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I have written this article because I have seen a need for it from people new to the hobby. I have responded in numerous forums to countless people with dead or dying fish who did not understand why their fish were dying. For the most part these people wanted to know what was wrong and how to correct the problem as soon as possible.
Let me start by saying that I do not condone the use of "cycling fish" or "sacrificial fish" for the sole purpose of cycling a tank. That practice is cruel and barbaric. These fish are put into a tank with expectation of death and no regard for their quality of life. No measures are taken to remove toxins from their environment. It is not what I am going to describe here.
There are many opinions on whether it is best to cycle the tank with fish or use one of the new fish-less cycling methods. This is all pointless since most new fish keepers are unaware of the cycling processes and already have the fish in place. The common thought now is to do it fish-less using pure ammonia. It is said to be the humane method since many fish die from the toxic levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate found during the cycling process. That is a fine plan of action but describing the fish-less cycle does nothing to help the people who did not know any better or were too anxious to get fish into the tank and rushed the process. For this reason i will not be describing the fish-less cycle and how to do it properly. For the purpose of this article I am concentrating on cycling with fish all ready in the tank. I will tell you how to keep them healthy and happy during the cycling process. Unfortunately most first time fish keepers are unaware of this method or any other method for that matter. Most do not even know what cycling is or why it is important. These people get fish and drop them into their new tank and are so disappointed when their fish end up dead. It is not their fault, the pet shop industry is mostly to blame for this. The new hobbyist do not know these facts and often learn this lesson the hard way. This lesson is often heartbreaking and expensive. The LFS (Local Fish Store) is not likely to tell new customers this since they make more money when their fish die and need replacements and it also gives them an excuse to sell them various not needed expensive additives and medications, making even more money. These stores will tell people to take 2 days and let the tank run then add fish, they know the fish are likely to die but do not tell customers to change water.
What is Cycling?
There are Four stages or ingredients of the Nitrogen cycle:
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Readings on a test kit that show a completed cycle:
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 40 ppm This is the max, closer to 0 ppm is best
Description of actual cycling process
I will briefly discuss cycling now, I am not a scientist and most people reading this will not be either so I will use Layman's terms to describe it to the best of my knowledge. Cycling is a term used to describe the nitrogen cycle every tank goes through. It takes anywhere from 4 weeks to several months to complete.
The cycling process starts with ammonia, when fish are present the ammonia is produced by the fish and also from excess fish food your cichlids didn't eat. As these levels of ammonia grow a bacteria is produced that "eats" the ammonia and in turn produces a toxin called nitrite. When this happens the levels of ammonia will slowly decrease and levels of nitrite will increase as the bacteria consume the ammonia. At this point a second bacteria is formed that eats the nitrite and in turn produces the final ingredient: Nitrate. This process will happen the same as before, nitrite will decrease and nitrate will increase. There is no bacteria produced to eat nitrate. Nitrate is the final stage of cycle . Nitrate must be removed by performing regular scheduled water exchanges.
When the cycle is complete and you do a water test you will have 0ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, and only get readings of nitrate, a good rule of thumb is do not let the nitrate get above the 40 ppm level. I like to keep mine as small as possible and the closer to zero the better it is for the fish. This process is very toxic to all fish and no matter how large your tank is it will reach toxic levels if you do not do daily water changes.
Often fish will die during this process. This is not necessary. Your fish do not have to suffer while your tank is cycling. Ammonia and nitrite and nitrate toxin causes damage to the fishes gills, stunts growth, damages the protective slime coat , eats fins away and stresses the fish in general. These things open the door to other secondary infections such as sudden death, ick/ich, bacterial infections and even fungal infections.
Preventing fish death or damage during the cycling process
- To prevent these things occurring you must simply change out a minimum of 10 percent of the water daily. If you can manage a 20 or 25 percent water change that is even better. You must do this no matter what. Failing to do this will result in any or all of the above mentioned problems.
- Once a week during your daily water exchange you should lightly vacuum the substrate with a siphon. This will help to keep the wastes (fish and food) from building up and helps to prevent a spike in toxic levels.
- It is also advisable to purchase a quality liquid test kit to monitor your tanks levels during this process. API makes a good one but there are other brands on the market as well. If you do the test before you exchange the water you can see if you have had a spike in the levels and need to exchange more than the 10 percent. It will also let you check to see if you have removed enough after a water change. These test kits usually come with a color coded card to read the results. You should try to keep the readings at the lowest level measured. Keeping them at the lowest level allows you room to act should you have a spike in the ammonia for example. If you kept the level slightly higher and had a spike of ammonia overnight and the level rose significantly it would be in a level that was likely fatal to the fish. On the other hand by keeping it at the lowest reading when the spike occurs the level would likely be bad for the fish but not fatal and easily remedied by the daily water change before permanent damage occurs.
It is possible to "Jump start" the cycle process with the addition of used viable filter media from existing tanks. Gravel, water, rocks, whole filters, filter media and even decorations can be used to do this. The beneficial bacteria colonizes the surfaces of the tank. While most is found on the glass surface there is some to be found on the surfaces of the things mentioned. These will not cycle your tank over night but it will help the process along by introducing the various bacteria to the tank earlier thus giving it time to take a hold and speed the process along.
WATER CHANGE, WATER CHANGE, WATER CHANGE!!
I cannot stress enough how important these frequent small daily water changes are to the health of your fish. It is very inconvenient and because of that fact it is often not done daily. This is why fish die or are damaged. They are so important that I feel they should be done on a weekly basis even after the tank is fully cycled and do so on my own tanks. I have never had a fish die during the cycle process (knock on wood) or be damaged in any way. My fish typically live many years and show no signs of adverse effects. For this reason I feel confident telling you if these simple rules are followed with out exception then fish death and damage will be minimal or non existent for you. Cycling with fish present in the tank does not have to be in humane or a slaughter.
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