Beginning your tank

Home Page Guestbook Beginners Guide Fish facts Fish Diseases & Treatments Gallery 1 Gallery 2 Photo of the month Contact Page FILTRATION FACTS *Fishy Forum*

BEGINNERS

Well you decided to set up an aquarium

This is what your going to need to have

EQUIPMENT

  • Tank
  • Hood
  • Filter
  • Heater
  • Themometer
  • Gravel
  • Gravel Vacume
  • Air stone (optional)
  • Water de-chlorinator
  • Water test kits, Ammonia,Nitrite,pH

      Okay, So now you are ready to set up your aqrarium. Clean the gravel with cool water to remove all of the dust from processing.Place in the tank, use about and inch of gravel, if you want to use live plants then about three inches is required.Add your water carefully as not to disturb what you just created. Add your dechlorinator.Add your filter system. Plug in your heater and turn on low (if you are going to have tropical fish) slowly adjust the temperature over a few hours till it reaches the desired temp usually around 78-80 degrees.

Now, to cycle your tank, But first What is a cycle?

THE NITROGEN CYCLE

  1. Ammonia - ammonia is released into the water by fish, decaying lrftover food, and decaying waste. Ammonia is extreamly toxic; is causes gill damage and burns the fish's skin. Levels of 2ppm (parts per million) or more are toxic to many fish. above 5 ppm is abolsutely lethal to nearly all fish. Readings on ammonia should always be 0 on a cycled tank, for the health and happiness of your fish. With effective filtration, this is esily attainable.
  2. Nitrite - Ammonia is consumed by forms nitrifying bacteria, and nitrite is produced . Nitrite is taken into the bloodstreeam, bonding with hemaglobin and creating a substance called methemoglobin, wich does not carry oxygen. This effectivly suffocates the fish. Nitrite is poisonus to some fish at about 5 ppm. It is lethal to most at 10 ppm.
  3. Nitrate - Nitrite is decomposed by different forms of bacteria into nitrate. This is effectivly the end of the nitrogen line. Luckily nitrate is not very toxic. Levels of 1000 ppm and about have been shown to not be lethal to some fish. Other fish however, are sensitive to it, generally, 40 ppm and under is ideal for hobby purposes. Nitrate must be removed by plants or water changes.

      Now that you know what a cycle is here's how to so it :

There are two types of cycle

  • fishless
  • with fish

How to cycle your tank

      first to cycle your tank you must have a source of ammonia, weather it be artificial or natural. To do a fishless cycle high protein fish food is the best way. The protein is the agent that produces the ammonia by decaying. Add fish food to your tank as if you had fish in it. You'll have to but two test kits, one for ammonia and one for nitrites. The ammonia should go way up, then as the ammonia eatting bacteria catch up the ammonia will drop and the nitrites will rise. The Nitrites are a byproduct of the ammonia eating bacteria. You will see a spike in the nitrites then as the nitrite eatting bacteria catch up they wiil drop. Your cycle is essencially complete. Now all you have to do is a 90% water change and vacume the gravel really well to remove all of the gunk. Do this the day before you add your fish.

      Lastly and leastly you can do a cycle using fish, this is really hard on the fish, and deaths will most likely happen. You will see the same process of ammonia riseing and falling and the nitrites riseing and falling. It is not a very humane way of cycling. If you choose this method of cycling start with one or two fish only. The very start of the cycle is the hardest on the fish. After the cycle is complete more fish can be added a week appart.

      For the impatient, or to save your fish some misery you can "seed" your tank. Seeding is a method to put the good benificial bacteria into a new tank. To do this you can take soem gravel from an existing tank and put it in a nylon stocking and hang it in your tank. The growth of the bacteria is exponentail is double in a certain period of time. If you seed at the very beginning you will have to do it again when the nitrites start to rise. The reason for this is that at the beginning there will be little or no food for the nitrite eating bacteria, and the high ammonia levels would hurt or kill them. In seeding you will speed up the cycle emormously and spare your fishy's.