# How to speed up the nitrogen cycle



## proaudio55 (Oct 20, 2011)

I'm not sure that light is going to be beneficial since the bacteria of interest is growing in the filter / substrate (dark places).

For those really in a hurry, I'm told the best way is to introduce a ton of fast growing plants into the tank, such as water sprite. Plants preferentially suck up ammonia, then nitrite, and as a last resort nitrate. Plants won't speed up the bacteria formation, but they will moderate the sharp ammonia spike and prevent a big fish kill. 

...I've not used this method, but that's what I've heard and it makes sense to me.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

If you know someone with an established tank, see if they will give you some filter media or some gravel. This will help seed your media or gravel with their pre established bacteria much more quickly.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

High pH helps too. If you're trying to cycle a 5pH tank, it's going to take a while, even using tap water during hte cycling helps before you switch to RO or add your driftwood/almond leaves, etc.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

:icon_twis


proaudio55 said:


> I'm not sure that light is going to be beneficial since the bacteria of interest is growing in the filter / substrate (dark places).
> 
> For those really in a hurry, I'm told the best way is to introduce a ton of fast growing plants into the tank, such as water sprite. Plants preferentially suck up ammonia, then nitrite, and as a last resort nitrate. Plants won't speed up the bacteria formation, but they will moderate the sharp ammonia spike and prevent a big fish kill.
> 
> ...I've not used this method, but that's what I've heard and it makes sense to me.


agreed. This will help tremendously to reduce the ammonia and nitrite spike along with algae in the beginning. Always a good idea to plant very heavily with fast growing stems from the very beginning


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Some also told me that using water from an established tank will also help.

You just want to grind up some shrimp for some reason??


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## babyboyblue (Dec 12, 2011)

I read somewhere that adding a air stone also helps a little.

Also agree on planting heavy.


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## taiwwa (May 6, 2012)

I thought plants were fans of nitrate, and sometimes used ammonia and nitrites.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Nitrifying bacteria need the following conditions:
~No light. They grow in dark places. 
~High oxygen. Good water circulation.
~Moderate ammonia and nitrite. Too high inhibits them. Max 5 ppm. 
~No toxins such as antibiotics, soaps or anything else; and use the right dose of dechlor as needed. Chlorine and chloramine can kill bacteria. The nitrifying bacteria can use the ammonia that is locked up from chloramines. 
~KH and GH over 3 German degrees of hardness. These bacteria do need a small supply of minerals, and they get their carbon from the carbonates. 
~pH on the alkaline side of neutral. Pretty much anywhere in the 7s is optimum.

Best sources of nitrifying bacteria:
~There are almost no bacteria in the water. Skip it. 
~Surfaces with lots of pores. Almost any filter media from a well established tank is very rich in the nitrifying bacteria. 
~The upper layer of substrate from an established tank. Bacteria thrive in high oxygen, and the upper layer has the most oxygen. (If a UGF is properly run there will be bacteria throughout the substrate)
~Bacteria in a bottle. Make sure it is the right species. Nitrospira is the right one, if the label does not specify, then do not trust it. 

Other sources:
~Plants, rocks, driftwood and other things from a cycled tank. There are bacteria on all these surfaces, though not as much as in filter media or most substrates. 
~Garden soil. Yup! The same bacteria that we want in our tanks also grows in the soil pore space in good healthy garden soil, busily breaking down ammonia from animal waste and turning it into nitrate which the plants use as a source of nitrogen. If you are starting a tank with dirt, there may be some of the bacteria you need in that soil. 

Quicky fishless cycle:
Add ammonia from a bottle (no surfactants, no perfumes) to 5 ppm. 
Test daily. Keep the ammonia at 5 ppm until the nitrite shows up (couple of days) 
Then allow the ammonia to drop to 3 ppm and keep it there by adding ammonia as needed. (test and add once a day)
Keep on testing. If the nitrite approaches 5 ppm do a water change. 
When the bacteria can remove 3 ppm ammonia overnight, and the nitrite also drops to 0 ppm the system is cycled. At this point the nitrate will probably be sky high. Do a BIG water change before adding fish. 

