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View Full Version : When did people learn about cycling tanks


NiaCas
03/30/2013, 09:32 PM
I'm very new to the hobby. I've wanted to start for a while, but wanted to make sure I had the money. I'm just starting with a 10 gallon tank right now that I got for free (will add a bigger one very soon)- when I finish cycling I'll get some shrimp, some harlequin rasboras, pretty plants, and some neons. I just got everything set up and have started cycling. I'm asking this question because when my mom gave me all the supplies I have now (b-day), she gave me a hard time about the concept of cycling. Went on for a long time about how she'd never heard of cycling and when she had fish tanks (last one was more than 15 years ago) full of cichlids and catfish or something (I remember catfish), she never cycled. Just used distilled water and added water from the bag the fish were in and ALL the fish were just fine being added right away after leaving the bags in the tank for a half hour. No dead ones. Therefore, the concept of cycling is ridiculous. The tanks were usually 25-55 gallons btw

Now, as usual, I'm taking other people's advice and doing it the right way, but it did get me thinking...how long has it been the right way? Did people just learn about cycling and why cycling's important in the past 15 years? If not, then when? Is there more information around about when the concept became popular and the people involved with studies about it or something? Or is the process like one of those ancient Chinese deals that just that was created by some super old sage guy based on observations, trial, and error? I just find it an interesting subject and I do have about a month to kill before I get to finally have fish so I thought I'd ask :lol2:

OrQidz
03/30/2013, 09:43 PM
ha ha good question! I have no idea but my first fish tank was in 1983 or 1984ish, and we knew about cycling then. I don't think we used test kits and the idea was to set up the tank, add a hardy fish, and wait a month. This is probably where the fish in cycling technique comes from.

But yes, probably a sage old observation type of thing!

PS you can tell your mom she is wrong! That will be fun lol.......but don't do it if you want more fishy related gifts!

bnumair
03/30/2013, 09:51 PM
welcome to the hobby.
let me clear few things. fresh water is a totally different game than saltwater. yes in a freshwater u can put a tank together and throw on a new filter and dechlorinate the water and ur good to go.
in saltwater ur rock or media u place in the tank is ur biological filter. in saltwater u have to have certain type of bacteria that needs to neutralize ammonia fish produce into nitrite. which also requires another set of bacteria that neutralize it to nitrates. both ammonia and nitrites are toxic to saltwater fish.
in order to get such bacteria u need to cycle the tank. what cycling means is that u kick start a production of ammonia in the tank by dropping a frozen shrimp rat decays over time and produces ammonia. bacteria from air and water and mostly from live rock (u place in tank) will start to grow at a slow rate of 15 hrs to double their size. then they use ammonia as food and cycle begins.
once u add fish to the cycled tank they eat and produce waste (ammonia) such bacteria keep out water non toxic and safe for fish to live.
if on other hand u donot cycle the tank and drop a fish or 2 in there soon after in few days there will be so much ammonia in there that poor fish will die.
i hope i explained it as plain as i could. please feel free to post more questions u may have,
good luck and Safe happy reefing

keithhays
03/30/2013, 10:13 PM
I'm very new to the hobby. I've wanted to start for a while, but wanted to make sure I had the money. I'm just starting with a 10 gallon tank right now that I got for free (will add a bigger one very soon)- when I finish cycling I'll get some shrimp, some harlequin rasboras, pretty plants, and some neons. I just got everything set up and have started cycling. I'm asking this question because when my mom gave me all the supplies I have now (b-day), she gave me a hard time about the concept of cycling. Went on for a long time about how she'd never heard of cycling and when she had fish tanks (last one was more than 15 years ago) full of cichlids and catfish or something (I remember catfish), she never cycled. Just used distilled water and added water from the bag the fish were in and ALL the fish were just fine being added right away after leaving the bags in the tank for a half hour. No dead ones. Therefore, the concept of cycling is ridiculous. The tanks were usually 25-55 gallons btw

Now, as usual, I'm taking other people's advice and doing it the right way, but it did get me thinking...how long has it been the right way? Did people just learn about cycling and why cycling's important in the past 15 years? If not, then when? Is there more information around about when the concept became popular and the people involved with studies about it or something? Or is the process like one of those ancient Chinese deals that just that was created by some super old sage guy based on observations, trial, and error? I just find it an interesting subject and I do have about a month to kill before I get to finally have fish so I thought I'd ask :lol2:

She cycled, but she did it with live fish. We used to do the same thing with saltwater fish. The problem is that not all fish live through the experience and it is now looked upon as cruel, so we cycle in other ways. It is a well known scientific concept generally referred to as the nitrogen cycle. It works the exact same way in fresh water as salt albeit with different species of bacteria. But, by now you know this and you have already likely done this research.

If you don't mind my asking why did you decide to start such a small tank?

