat again. Leave for a couple mins hose down again and then drain. Next, fill up the empty tank and leave for a day to check for leaks and release the chlorine in it simultaneously and u can start on ur cycling process if alls well. At no time should u use any soap or detergent to clean. Dont be surprised, i really come across some champion who did that.

For new big tanks, 5 feet and above u can do the salt rub like above but during test for leaks, u might wanna fill up 1/2 way and let the silicone have time to stretch abit first before the rest is topped up, about a couple of hours to a day, depends on individual.

Hope these clear some doubts.
Have a niceday

hi there, that's a very informative post.. for me at least! haha.. but i've got a few questions to ask...

ya mentioned about using fishes to cycle the tank water, so if i use more fishes, will the speed of cycling be fastened?? currently using some rosy barbs (10 of them actually) and they shitting quite a lot also, lol! also, i'm using the seeding method ya mentioned in the post, how much faster will this process cycle the water?? its actually a bio sponge for my another tank which i've dumped into the new tank i've got. another thing is i saw those bacteria starter selling in the LFHs, will they be useful to cycle the water?? say, and i just meant saying, if i use all the 3 methods above, can it be possible??

one more thing is that for a tank that's not fully cycled, will the use of zeolite be helpful to remove the harmful ammonia in the water? coz i've read about its use so if such, then why the need to cycle the water?? i mean just add zeolite and the ammonia will be gone right?? haha... oh but i forgot about the nitrile.. hehe!

oh yah, heard of someone posting that we shouldn't use salt and zeolite together as the latter will release the ammonia absorbed back into the water, so does that mean we shouldn't use either one of them?? currently i'm already putting activated carbon and zeolite coupled with bio sponge.

[Arrowana Boi]

Ok, actually if u use more fishes, that means the ammonia level will shoot up higher but the whole process will reach an end at still about the same time, the differece is that the tank will be able to support a higer bio load at the initial startup tho , when its fully cycled, provided the filter is efficient enuff. Its basically , u reap what u sow. If ur filter is cycled with a higher bio load at the beginning, than it can support a higher bioload earlier, when its fully cycled.

For seeding, its best if u can dump that sponge somewhere in the filter instead, that way the bacteria colony can get to the new filter medium faster and start growing/working faster. If u got other things like plants, gravel then jus put in the tank since cannot put in the filter.

Bottled commercial bacteria or "Cycle" , its a very contraversial issue, some ppl swears by it, some say its a scam. Well for me, i bought a big bottle and emptied the whole thing in my initial 2x 6ft setup and thats it. I think it will work only at the very beginning only, but if u leave it for too long the BB might be dead liao then will be no use liao.

Doing all three methods is ok. Jus remember to test the water parameter, as long as its safe as i have mentioned, u can go ahead with ur new fish intro.

Zeolite, absorbs ammonia, and this will need to be replaced pretty often. And i dont think it comes cheap. By cycling a tank, we hope to get rid of the ammonia naturally using the BB from mother nature. So now u can get rid of all those toxic using the free of charge BB, aint that better ?
U use zeolite, u will starve the BB and they wont start to grow, that means ur tank is never cycled as long as u keep the zeolite and contd replacing them with new ones. U will have a false impression that ur water quality is very good all the time and then jus intro ur prized fish. BUT once u stop/forget to replace these zeolite, ur ammonia will spike very quickly w/o ur knowledge plus there will be no BB there to lower it in time and that will be fatal to ur fish.

As for carbon, its used to absorb bad smell and impurities/chemicals in the water. U dont have to use carbon unless u have jus medicated ur tank recently and is now trying to "demedicate" it.
Prolong usage of carbon is rumoured to be the cos of hith to the aro, maybe due to the fine particles of the carbon getting lodge in between the scales on the head region.
Also, if u leave the carbon in the filter for too long, it will start to release watever that it has absorbed earlier on. Very messy.