If you start with NO bacteria, the fishless cycle will take 3 weeks. 
If you start with bacteria from any of the sources suggested the cycle will go faster, depending on how much bacteria you start with. You could have it go as fast as overnight (well 24-48 hours anyway) if you add a lot of bacteria. 

At the end of the fishless cycle you have grown enough bacteria to fully stock the tank all at one time. It was developed with Aftican Cichlids in mind: Over stocked, no plants, all the fish go in at once. 

If you are not ready to add fish yet, keep on feeding the bacteria with ammonia. 

Some plants do not like ammonia in that high level. You can plant during a fishless cycle. If you want to be conservative add no more than 1 ppm ammonia, but then you are growing less bacteria, so be more cautious when you add fish. You might test and add ammonia twice a day, though, and that would grow a bit more bacteria. 

Plants are themselves part of the bio-filter. If you add so many plants that you cannot see the back of the tank then you have probably added enough plants that the tank is cycled. Done. 
There are some bacteria on all those leaves, stems and roots, and the plants remove the ammonia, too. Go ahead and stock the tank. Using fast growing plants is best. The faster the plants grow the more nitrogen they are removing. 

Of course with any of these methods monitor the conditions and be ready to do water changes as needed, but growing the bacteria ahead of time is the best way to be sure the fish will be safe in the new set up. 
It is also a good way to get used to using your test kits.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Most plants use nitrogen in this order:
Ammonia and ammonium.
Nitrite.



Nitrate.

Land plants in general are pretty good at using nitrate because most ammonia in the soil is converted to nitrate pretty fast. Most aquatic plants seem to handle ammonia best, and ammonium really well. They seem to do just about as well with nitrite. 
Most will not take in nitrate unless there is no more ammonia (either form) available.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

150EH said:


> Some also told me that using water from an established tank will also help.


I've tried this but it did nothing to speed up the cycle. Than I heard that 95% of the bacteria grows on surfaces such as substrate, glass, rocks, filter media etc. I've cycled a tank instantly when I moved my bettas from a 2.5 to a 5.5. I just set up the 5.5, filled it with water, than popped on the hagen mini elite from the 2.5 and had no ammonia or nitrite spike.


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

Trying to speed up the cycle sounds to me like planting a lil tomato now and expecting fruits next week.
There is some thing in nature that just need some help but mostly hands off. 

One thing only, this helps the bacteria to brake down nitrogen compounds, agitated surface to have more dissolved oxygen available. More efficient rather than quicker.

I think that the nitrogen cycle is the first big teaching for the aquarist. Patience.

There is nothing wrong with planting and scaping ONLY until there is 0 ammonia, plants love ammonia. Use this time to figure your layout. Livestock doesn't appreciate us to be diggin around. 


----
I went thru the painful cycle 8years ago, since then I only cycle filters, then when I started another tank or rescape mine the filter is already going for weeks so it's cycled(alive). As I over filter(bigger filters than needed) they handle the new load pretty good. Wait a few days to see if there is any ammonia spike and if not then god to go.

This means that I run the new tank's filter in an established tank for some time before starting the new tank.

I hope that however you do it it works good for you, I hope you don't spend money on snake oils that claim to help and you spend it on nice beautiful plants. (because plants are covered in bacteria)

Looking forward to see your tank in a month! 

Bless!

Edit:
Some substrates leach ammonia, it's not that the cycle isn't finished, it's the substrate leaching ammo. Like Ada.


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## taiwwa (May 6, 2012)

Nitrites are sky high. They're actually off the charts on my water test, since it quickly went to 5.0, while in the past it would take a few minutes before I saw the results.

so if nitrobacteria need dark, would it then make sense to just turn off the lights for a day or two, and jack up the temperature to around 90?


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

Do you have plants there? Plants melt at that temp.
I would change 50 water now, if you have no3 is because all needed bacteria is there doing its thing. Now you need to balance and clean.


