Cycling your fish tank is necessary to keep fish alive in the aquarium. Cycling of tanks means killing ammonia and nitrate from aquarium water. Ammonia and nitrite are the biggest fish assassinators. To kill the ammonia and nitrite, we need a built-up of beneficial bacteria.
There is a common misconception that ammonia and nitrite levels can be controlled by changing aquarium water. There is no need to change the water; all you need is to accelerate the cycling process. How can we accelerate the cycling process? Before knowing the answer, first, you need to understand the cycling process.
What is the cycling process?
The cycling process is a built-up of beneficial bacteria. This bacteria kills ammonia and nitrite and keeps your fish alive. Water does not contain this bacteria, so changing water is good for nothing. When ammonia spikes in your aquarium, this beneficial bacteria should be at a point to deteriorate ammonia into nitrite. After the conversion of ammonia into nitrite, this bacteria transforms nitrite into nitrates. And we control the level of nitrates by changing water or by other techniques. This is how the cycling process works.
To check the level of ammonia, you should use master test kits. These kits help you to know the levels of ammonia in the aquarium.
How to accelerate the cycling process?
There are many ways to accelerate the cycling process; mixing ammonia in aquarium water helps rapidly complete the cycling process. Old aquarium rocks of an existing aquarium for this purpose as well. The most commonly used and easiest way is to add live beneficial bacteria. You can purchase products like the Nutrafin cycle. These supplements are made up of live bacteria, which helps contain ammonia and nitrite levels.
Final words
The majority of people panic when ammonia levels spike in an aquarium, changing the water or transferring the fish to another one. But in fact, it is not a big deal to keep ammonia and nitrite away from fish. What it requires is only the best treatment.