Hope it helps

just want to commend u on such a good write up. but i have a few questions:
i started cycling 4 days ago, and check the water parameters.
at first ammonia level was 0, nitrite was 0. then on the second day i notice ammonia went up nitrite still 0. on third day i added ammonia removal. on fourth day, ammonia went down to 0 but nitrite went up. is this right? should i have added the ammonia removal? i read in your post that we need ammonia to kick start the cylce so by me adding the removal will that cause the cycle not to be in course? also, my pH is a bit high (7.8) and my kH and gH is kinda high also.
this is my first big tank (125gallon) and just want to make sure that i'm doing it properly.
my filters are:
2 fluval 303 (75 gallon capacity)
2 powerheads with underground filter
is that filter set up sufficient?

thanks,
inifiniti

well i beg to differ abt the zeolites...
yes it mayb truw in some1... but it also depends on how u use it...
let say for a canister or overhead filter which most of us are using?
the zeolite is place in the bottom layer after going thru the bioballs, sponge,ceramic rings layers etc.... and finally the zeolite...
wouldnt the BB be able to grow on the top 3 layers?
and do note tt aros produce a lot of waste too... plus the leftover food waste we r feeding to our aros...
anyway i guess the zeolite is just the extra protection against ammonia pikes?
anyway it doesnt do any harm if it absorb too little ammonia? relative to the top 3 layers of filtering where the water flows thru the ammonia will most likely be absorb by the BB. thus the BB will definitely survive....and theres BB in the water too not onli in the filter...
anyway of coz zeolites are quite ex. in arnd 6 dollars a pack to treat for 200 gallons...
note:im a zeolite user. and i find my water remain clearer after using it. of coz i change water twice a week..... the difference is just the clarity and mind u tt zeolite DOES NOT take away the ammonia it jus stores it......(recharge once a mth by soaking in salted water for 24 hours...... )so regarding the salt qn. the concentration of salt we add to our tank is not realli tt concentrated compare to the amount of salt we need to use to remove the ammonia frm the zeolites. so all in all the ammonia is still stored in the zeolites which doesnt make it a fail product....
well anyway its still up to individual preferance to whether u wanna use it or not.... as i dont see any adverse effects it had in my tank .....(note: im not related to the company selling zeolite...jus a user .)
pls correct me if im wrong.

[Arrowana Boi]

First of all, thank u very much for ur compliments Infiniti.

OK regarding ur readings on ur pH levels, can i assume that u are located somewhere in US? Cos its rather rare that water get that hard in Sg. U mentioned that u have UGF, can i assume again that u have gravel in ur tank?
Regarding the above 2 assumptions, u can lower the water pH by adding some peat in ur filter layout or add blackwater extract, they will lower ur pH level by quite a bit but remember to do so over a few days so as not to send ur fish into a pH shock and die. Also make sure that ur gravel arent coral sand, these will rise pH level by quite abit. In Sg, ppl put in coral chips to buffer the pH level so that it doesnt fall too drastically if ever there is an ammonia spike. Even if the aro might survive the ammonia spike, they might not be able to surive the ordeal with the addition of a large pH swing.

U mentioned also that after u added the ammonia removal, ur ammonia dropped but ur nitrite increased right? Well the nitrite is formed due to the initial ammonia in the tank. As time passes, ur nitrite level will fall too, and ur nitrate will increase a little and then the whole process will come to a halt. All these will occur becos the very basic food(ammonia) is being deprived to these BB to survive in the first place. All the ammonia had been absorbed, the cycling wont start.
What i would advise u to do now is to lose the ammonia removal agent first and let the proper cycling take place. Once the cycling completes and the BB colony has grown big and strong enuff to be able to handle the bioload, u wont even need any ammonia removal agent infuture if everything goes smoothly.

As for UGF, I dont say that UGF is all that bad, but i personally dont like it. They really do leave quite a bit of mess in the substrate after a while and when the time comes, it will just have a sudden outbreak of toxins into the tank when the dirt in the substrates get jus too high in amount for the watever puny amount of BB in it to handle, remember there is too little O2 in that place to have high amount of biological filtration to take place. UGF normally sucks the dirt to the bottom of the substrates and thats jus about it, they are hardly being drawn out of the gravel and into the water to be filtered off. Leave the gravel alone, lose the UGF, jus use a python with an attach gravel filter and just clean chosen areas of the surface a little at a time during water change depending on ur mood. But do keep the powerheads and use them to give the water good circulation and prevent dead spots if ur tank is decorated.

