Understanding the Nitrogen Cycle in Aquariums. One of the most important things you need to know to properly care for a planted tank is the nitrogen cycle, which also called the biological cycle of an aquarium. Every aquarium, no matter how simple or low-tech it is, needs to be in a condition of equilibrium. To achieve that, you need to know what it’s based on when you discover balance and why it can sometimes fall off balance. A lot of books and tutorials on how to start an aquarium talk about aquarium parameters and chemistry (hardness, pH, ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites), but they do it in a very shallow way and don’t explain why it is that way.
In this article, I’ll do my best to organize all the information on the water chemistry and how it affects the other parts of the aquarium, including the fish, plants, and even the filter itself. Your plants can’t live without nitrogen either. They need it in the aquarium, and it has to be in a form that they can get to. If you give them too much, the plants will grow out of control, and their stems will become softer and less solid. That’s why it’s helpful to find a middle ground.
What is the Nitrogen Cycle for Aquariums?
The goal of setting up an aquarium is to make it as self-sufficient as possible. This achieved when the nitrogen cycle reaches its biological equilibrium, which means it can work the way it does in nature. This happens when there are enough of the good bacteria that can break down all the organic stuff that the aquarium makes. Cycling an aquarium before using it is the only way to make sure that all of the fish in it are healthy. You don’t have to worry, though, because we’re going to tell you everything you need to know about cycling an aquarium why it’s necessary, how to do it, and how long it should take.
Cycling aquariums is a chemical reaction that makes a chain of bacteria that are good for the fish and other living things that will live in the aquarium break down the bad chemicals. This makes the best environment for the fish and other aquatic life to live in. These bacteria can transform some compounds that are very bad for fish into versions that are not as bad for fish. The plants that also grow in the aquarium use these chemicals. The thing is that aquarium cycling happens naturally.
How Long Does It Take for an Aquarium to Cycle?
In the homes of the animals we keep, like rivers, lakes, and ponds. But what are all these chemicals To be a little more clear about which chemicals are bad for the species in our aquarium and which ones are better for them, please let us tell you more about the chemical process as a whole: Like other animals, fish get rid of waste. The first reason is that they make waste after they eat, and the second reason is that they don’t eat all of their food, which starts to rot after a certain amount of time. The third reason is that their plant leaves die, and the last reason is that they breathe waste through their gills.
This called nitrogen compounds, and they make something called ammonia, which really bad for fish. If you don’t try to get rid of the ammonia, the fish will remain swimming in water that makes them feel bad and will probably get sick and die. It could be necessary to change the water every day to maintain it free of waste, but a filter in the aquarium would be much better. After a while, during the cycling period the water will be old enough and healthy enough to turn ammonia into nitrogen. This is why some people call it the nitrogen cycle. When a lot of people hear that an aquarium needs surgery.
How Do I Increase My Biological Filtration?
They could fear that they will have to perform the same thing to add a fish to the aquarium, which could make them feel bad. However, aquarium cycling something that must done. As we spoke about before, it’s highly likely that a fish won’t healthy and may not live very long if it isn’t done. The changes that happen in the fish tank during the cycle process are quite significant, but you will also need to clean the tank. The filter changes ammonia into nitrite, and then it changes.
Nitrite into nitrate. Nitrate is far less damaging to fish, but it’s still not good for them in large amounts. As soon as we finish cycling, we will need to change roughly 50% of the water. You can find this information on some other places on the internet: some species can adapt better to all types of water, no matter what the conditions are. But this kind of information is more about the quality and type of water in the city we live in than the fact that fish can live without a filter that helps transform ammonia into carbon. Not all fish will die right away if the tank wasn’t cycled before.
The Risks of Adding Fish Too Early
They were added, but they will not in a healthy shape at all. The poison will damage their gills and mucous membranes, and they could get very sick. You could now want to ask me, what do I need to do to keep the fish in good condition while cycling the aquarium here the complete story the first thing you need to do set up the aquarium the way you want it to look in the future. Put sand, decorations, or plants on the bottom, and then add water. After that, we need to place our biological material in the filter. It usually comes in the shape of little tubes or very porous materials.
After that, it will be time to put our biological material in the filter. Usually in the form of small tubes or very porous materials, it placed in the corresponding compartment of the filter and left there to take effect. It can be easily obtained at any store that sells aquarium products. For the filter to be ready, what needs to happen is that it becomes colonized by nitrifying bacteria. And what do these bacteria need to appear and reproduce. Well, their food, which is the ammonia we were talking about, which will later be converted into nitrogen.