The aquarium nitrogen cycle can be very complicated but it doesn't have to be in this video
I'm gonna break down the basics and show you the need-to-know information to keep you in a happy and healthy aquarium
I'm also gonna show you how to cycle your tank. So you can hurry up and get those fish. Let's go
Hey guys, welcome back to caveman aquatics, I'm keV and today we're gonna be talking about the aquarium nitrogen cycle
But before we do if you haven't already please hit that subscribe button
This is a fairly new channel
But if you subscribe you won't miss any new content and if you found this info helpful
Don't forget that like button. So to begin let me explain what the nitrogen cycle is
It's a cycle of converting ammonia to nitrite to nitrate
By way of the beneficial bacteria that grow and live inside your aquarium
These beneficial bacteria need time to grow which is why
You need to cycle your tank. You have to give it time for these benefits bug bacteria to get into your tank
So I'm going to assume that if you're watching this video
You're either brand new to the hobby or you just bought your fish tank and you're dying to put some fish in it
If so, this is definitely the channel for you
But really my first piece of advice for you is do not put any fish into your new tank until it is cycled
We'll get into how to properly cycle your tank by the end of this video. So keep watching ok
So in order to explain the nitrogen cycle, we have to first start with a tank that has already been cycled
Meaning you've already got your fish in it. Obviously you got water in it all your decor your gravel your rocks
Everything is set up already and the cycle has already completed. So when you feed your fish they eat then
Is the circuit of life and that's where the cycle begins your fish waste is in the form of ammonia now
Let's talk about ammonia for a little bit
Ammonia is the number one killer and cause of death in the fish aquarium
Ammonia is toxic to your fish. It can burn their gills and basically suffocate them from lack of oxygen
You shouldn't ever have any ammonia in your tank zero nothing now
This is the part that you can't see in your tank in your property cycle tank
There is beneficial bacteria living on all of your surface area. They live on your gravel. They live on your decor
They live on your sunken ship. They live on your Haunted Mansion. They live on the glass
They live on all the surface area inside your tank and inside your filter
This is why
having good media bio media in your filter is very
important that creates an increase of surface area allowing more beneficial bacteria to grow
If you want more info on bio meter and how to set up your filters
I'll put a link up here and in the description below pro tip. There's a common misconception in the fish keeping having
Beneficial bacteria do not live inside the water column. They do not swim around the water with your fish
beneficial bacteria
live on surface area
So don't be afraid of taking too much water out in a water change because you're afraid of losing beneficial bacteria
That's not how it works your bacteria grows on your surface area
Not in your water column, but you can kill your beneficial bacteria if you do water changes the wrong way
So when your fish eat they poop and they create very toxic ammonia
this beneficial bacteria actually eats ammonia, isn't that great and
When anything eats what do you think it has to do? It's got a poop
But the difference is the bacterias
waste is
Nitrite, that's how the ammonia is converted into nitrite
So what is nitrite nitrate is also very harmful for your fish, but not as bad as ammonia
You have some flexibility in the levels of nitrite, but you don't want any of it either
So with a property cycle tank there shouldn't be any nitrite in there. How do we convert the nitrite?
Well in your property cycle tank, there's another form of bacteria and what they eat
is nitrite and what they waste is
nitrate within a
this other form of bacteria also
lives on all your surface area in your tank and in your filter
They do not live inside the water column either. No need to worry about losing them during the water chamber
So nitrates are the least toxic of all three
But it can also harm your fish or even kill them. If you let them build up too much
You should keep about 20 to 40 parts per million nitrates in your tank
once you get to about 40
That's your sign for a water change this conversion to nitrate
Completes your nitrogen cycle and the only way to remove nitrate is by doing water changes
You can help reduce the nitrates in your tank by adding live plants into your aquarium
They use nitrates as nutrients and will help remove some of it from your water. But unless your tank is heavily stocked with plants
You're still gonna need to do water changes anyway, so to summarize ensure your fish
Comes out as ammonia
beneficial bacteria eat ammonia, they poop nitrite other beneficial bacteria
Eat the nitrite and they poop nitrate
Cycle done, but wait a second if you need fish to start the nitrogen cycle
By eating and then creating waste which is ammonia
Then how do you add fish to an unsightly egg in order to start the cycle?
Good question. There are a few easy methods
Let's go through a few of them after you set up your tank with your water and your filtering your decor and your gravel
Everything - the fish you have to introduce ammonia into the system
One way of doing it would be adding
Fish food or fish flakes into your water this food will deteriorate and then create ammonia
Another method would be to buy actual ammonia in his liquid form and just add it to your tank
These are rather slow methods
instead of adding ammonia into your tank
You can directly add the beneficial bacteria into your tank one method would be to borrow some bio media
from a filter in another tank that is already property cycled if you can get to one and
Put it into your brand new filter in your new tank this way. The beneficial bacteria are already alive and present and
when you add fish and they creamed waste the beneficial bacteria will already be there to
Convert the ammonia
Another method is to buy products like API quixtar or C chem stability that have live beneficial bacteria in them
And then you just add them to your tank. Make sure to follow the proper dosage instructions on the bottle
I'll put the links to those products below
So there you have it guys the simplest way of understanding the nitrogen cycle
If you still have any questions leave me a comment below. I answer all my comments
And if you found this video helpful, please hit that like button and consider subscribing. See you on the next one