As for ur 2 units of filters, i think they should be sufficient for the time being. The ideal filtration setup is to be able to cycle the total volume of ur tank by about 4 times at least per hour. But it really depends largely on ur total bioload, if it aint too high for ur filter to handle and cos bad water paremeters, i suggest u jus leave it alone. Its no use having a super powerful filter which have a flowfate of 10x ur tank's volume but not properly setup with ample BB in it to filter water efficiently. In time to come if u have spare cash u can either upgrade or add another filter. U can add more media that can house the BB, like bio-rings, or those sintered glass called ehfi substrates from eheim. These ehfi stuff is really very good and can last for quite a while, but they are quite expensive. If u think u need quite a bit, go for the large pack at one shot, it will save u quite abit in the long run rather than getting smaller packs.

The whole idea about aquarium is perfect balance, the water will have to be cycled and the filter must be matured to be able to handle the bioload of ur tank's livestock. And the bioload would also have to be present in the water to feed the BB in the filter and ensure they survive and thrive. Its really a "u scratch my back and i scratch urs" theory.

When the whole filtration setup havent really matures and reached an equilibrium, i really suggest that u dont add in the ammonia removal, im jus afraid that they will absorb the excess ammonia. These BB's colony would not grow anymore significantly then, due to the false impression of a relatively low bio load.

But if ever u see ur ammonia level going up pretty fast even in a matured filtration setup, then i think u can add in the ammonia removal to absorb the ammonia first and solve that problem there and then. Meanwhile quickly setup an extra filter to increase ur filtration capacity. An ammonia spike in a mature filtration setup jus says one thing, the present filtration aint sufficient anymore or theres simply too much crap in the water, for eg. leftover food.

I see these extra chemicals and products as extra helpers in terms of emergency only but not as a replacement for the basic filtration. Keep everything simple, and u will be save. And take out left overfood, they arent suppose to be there in the first place to foul up the water and render the need for these ammonia removal agents. Practise good fish keeping habits and ur fishes will be healthy and love u even more

Btw, u can monitor ur ammonia level very easily with a stick on ammonia alert tester in the tank. Its produced by Seachem and its quite accurate. Its easier and cheaper than using test chemicals, but of cos these stickers serve only as a general guide to alert u but cannot tell the actual amount of ammonia precisely. But i think they are generally very helpful to warn u against ammonia spikes.

Hope the above could help

Originally posted by Infiniti
just want to commend u on such a good write up. but i have a few questions:
i started cycling 4 days ago, and check the water parameters.
at first ammonia level was 0, nitrite was 0. then on the second day i notice ammonia went up nitrite still 0. on third day i added ammonia removal. on fourth day, ammonia went down to 0 but nitrite went up. is this right? should i have added the ammonia removal? i read in your post that we need ammonia to kick start the cylce so by me adding the removal will that cause the cycle not to be in course? also, my pH is a bit high (7.8) and my kH and gH is kinda high also.
this is my first big tank (125gallon) and just want to make sure that i'm doing it properly.
my filters are:
2 fluval 303 (75 gallon capacity)
2 powerheads with underground filter
is that filter set up sufficient?

thanks,
inifiniti

[Arrowana Boi]

Hi jazzben81, i would say that wat u have said is quite true in a way. And i do noe that BB is omni present in the aquarium jus that they are more abundant in the filters which is designed to house them in the first place.

I wouldnt say that zeolite is useless, but i see it more like something i would use when i really have a need. I was once in the position of wanting to add products that claims will benefit the water condition, but after a while i still realise that nothing beats a huge colony of healthy BB. They work hard, efficient and best of all, free !!
U mentioned that by adding zeolites below the first few layers of filter medium that holds the BB is a good way to add extra protection against ammonia spikes, but have u forgotten also that watever ammonia thats being left out by the above BB colony is being absorbed by the zeolites. This will lower the true supply of ammonia in the tank and as times goes by these extra ammonia is being continually being absorbed, the BB colony would be still having a false impression that the bio load is not as much as it seems and their size will jus remain that small. These BB are living things, and they really do need to be fed with ammonia. So if the bio load is that high, leave it that way and let the BB colony grow to be huge enuff to handle it. If they dont grow to be big enuff and the water paremeters remains bad, it jus means that we need another filter. Of cos during ammonia spikes to dangerous levels in unforseen cicumstances, than adding in the zeolites is the appropriate thing to do to get rid of these toxins fast.

