Nitrogen Cycle?

[Beacious]

I'm new to this fish thing, but I really want to get in to it! I just got a 10 [acronym:5165c2106c="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:5165c2106c](with filter, heater, and hood) with an Oranda (Jaramoru) and a Koi (Kon) (they do just fine). And I read the "Nitrogen Cycle" article and I didn't understand it. Can someone PLEASE help?!?!

Thanks, Beacious.

[Christmasfish]

Fast and dirty:
To keep dangerous contaminate level down a tank actually needs certain bacteria.
A filter does practically nothing without them. the purpose of filters is to provided palce for said bacteria to grow and a way for it to convert all the water, by a current of some type.

One bacteria, the most important to a new tank converts the most dangerous waste:Ammonia
Ammonia is not only expelled by the living as waste, it is alkso a product of dedecomposing material (food/plant/dead fish).

This first guy turns ammonia into its own waste product: nitrIte. This is also fairly dangerous.
but there is another bacteria that uses this easy supply. So bacteria number two
turns NitrIte into NitAte. Which though dangerous, need a much larger proportion to cause problems.
NitrAte spikes of any large number should almost never be seen if you make your tank water changes in a timely fashion.

This balance is not perpetual. Many things can upset it or change it. But High spikes are rarer in established older tanks of 5-6 months or more unless there has been poor water qualities kept.

Most people lose the most new fish that are in a newly cycling tank.


That's the brief and skinny

[brendan]

Here's the short version

You set up the tank. Introduce bacteria into the water, usually by pouring the product Cycle into your tank. Repeat this every week. After about a week of running the tank without any fish in it buy three or four cheep fish (stay away from guppies they are prone to desease and can die quickly) and put them in the tank. The fish produce waste, which is eaten by the bacteria that has grown in the tank. Careful you don't put too many fish in the tank or else there won't be enough bacteria to eat the waste and you'll have a nitrogen spike, which can kill the fish and will cause you to have to recycle your tank again.

Get a Nitrogen test kit and things should be ok.

[Beacious]

Thanks Christmasfish,
do you where I can get "Bio-Spira"?

[Beacious]

Thanks Brendan,
do you recomend "Bio-Spira"?

[Christmasfish]

You can try an internet source like a BigAl's online if nothing local to you carries it.
My first tank went dutch, so it has been the media I steal to start every tank with. I have not had to use BioSpira. But they say it is the shiznit!

[Christmasfish]

PS...Most of us here think it is bad form to use "throw away fish " to seed a tank. Tsk-tsk! ....and what do you do with them if they make it? Or worse what do you do if they all die? was it disease or the tank water? can you trust your preferred fish to those questions? A little care and a Start helper like BioSpira is all you need with careful watching of your water test results.And a fishless cycle.... even the gross method (^.^ well sure makes me feel icky! heh) which is to throw a piece of hard to deteriorate food (like shrimp used somewhere in here) in and ...let it rot to cause ammonia. No extra fishies..no needdless fishy death.
If you really like the hero in your avatar you know he doesn't condone the needless harming of anything he isn't going to fight or eat! :P Kakarot Rocks!

[Beacious]

I completely agree with Christmasfish (BRAVO)!

[Beacious]

Is "Matrix" a good Bio-something?

[Allivymar]

Just to add to the great info you got here Beacious:

Ammonia burns the fish, including the gills. It stresses the fish really badly, and if it burns the gills severely enough, the fish will suffocate. Nitrites compete with oxygen (its not exactly the same, but compare it to people when they get carbon monoxide poisoning), and the fish suffocates. We at AA reccommend, when a tank is cycling, not letting ammonia and nitrites get over .5 [acronym:fc718fb967="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:fc718fb967].

BioSpira is the only product that uses the correct nitrifying bacteria. None of the others do. If you put a post in the "The Fish Store" forum, Bernie will talk to you about shipping some if you can't find any locally. Do know, BioSpira is NOT made to deal with established levels of ammonia/nitrites. Rather its made to be added with the fish at the very beginning. So it may not work as well since you already have fish adding their waste to the tank before you get the BioSpira. It should help, but it won't completely cycle the tank. Matrix, Cycle, and all those other products contain bacteria which is not the right stuff, and will not help the way BioSpira does.