cycling???

[Magnum]

ok, my question is what is cycling??? what do you really do when your cycling, and how do you cycle. ive seen the others topic on cycling but i dont get what its suppose to do . plus what is cycling with fish.

this must sound dumb
but im truly new to this .

 

[Def]

I've been told to be nice. So cycling allows the beneficial bacteria in your tank to multiply, and consume fish waste (ammonia) and turn it into nitrite and subsequently nitrate. There are about 10 billion posts on this topic, so do a search, and read the pinned topics in this forum.

Fishless cycling is when you use pure ammonia to start the cycle. This is cycling with fish:

Damn. Couldn't resist.

 

[Raechal]

I've been told to be nice. So cycling allows the beneficial bacteria in your tank to multiply, and consume fish waste (ammonia) and turn it into nitrite and subsequently nitrate. There are about 10 billion posts on this topic, so do a search, and read the pinned topics in this forum.

Fishless cycling is when you use pure ammonia to start the cycle. This is cycling with fish:

Damn. Couldn't resist.

If you don't cycle your tank before adding a load of fish, most of your fish will die or get very ill. The tank needs "good bacteria" to break down the fishs' wastes so it does not pollute the water and kill them.

 

[The Mohave Kid]

I cycled with fish ... on the advice of my local fish shop ... next time I will cycle without fish ... I watched my fish very closely during the cycle ... behavior and water chemistry ... in five weeks dealt with two cases of Ich ... needed to add copper to the tank ... I think it's causing some fin fraying ... more stress ... raise the temperature ... still more stress ... and watch ammonia and nitrite sky rocket ... obvious stress ... three of nine fish so far have died ( Tiger barbs ) ... the other fish are tired ... I can tell ... even three Danios ... all along knowing I am quite capable of maintaining good water stability so why did I do such a dumb thing like cycle with fish and intentionally let the water quality go to crap.

I mentioned to one shop I was using copper as a treatment ( suggested by my local shop ) ... they looked at me like I was working with evil ... so I asked ?? ... What would you suggest ?? ... They said "NOTHING let those fish that die ... die ... as long as the tank gets cycled .. ".. they said. WIERD !!!

If your going to cycle with fish ... it would be just as efficient and more sane to put the fish in a blender before adding them to the tank ... thats what you are doing when you cycle with fish ...

Cycling is getting your tank ready to handle part of the nitrogen cycle ... so your Ammonia and Nitrite levels stay at zero when you add your new fish and you avoid a lot of aggravation.

Good Day ... B)