You might have heard the terms Biological Cycle, Nitrification Process, or New Tank Syndrome being thrown around. But, they all refer to the same cycle – The Nitrogen Cycle. So what is it, and why is it so important? Would you like to be surrounded by your own pee and poo all day every day?

• The Nitrogen Cycle Steps
• The Nitrogen Cycle Worksheet

Probably not, and neither do fish. Your fish’s waste releases ammonia into the water, which will kill your fish. Death by poo? No thank you. The Nitrogen Cycle helps avoid this. It’s a process where beneficial bacteria becomes established in your tank and filter media, allowing ammonia (toxic) to convert to nitrite (toxic), then nitrite to nit rates (non-toxic).

That’s why it’s so important! The beneficial bacteria in your will supplement your fish’s environment by neutralizing their waste. However, if you allow the nitrate levels to get too high it can lead to a loss of color/appetite and will allow algae to bloom. That’s why water changes are necessary. Anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months, depending on who you ask.

Best answer is it will be finished when it’s finished. But you have to do it if you’re planning on keeping fish. And you’ll need to monitor the cycle every other day. Best way to do this is to purchase an aquarium test kit so you can check the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH levels.

During this process, ammonia levels will rise and then drop as nitrite starts to take hold. Nitrate won’t appear until your tank has significant levels of nitrite.

Once it hits the correct levels, nitrate will form and your nitrite levels will fall. When you can no longer detect nitrites, you can assume that it’s safe to add your fish. The final product of the Nitrogen Cycle. Once your nitrite levels have reached a certain point a bacteria called will develop. They’ll convert the nitrites into nitrates.

When the levels of nitrite and ammonia reach 0ppm (parts per million), your tank has been cycled. Now, that’s not to say you can sit back a relax.

Nitrates aren’t toxic in low concentrations, but, if they reach above 20ppm (depending on the species), they’ll become toxic. So you’ll need to monitor the levels in your aquarium.

There are two methods you can use to maintain acceptable levels. Perform regular partial water changes (20-50% every 1-4 weeks, depending on stock levels). This will also benefit your tank by removing substances such as DOCs (dissolved organic compounds), solid fish waste and replenish dissolved materials that your plants and animals may need. If you own a freshwater fish tank, you can add aquarium plants can help use up some of the nitrates.

Own a saltwater tank? Live rock and deep sand beds can have anaerobic areas where denitrifying bacteria can break down nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas. You’ll need to purchase a test kit so you can monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels in your aquarium.

Although it’s not essential to test for ammonia, it’s highly toxic. So keeping track of the amount in your tank will help you manage your fish throughout the process. Testing for nitrate is a must have. Like we discussed, at the beginning, there won’t be any nitrite in your tank, but after a few days, it will rise.

Testing is important because you’ll need to know when the levels drop back down to zero – the signal to say the cycling process has finished. Testing every day is recommended, but, you can get away with testing every two or three days. Now that you can’t detect any ammonia or nitrite, it’s safe to start. Again, don;t just go adding a load of fish. You need to do this gradually.

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As mentioned above, don’t add more than a few fish at a time. And wait at least a week or two before introducing more. Consider cleaning any substrate with a siphon or hose before adding fish. It’s possible decaying food is trapped in there. If it’s trapped and you leave it, the ammonia won’t enter your tanks water, but if it’s disturbed, it could release a dose of unwanted ammonia rather quickly.

Ammonia tends to start rising around day 3. If by day 5 you can’t measure any, and you’ve removed the possibility that you have a faulty test kit. Your tank may not be cycling.

The most common reasons for this happen, is that there’s no source of ammonia or somethings eating it too fast for the bacteria to get to it. Try adding some more ammonia. If you have a lot of plants in the tank, try removing some of these and see if there’s a change. Test again after a few days, if there’s still no ammonia or nitrites, try adding more ammonia. Three main reasons this can happen: pH is too low, you’re using chlorinated water, or you’ve been cleaning too much.

If the pH is under 7, ammonia will be mostly present as ammonium which the nitrifying bacteria can’t feed off. Use a pH kit to increase the level.

Using chlorinated water will disinfect your tank – killing all the beneficial bacteria. So make sure you’re adding a de-chlorinator to the water before putting it in your tank. The bacteria you need lives in the gravel, filters, and decorations in your tank. If you clean them too much, you’ll remove the bacteria before is has a chance to establish. Omg i love you!