NiaCas
03/30/2013, 10:35 PM
Thanks for the info guys!

keithhays: I've been wanting to start one for a long time. Up till now, I've only ever had betta fish or super small tanks with a tiny frog or something that people gave me. My b-day's on Monday, so my mom, knowing I've been wanting to get into the hobby, got me a 10 gallon tank and some supplies. My original plan was to start with a 30 gallon with an angelfish centerpiece and anything else planned around the angelfish, but since the 10 gallon is what I have, I'm starting out with this. I'll eventually move these fish to a bigger tank and use the 10 gallon perhaps as a quarantine tank or for any guppy fry my angelfish can't eat oorrr just for more plants. I didn't realize how into live plants I'd be until I got some in the tank. I'm almost happy with no fish lol. I'd keep some plants in there in case I wanted a change of scenery in a tank or a plant from a tank died. *sigh* While I am only just cycling a 10 gallon right now, you should know that in my head I already have several tanks of varying from 30 gal to a 150 gal with several community combinations I've already chosen and researched for each size living in the tanks with the plants I already chose for each community and tank :P In short (too late, I know) the 10 gallons was a gift, otherwise my near future 30 gallon would be my first.

EllieSuz
03/30/2013, 10:51 PM
The fish you listed are freshwater fish and this is a saltwater forum. I think you've asked a good question, but it might be better to ask it on a forum that has freshwater experts to advise you. Have you tried Wet Web Media? They have a freshwater section.

NiaCas
03/30/2013, 11:10 PM
My ultimate goal is saltwater fish, so I am definitely interested in saltwater as well and registered here because I'll have questions when I start (some of those tanks I mentioned exist in my head are saltwater :P, I just wanted to start out with a freshwater tank first) and like connecting with people when I start a new hobby. This forum was also rated the most active on another site I was on. Since, while it may be a bit more relative to saltwater, I don't think my question about cycling was water type specific, I asked here. Another thing I've noticed, which may be discriminatory but oh well, is that there seem to be more history buffs among the saltwater hobbyists - at least where the fish are concerned. Always lots of awesome extra info when I ask a question :) I will check out that forum you mentioned though- thank you!

devimik
03/31/2013, 12:28 AM
I used to raise Oscars, freshwater Angelfish and other freshwater fish back in the late 70's and we cycled then too, but we just set-up the tank and dechlorinated, then turned on the heater and filters and just let the tank run for a week or two w/o fish. Technically, you can buy a bacteria starter for either salt or fresh, dump it in your tank and get cycled in a few days, but with saltwater, your parameters will not be stable for many months. In fresh, once you have a good bacteria colony growing in your filter, you're good. In freshwater, I always used a hang on back filter and airstones. The beneficial bacteria live in the filter media and carbon. In a saltwater reef tank, the filter is the live rock and sand, so you need them to have established bacteria populations to handle the waste from fish and livestock. The best thing you could do is read the stickies in this section of the forum. They helped me to avoid many of the big mistakes I know I would have made with saltwater and my reef aquarium. Just don't overstock the 10g. Good luck.

TheDecisiveHand
03/31/2013, 09:15 AM
I dont know about recently but I am pretty sure Ancient Romans practiced pisciculture. After a few decades they probably realized there is no way to dump a bunch of fish in a closed system and get them to live. That was probably around the time, unless Rome stole the technology from a civilization before they figured it out.

Although who really knows, history is written by winners and burning libraries dont help much either. With another 1200 years of the dark ages, a civil war and Edison we have what we have today. We are still remarkably stupid when it comes to nature and I wouldn't be surprised to see another dark ages in a few hundred years anyway.

Good luck with your new aquarium. The only thing I can say is don't overthink it, no reason to burn yourself out. Nature is going to have to do the real work anyway. You get the luxury to sit back and enjoy.

Sk8r
03/31/2013, 10:39 AM
It probably started with the realization that the up and down of nitrate in a filtered tank was killing stony corals and inhibiting softies. How do you replace a filter? Get nature to do the job. How much do you need of live rock and sand? About a pound of each per gallon.

Rasboras in saltwater is a new one. I wasn't aware they could live in salt water. In a ten gallon, I'd stick to micro-hermit crabs, snails, and a couple of peppermint shrimp. In a 20 you might stand a chance of one of the goby or dartfish species.

Suggest you read the stickies above on how this all works.

nynick
03/31/2013, 05:51 PM
I remember my dad cycling his tank for his Nyasse cichlids. I bet noone has a clue what a Nyasse cichlid is today and that is how long ago it was.

Just a few years before we got the steam powered air pump.... :)

keithhays
03/31/2013, 07:04 PM
This should help:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rv/feature/

Shorty Harris
04/02/2013, 01:06 AM
In 1978 I was in 11th grade in high school, I wrote a paper for chemistry class about the "nitrogen cycle" in a salt water aquarium.