Im not saying again that u sould never put zeolites into ur aquarium at all, jus that it kinda defeats the purpose of a proper cycling process. Imagine the main ingredient of a cycling process being sapped up immediately. How can a proper cycling process take place right?
Lets jus say that im a huge fan of zeolite, my method now, would be to lose the zeolite first and concentrate on the proper cycle. Once everything is cycled and is in equilibrium then i will add in the zeolite into the filter as extra protection to buffer against sudden ammonia level swing.

Originally posted by jazzben81
well i beg to differ abt the zeolites...
yes it mayb truw in some1... but it also depends on how u use it...
let say for a canister or overhead filter which most of us are using?
the zeolite is place in the bottom layer after going thru the bioballs, sponge,ceramic rings layers etc.... and finally the zeolite...
wouldnt the BB be able to grow on the top 3 layers?
and do note tt aros produce a lot of waste too... plus the leftover food waste we r feeding to our aros...
anyway i guess the zeolite is just the extra protection against ammonia pikes?
anyway it doesnt do any harm if it absorb too little ammonia? relative to the top 3 layers of filtering where the water flows thru the ammonia will most likely be absorb by the BB. thus the BB will definitely survive....and theres BB in the water too not onli in the filter...
anyway of coz zeolites are quite ex. in arnd 6 dollars a pack to treat for 200 gallons...
note:im a zeolite user. and i find my water remain clearer after using it. of coz i change water twice a week..... the difference is just the clarity and mind u tt zeolite DOES NOT take away the ammonia it jus stores it......(recharge once a mth by soaking in salted water for 24 hours...... )so regarding the salt qn. the concentration of salt we add to our tank is not realli tt concentrated compare to the amount of salt we need to use to remove the ammonia frm the zeolites. so all in all the ammonia is still stored in the zeolites which doesnt make it a fail product....
well anyway its still up to individual preferance to whether u wanna use it or not.... as i dont see any adverse effects it had in my tank .....(note: im not related to the company selling zeolite...jus a user .)
pls correct me if im wrong.

ur saying is also quite true . since we r toking abt cycling here,
yes the zeolite could be added in later since we are cultivating some BB here.
anyway its doesnt make any diff to me coz i using 4 oh filter and 2 internal filter and 2 bubble producer for my 70 gallon tank! haha
so im a kiasu man!
anyway its realli better to add zeolite in later in case of those who forget to change water.
well if u r cycling the tank then i think zeolite should not be taken in priority.
hope it clears up any doubts.
anyway im also dubious abt the use of geoliquid.
i think its jus a way for those lazy buggers to use who want everythin done chop chop.
actually without it our aros could also live very well.
think of those uncles or grand fathers who kept aros for years without it.
well my personal opinon is aros are like humans. imagine not getting sick for very long.... ur immune system will be down. once some thing heavy comes abt. u will not b able to take it. then wat will happen? either the aro will get very very very sick or might even die!. Aros are hardy fish . if they can survive well in the wild for years y not in captivity. reason why is the owner pamper them too much. like overfeeding. medication(use when not realli needed) etc.
anyway its jus my point of view.
pls correct me if im wrong
cheers

bro Arrowana Boi,

What if I decide to add about 1" thick of volcanic crystalized sand (cat 0.5 type) in my tank now? Issit advisable? Will it affect the pH of my water and will the maintenance be easy?

My current 4 footer has being running well biologically with NH4=0, N03=0 and N02 < 10ppm. pH = 6.0... keeping my aro and about 10 small tankmates.

Advise please...

Good works.
I'm not sure about the part on PH drop during ammonia spike. I notice ph drop only after filter is almost or fully cycled though.

Like to add that many here like me are probably frightened at time by high ammonia (test kits read NH3/NH4) reading from our test kit. And ammonia we learnt at low level are supposed to be toxic, then isn't our aro at danger?
Well, if u read this attached articles, u probably would understand why your aro did't perished that time. http://www.desertaquaria.com/content...ce/ammonia.htm

Interesting bit of information that most of us probably don't know. The level of toxic ammonia at PH 7.5 is probably less than 2% of our test kit reading. So high reading not necessary mean toxic.