(upbeat music)
- Hello, folks.
Wayland from Marine Depot here,
and thanks for joining us today.
Setting up a new saltwater aquarium is an exciting project.
If you're like us, you can't wait
to start building up a reef by adding fish, corals,
and other invertebrates, but a newly set up aquarium
is not biologically mature enough
to handle a full load of reef livestock.
New tanks need time to build a stable biological foundation.
Aquariors refer to this maturation time as a cycle.
When cycling a new tank, you are essentially
growing the bacteria that are the driving force
behind a nitrogen cycle.
These bacteria process organic waste in your aquarium,
making it safe for fish and other tank inhabitants.
Without this bacterial foundation,
your aquarium will not survive.
These microscopic bacteria work
to eliminate waste products like ammonia,
break down organic matter, and recycle nutrients.
These micro-driven processes are often referred
to as a biological filtration inside your tank.
They can be comprised of wide variety
of bacterial species based on the conditions in your tank.
Nitrosomonas, nitrobacter, and nitrospira are all
nitrifying bacteria types that can be found
in your aquarium, alongside a ton of others.
The important fact to understand here is
that every tank is different, and the bacteria types
that exist and dominate your aquarium will be unique.
Fish excrete toxin ammonia directly from their gills,
although ammonia also comes from organic matter
breaking down inside the aquarium.
When solid fish and invert waste
or uneaten food discompose, it releases toxin ammonia
into the water.
Thanks to the nitrogen cycle and the bacteria that drive it,
this toxin ammonia does not build up in the aquarium.
The nitrogen cycle is a two-step process involving two types
of nitrifying bacteria.
In the first step, ammonia is converted to nitrite
by what scientists call ammonia-oxidizing bacteria,
or AOB for short.
This is simply a classification we use
to group together the various species of bacteria
that convert ammonia to nitrite.
Next, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, or NOB for short,
converts nitrite to nitrate, which is far less toxic
to fish and other animals when compared
to ammonia or nitrite.
Nitrate is only harmful when it starts
to stack up inside your aquarium.
This reason is exactly why some of us do water changes.
Water changes remove nitrate
that would otherwise just keep accumulating.
This is a simplified explanation
of what happens in a mature, or cycled, aquarium.
This is why you must give it time
before adding your livestock.
New tanks need to go through a period of maturation,
then the development of this nitrifying bacteria.
To track the process, you can utilize some test kits
and test the water for ammonia, nitrite,
and finally, nitrate.
First, you will see an ammonia level rise
and then start to fall when nitrites become present.
Finally, you'll see a rise in nitrates,
then ammonia and nitrite levels begin to be zero.
This means the cycle is completed
and both types of bacteria are present in your aquarium.
There are a couple things you need to do
in order to get the cycle started inside a new tank.
Seed the tank with bacteria and provide a source of ammonia
to feed that bacteria.
There are several ways to seed a brand new aquarium
with bacteria.
You can add a few pieces of live rock
or live sand from an established aquarium.
The downside here is that you run the risk
of introducing pests, but cycling an aquarium
with seasoned live rock is still widely practiced
and a very common method.
If using live rock or sand, you only need a little bit
to seed the aquarium with bacteria.
It is perfect suitable to fill your tank
with dry rock or dry sand, and then add a small piece
of live rock or a small scoop of live sand
to introduce the bacteria.
As long as you provide an ammonia source,
this bacteria will soon grow
and populate onto all the surface of your tank,
including the dry rock and sand.
Another method of seeding the tank
is using a liquid bacteria supplement.
Not all liquid bacteria products are made equal.
Some formulations contain microbes
and enzymes that will take time to grow
and become abundant in an aquarium.
One of our favorites is the Brightwell Aquatics
MicroBacter7.
If you really wish to jumpstart the cycle process,
you might look at Dr. Tim's One and Only
or Fritz Aquatics Turbo Start
because these contain live nitrifying bacteria
that will immediately go to work in your tank.
These products will work so long as ammonia is present,
and they can also help shorten the length
of time it takes to make the aquarium safe
for the addition of fish and corals.
No matter which brand of bio additive you choose,
be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions closely.
Each of the instructions are indeed unique,
and will contain different concentrations
and species of microbes.
One thing to note is that it's not unusual for aquariors
to use both liquid nitrifiers
as well as live rock and live sand.
This is because you really wanna do everything possible
to start with a diverse and healthy population
of bacteria in the aquarium as quickly as possible.
Getting bacteria from various sources
and in large amounts will only help the process.
After you've added live bacteria to the tank,
you'll need a source of ammonia.
Some aquariors add a live fish
and let it produce ammonia naturally.
Feed the fish sparingly and monitor the ammonia
and nitrite levels.
This can, however, put that fish at the risk
of ammonia or nitrite poisoning,
which is why you wanna use a hardy fish
during the cycling process.
The fishless cycle is designed to grow out the biofilter
before marine life is added.
This method relies on a higher initial ammonia dose
to force feed the bacteria and develop a substantial
biofilter before adding livestock.
Some aquariors drop in a piece of shrimp
or phantom feed fish food.
As the food decays, ammonia is released.
Another method involves adding a prepared ammonia solution
to the tank.
Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride is designed specifically
for this purpose of adding ammonia,
and should be used alongside a nitrifying bacteria product
such as Dr. Tim's One and Only.
It can take around six weeks for the aquarium
to complete the cycle, depending on the vitality
of the seed bacteria.
Nitrifying bacteria are relatively slow growers.
They respond to ammonia and nitrite
by dividing and forming larger colonies,
so plan on four to six weeks,
especially if you're going with a fishless cycle.
The key is to be patient.
Just let the bacteria do their thing,
and you can track the process by looking at test kits.
It is important to remember
that when you add more livestock,
the biofilter has to adjust and grow
to meet the higher ammonia levels.
I typically recommend one or two fish every other week
after a successful cycle.
Staggering the livestock additions ensure
that you do not overload the aquarium with nutrients.
This method gives it plenty of time
for the bacteria to establish
and keep up with the additional waste in the aquarium.
In the age of instant gratification,
some hobbyists become worried that the tank won't cycle
or just become impatient and start adding animals
too quickly.
Take it from me and the thousands
of people keeping aquariums before me, don't be that guy.
It will only lead to killing animals and getting frustrated.
Just set up the tank, add your bacteria and ammonia source,
and then leave it alone for a couple weeks
before testing your parameters.
If you found this cycling video helpful,
please hit that thumbs-up and share it
with your reef keeping friends.
We have a ton of exciting content in the works,
so be sure to hit that Subscribe button
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I appreciate you for watching.
Until next time, take care and happy reef keeping.
(upbeat music)