How long does cycling finish?

Question

I am totally confused with the cycling concept. In order for cycling to work - you need to have a fish in the tank so that ammonia will occur and therefore bacteria colonies will form.

Is this what cycling all about?

If it takes months and months for cycling to be completed - then that poor fish would undergo "stress" due to the rising of ammonia level and pH fluctuation.

Answer 1

You are well on the right track. It is refreshing to see someone who not only has a partial knowledge of the nitrification process, but also the desire to learn more and the compassion to the fish who will have to live through the process.

There are two common methods used to 'cycle' a f/w aquarium:

With fish and fishless.

With fish, it is the wastes produced by the fish which feeds the nitrosomas and nitrosonomas. (Those are the bacteria involved.)

With Fishless, it is with pure ammonia directly added to an aquarium with water and equipment only.

For detailed discussions on both please follow the links below.

With fish: http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
Fishless: http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_fishless.php

Hope this helps!
Jason C

Answer 2

I think you have the basic concepts - bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate - already. And you're correct that any fish in the tank will be stressed from higher than normal levels of ammonia and nitrite in the tank. But you can cycle the tank without using fish, as long as you have a source of ammonia. You can add pure ammonia, or a pinch of fish food or a piece of shrimp which produces ammonia as they decompose, so you don't need a fish.

There is an advantage to "fishless" cycling, not having to do water changes. If you use fish in the tank, you have to do partial water changes in order to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels below the point where they're harmful to your fish. Without the fish, the levels can go as high as they want, and the more ammonia, the more the bacteria reproduce. The added ammonia may let the tank finish cycling sooner.

There are other ways of "cheating", timewise. Using some gravel or a filter pad from an established tank (make sure there are no sick fish or algae problems in the tank these are taken from, you don't want these added to your tank!). There are already bacteria on these, and the more bacteria you have at the start, the less time it will take to multiply to get the number you will need in the tank. Increasing the temperature also make the bacteria reproduce more quickly.

One thing I don't recommend is the use of the bacterial additives. The bacteria you want are aerobic (living in oxygen), so if they sit too long at the store, many if not all, of the bacteria in the bottle may be dead when you get it. There's a lot of variation in the effectiveness of these.

Actually the cycling process shouldn't affect the pH that greatly. Compared to the volume of water, the volume of ammonia is very small, and although fish wastes will lower the pH over time, if you do weekly or biweekly partial water changes as you should if using fish, the new water will compensate for any small changes that occur. The ammonia and nitrite would be a lot more stressful.

Answer 3

What I would do if this is a new tank set up I make sure the water is room temperature then I use about two capfuls of this stuff called Start Right with Allantoin ( A natural skin protector ) I make sure the filters are up and running and I also use a air pump with air stones let it run about a hour then I put my fish in and my fish are alive and healthy and I've had them going on three years.

Answer 4

yes that is exactly why i advise fishless cycles.
do the exact same thing but instead of a fish you just add some fish food, or even just a capful of ammonia.

higher initial ammonia levels don't make the cycle any faster, it just allows more bacteria to grow, enhacing the bio filtering power of the tank/filter/whatever.