Cycling

[toebash17]

ok i see every one talking about there tank cycling what does this mean. i just put water in my tank. so can some one please explain to me what cycling is thanks a lot.

 

[soritan]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099#

 

[rdd1952]

The short answer is that cycling is the process of building a bacteria colony to process the waste (ammonia) produced by fish. The link Soritan gave you esplains it more fully. Click the link in my signature for a couple of methods for doing a fishless cycle.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

About that article, the only thing that was wrong was that there is a product called Biospira by Marinelabs who claim to cycle your tank overnight by simply adding the bacteria you need. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. It depends on the way it was shipped, and i think how old it is. I guess it is in a dormant stage when it is in the package because it needs to be refrigerated. It has worked for me a few times, but others, along with everyone else that used it at my LFS at times, it didnt and we think it was because of when it was shipped, it wasnt cold enough or something. But dont use stress zyme or stress coat or anything dumb like that because yes, it stimulates the slime coat, by ADDING slime, and do you think it is very selective where it adds it? You bet not, it coats their gills too, possibly causing difficulty breathing. Danios will live through cycling but they may be under a lot of stress during it so if you care about that, fishless cycling would b ur best bet and maybe trying Biospira if anyone around there carries it.

 

[Vegan Peaches]

If you just put tap water into your tank, make sure you add dechlorinator to the water as the chlorine / chloramine in tap water will make raising fish impossible.

Once you figure out cycling, look into Fishless Cycles; they are alot safer for your fish ^^

Good Luck

 

[rdd1952]

As RGPH (name too long so just initials) mentioned, Bio Spira is supposed to be a good product. It MUST be refrigerated at all times though or it's no good so make sure you get it from a reputable source and ask them how they store it and how it comes in to them (was it shipped on a refrigerated truck). Personally, I haven't used it but want to try it the next time I set up a tank.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Yeah last time, my LFS got a batch that just didnt work so they assumed that it was the shipping and wasnt refrigerated because everyone that bought it came ion and told him it didnt work.