How to Establish an Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle in a Home Aquarium

If you have a fish keeping hobby, then you must get some knowledge about the aquarium nitrogen cycle. It is necessary for the fish to live a healthy life in captivity environment. Without a proper and continuous nitrogen cycle, fish will die within weeks. To take good care of your fish, learning the aquarium nitrogen cycle is a very first step.

What is the Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle?

The nitrogen cycle in freshwater the aquarium is a natural process of converting the hazardous ammonia (NH3) to nitrite (NO2), which later turns into more toxic nitrate to relatively harmless (NO3).

What is Ammonia?

Ammonia is a toxic nitrogen compound. Even a small amount of ammonia can burn the fish’s gills. The constant exposure of ammonia can eventually kill the fish. It is one of the leading causes of the deaths of fish in home aquariums and ponds, especially in a new set up. For a healthy aquarium, the ammonia concentration should be kept at 0ppm (part per million).

How Ammonia is Produced?

Nearly all the living organisms on the planet earth exert ammonia as a waste, the same goes with the fish. Fish exert ammonia from their gills continuously. Their waste also creates more ammonia when it breaks down. Every other organic matter in closed captivity creates ammonia, like dead fish, decayed plants, and uneaten fish food, however, it doesn’t affect an ocean as there is an unlimited amount of water and organisms that can filter water naturally.

Tips to Remove Ammonia?

Timely water change is the one way to remove ammonia, but it’s not a permanent solution. It is not recommended to do a 100% water change daily, it wouldn’t remove all of the ammonia either. Ammonia will be produced constantly as long as there is fish in the aquarium. Even with the frequent water change, you will never be able to the ammonia level at 0ppm. However, there is one more solution that can take care of ammonia and nitrate production on a constant basis.

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

It is a natural process in which microspecies of waterborne bacteria called ‘Nitrosomonas’, have the job to feed on ammonia. It is a food source for them, and as a result, they produce nitrite. Nitrite has a lower toxic level than ammonia. That’s where another waterborne species comes for the task ‘Nitrobacter’, they consume the nitrite as a food and produce harmless nitrate. Both bacteria will continue to grow and at a certain point, their combined appetite will end the production of ammonia and nitrite. As a result, a well-established ‘cycled tank’ will be formed, with a 0ppm reading on both ammonia and nitrite and an increasing nitrate. It is highly recommended to cycle a fish tank before putting any fish in it. You can keep an eye on the toxic level of water with the help of various aquarium monitors available in the market.