30 Minimizing Fish Stress During Initial Cycling
Description
This article is from the Beginning Fishkeeping FAQ, by Thomas Narten with numerous contributions by others.
30 Minimizing Fish Stress During Initial Cycling
Should ammonia levels become high during the cycling process,
corrective measures will need to be taken to prevent fish deaths. Most
likely, you will simply perform a sequence of partial water changes,
thereby diluting ammonia to safer concentrations.
As a final caution, several commercial products (e.g., ``Amquel'' or
``Ammo-Lock'') safely neutralize ammonia's toxicity. Amquel does not
remove the ammonia, it simply neutralizes its toxicity. Biological
filtration is still needed to convert the (neutralized) ammonia to
nitrite and nitrate. Thus, adding Amquel causes the ammonia produced
by the fish to be neutralized instantly, yet still allows the nitrogen
cycle to proceed. Using Amquel during the cycling phase has one
significant drawback, however. Amquel (and similar products) may cause
ammonia test kits to give false readings, making it difficult to
determine exactly when cycling has completed. See the TEST KIT SECTION
for details.
It is also possible to cycle a tank without ever adding fish. The role
fish provide in the cycling process is simply their steady production
of ammonia; the same effect can be achieved by adding chemical forms
of ammonia manually (e.g., ammonium chloride). However, it is a bit
more complicated than using fish because the water chemistry needs to
be monitored more closely in order to add the proper amount of ammonia
on a day-to-day basis.
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