Advice Please!

doublecrossingtime

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I recently set up my first aquarium with a view to getting one Siamese fighting fish, Its a 6 Gallon square tank with an Aqua-Flow 1 filter. I am currents cycling it and am going to take my time before actually getting the fish. The current produced by the filter seems really strong, and i am just really looking advice on what filtration to use, as i dont want to harm or distress the fish at all (or have it sucked into the filtering system.)

Thank you for your advice

Jon
 
Hi Jon and Welcome to TFF!

Many filters have some sort of adjustable outlet pipe. If this is the case for yours then one trick is to figure out how to direct the output stream against a tank wall so that the initial force is spread out by the glass. You are correct I believe that betas perfer a relatively calm puddle, but on the other hand all fish, betas included, need a good filtration system and its great that you are off to a potentially better start than many new beta keepers.

In our beginner forum we always like to check what level of information a newcomer has or has been offered about what the term "cycling" really means as there's a lot of misinformation out there. The word cycling comes from one of the major environmental cycles on earth, the "Nitrogen Cycle." When you purchase a new aquarium filter, all you are getting is a set of hardware and instructions for setting it up in the mechanical sense. Most manufacturers neglect to explain the true modern purpose of the biological function of a filter and how long it takes to get this aspect functioning because to do so would be controversial with their direct customers, the retailers. Retailers have an incentive to attempt to ignore the reality of true start-up time for filters because they find it bad for business, most believe.

So what is "the real" cycling? Its the process of growing two specific species of bacteria in the filter so that nature's Nitrogen Cycle can be carried out in the artificial environment of an aquarium. Ammonia is produced when fish waste, excess food and plant debris decompose in the substrate and also, much to many people's surprise, fish give off ammonia in addition to CO2 during the respiration process of their gills. The excess ammonia level this creates can cause permanent damage to their gills in even very small amounts unless it is washed away in some manner, just as it would be in nature with the huge excess of fresh water around a fish. Excess ammonia levels in un-cycled aquariums quickly cause gill levels that shorten a fish's life or kill it.

The first species of bacteria we grow in the filter will eat this ammonia and transform it into nitrite(NO2), another deadly poison in that it damages the hemoglobin molecule in fish blood and quickly causes permanent nerve damage from lack of oxygen being carried to nerve tissue and other cells in the fish. The second species of bacteria we grow will eat this nitrite(NO2) and transform it into nitrate(NO3), which is not a particularly good substance in an aquarium but is much, much less harmful to fish and can be removed via weekly water changes.

That, in a nutshell, is the story of the amazing modern biofiltration function, one of three functions of a modern aquarium filter. Now hopefully all that is a repeat review for you :lol: but if not I hope it has wetted your appetite for reading some of our pinned articles about the nitrogen cycle and its important practical offshoot, Fishless Cycling!

~~waterdrop~~
 

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