Description
This article is from the Beginning
Fishkeeping FAQ, by Thomas Narten with numerous contributions
by others.
31 Speeding Up Cycling Time
(For the Impatient)
The nitrogen cycle can be sped up or ``jump started'' in a number of
ways. Unfortunately, they require access to an established tank, which
a beginning aquarist may not have available. The basic idea is to find
an established tank, take some of the bacteria out of it and place
them in the new tank.
Most filters have some sort of foam block or floss insert on which
nitrifying bacteria attach. Borrowing all or part of such an insert
and placing it in the new tank's filter gets things going more
quickly.
If the established tank uses an undergravel filter, nitrifying
bacteria will be attached to the gravel. Take some of the gravel (a
cup or more) and hang it in a mesh bag in your filter (if you can), or
lay it over the top of the gravel in the new tank (if it has an UGF).
If you have a box, sponge or corner filter, simply connect it to an
established aquarium and let it run for a week or so. Bacteria in the
water will establish a bed in the new filter. After a week, move the
now ``seasoned'' filter to the new tank.
More recently, products containing colonies of nitrifying bacteria
have become available at pet shops (e.g., ``Fritz'', ``Bio-zyme'',
``Cycle''). In theory, adding the bacteria jump-starts the
colonization process as above. Net experience with such products has
been mixed; some folks report success, while others report they don't
work at all. In principle, such products should work well. However,
nitrifying bacteria cannot live indefinitely without oxygen and food.
Thus, the effectiveness of a product depends on its freshness and can
be adversely effected by poor handling (e.g., overheating).
Unfortunately, these products don't come with a freshness date, so
there is no way to know how old they are.
Some (not many) aquarium stores will provide aquarium buyers with a
cup of gravel from an established tank. A word of caution is
appropriate here. Due to the nature of the business, tanks in stores
are very likely to contain unwanted pathogens (bacteria, parasites,
etc.); you don't want to add them to an established tank. For someone
setting up their very first tank, however, all fish will probably be
purchased from the same store, so the danger is relatively small, as
the newly purchased fish will have been exposed to the same pathogens.
If possible, seed a filter with bacteria from a non-store tank.
Of course, there are many variations on the above that work. However,
it is a bit difficult to give an exact recipe that is guaranteed to
work. It is advisable to take a conservative approach and not add fish
too quickly. In addition, testing the water to be sure nitrates are
being produced eliminates the guesswork of determining when your tank
has cycled.
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aquaria, fish, acquarium, tank, fishkeeping