The Nitrogen Cycle Steps

A frigin sigh of relief for finding you!!! I have read AND UNDERSTOOD every si gle laymans english word you wrote here!!(bow to u.bow ) Im so tired of talking w fish people who look at me lime im stupid. Like GIMME A BREAK!! YOU WERE ONCE NEW TOO. Gosh whatever happened to humilty and grattitude for BEING INQUISITIVE and LOVING THIS HOBBY TOO? As a creature liver myself of land,air and water I am blessed to have the curiosity of knowingresearching and finding the people who.like youspeak to mewho take the time to break it down enough to ACTUALLY CARE TO COMMUNICATE THOROUGHLY AND MINDFULLY. I am NOT a scientist or chemist in the least.

Im more operatiinal from the right brain of artistic thoughts. So ive been doi g my best at understanding the Nitrogen Cycle and wellRepetition is the mother of skill! That combined wth so many other contributi g factors im starting to get the hang of this! Now time will tell if im able to reflect and example what ive learned here!😁. I just bought a 65 gal for my buddies that were growing too big for the 16 gallon. And i successfully transferred them tonight via the weeks help with cycling tank from the established 16 gal via filter media in external pump AND tank media water.decor.plants.there were just a couple thgs i did too fast compared to what you suggested here however there were more thgs i did correctly so THATS a plus! Now ive got to watch my numbers and do water changes until new tank is fully cycled!

Im so tired but had to just say THANK YOU SO MUVH and i hope to stay in touch! Dianna, I love your attitude! The goal of this site is to make it easy for anyone to start the hobby and provide proper care for their aquatic buddies, so I’m so happy you’ve found it useful. I wish you all the best, and please feel free to share your experiences with us.

This hobby has so many variables (it’s part of the fun and frustration) it’s great to hear what works and doesn’t work for others. If you find anything we’ve suggested doesn’t work for you or you find better methods, please share, I might be able to update this post over time with more useful content. Happy fishkeeping. It’s Ericka again! Based on what you told me last time, I do plan on doing the fishless cycle! I do have some questions and I’ve been taking notes as well so I make sure I do this right. When the level of nitrite starts to drop do you keep adding ammonia to the tank???

I like to make sure on things and you never specifically said to keep adding ammonia, so I’m just wondering. Also what type of water would I need to do this fishless cycle?

Could I use tap water if I use the betta purification liquid thing (I’m not sure what it’s called, it’s suppose to clean the water of chlorine or something?). Your blog is the most easily understood one I have read. I have been trying to understand why my local pet shops would tell me its okay to add fish after one week but it’s still better to wait. Now after reading your blog I understand. In my last set up I added guppies and after one week then lost one to dropsy then I added two more. Two weeks later, I lost the lot – all to dropsy. I do believe that one of the first fish was ill because the other fish was stalking him on day one but I also understand now that some if it was my impatience.

I have just drained the tank to start again. I have a 38 litre (10 gallon) tropical tank. Decided to get driftwood and an Anubias Nana for it to hopefully reduce maintenance.

It annoys me that pet shops have told me not to worry about testing for nitrates too. Going to keep and print this blog for maintenance. Thank you ❤️. Thank you for your comment, Olaf. Most South American tanks will do fine with a stable pH range of 6.5 to 8.0. Now, when I say stable, I mean you keep it from changing too much.

The Nitrogen Cycle Worksheet

Also, when I say 7, it’s not a rule that’s 100%, more of a guide, target, or a potential fix to an issue. Some studies suggest it can occur with a pH as little as 4.0, however, when it comes to creating the Nitrogen cycle in the most efficient way, 7 is an ideal number to aim for. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any further questions.

Alternative Title: nitrogen budget Nitrogen cycle, circulation of in various forms through nature. Nitrogen, a component of and, is essential to on. Although 78 percent by volume of the is nitrogen, this abundant reservoir exists in a form unusable by most organisms. Through a series of microbial transformations, however, nitrogen is made available to, which in turn ultimately sustain all life.

The steps, which are not altogether sequential, fall into the following classifications:, nitrogen assimilation, ammonification, nitrification,. Nitrogen fixation, in which nitrogen gas is converted into inorganic nitrogen, is mostly (90 percent) accomplished by certain. A much smaller amount of free nitrogen is fixed by abiotic means (e.g., electrical equipment) and by conversion to through the.