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## taiwwa (May 6, 2012)

pejerrey said:


> Do you have plants there? Plants melt at that temp.
> I would change 50 water now, if you have no3 is because all needed bacteria is there doing its thing. Now you need to balance and clean.


plants are present. currently it is at 86 f


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## lipadj46 (Apr 6, 2011)

Tetra safestart is the best bacteria in a bottle and works. I have not had luck with niteout or stability.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

> Nitrites are sky high


Do enough water changes to keep the NO2 under 5 ppm. The bacteria do not grow well when the NO2 (or the ammonia) is over 5 ppm. 

Tank lights are fine, and encouraging the plants to grow well is important. Do not cook the plants. The bacteria will be growing in the filter more than anywhere else, and in the upper layer of the substrate where there is the maximum oxygen. 

Nitrifying bacteria will grow at a wide range of temperature. High oxygen level is important, so I would not raise the temperature. Warmer water holds less oxygen. 

When these species of bacteria are bottled they are a bit delicate. The bottles must not be over heated or frozen, and the bacteria do not live long, so if the bottles have been sitting in the warehouse for too long you might get a bad bottle with dead bacteria.


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## Fluval (May 23, 2012)

I'm a noob. Just wondering, why does increased temperature help?


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## taiwwa (May 6, 2012)

1-2 ammonia. over 5 nitrites. 

I would think that the more nitrites available, the faster nitrite eating bacteria would grow. For the nitrite part, I'm leaving the lights off also. temp is like 83-84.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

> I would think that the more nitrites available, the faster nitrite eating bacteria would grow


This is not true. It has been proven by more than one experiment that the very bacteria that remove nitrites grow slower when the nitrite is over 5 ppm. Do a water change. Then bump up the ammonia to about 3 ppm. 



> why does increased temperature help


Up to a certain point warmer water means the chemical reactions happen faster, as long as all the required elements are present. When growing nitrifying bacteria the water needs to be high in oxygen and have no more than 5 ppm ammonia and nitrite. 
Warmer water holds less oxygen, so keep up a lot of good water movement to keep up oxygenating it. 
These bacteria will grow at a wide range of temperatures. They are pretty slow in a cold pond, but at all the reasonable aquarium temperatures (anywhere in the 70s to low 80s) they grow quite well. At warmer temperatures the lack of oxygen becomes a problem. 

The bacteria do not grow where the light is, so they will not be on the glass, or the uppermost surface of the substrate (the very tops of the gravel or whatever), or on the tops of the leaves of the plants (Except where shaded by other leaves). These bacteria grow best in the filter and in the upper layer of the substrate barely under the surface. This is where the best water movement is. 



> I'm leaving the lights off also


Then what happens when you turn them on? The bacteria that has grown in the dark will now have to move to a new place.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Does light really play a factor in bacteria production? Most of your bacteria will be in your filter(and substrate) anyways which shouldn't receive much light.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

The bacteria that are the major players in the nitrogen cycle do not grow well in bright light. 

Yes, most will be where there is the best supply of oxygen. 

If the aquarium lights are off, and there is only ambient room light you might get a pretty significant growth of these bacteria on the upper surface of the substrate during cycling. (low light, and very good water movement for a constant supply of oxygen and ammonia) 
Then, when you want to add fish you turn on the light and the bacteria start dying where the light is now too bright. 
Much better to set up the tank the way you want to run it so the bacteria will grow where they ought to. Then there is less adjustment happening when things change, because there is less change. The lights-on vs lights-off issue is not a big one.

The chemical composition of the water is very important. The bacteria will grow under a wide range of conditions, but to grow them as fast a possible there is a narrower range of conditions that work best. These conditions have been checked in more than one lab to see just what works best.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

THE higher the ph the faster the nitrogen cycle occurs. it doesn't grow bacteria any faster. just allows them to convert faster. much the same as sugar increases their metabolic rate and allows faster conversion. it will however deplete the water's supply of oxygen very rapidly.

don't try to go bacteria fast.. if they grow too fast then all the food is gone. many will die off and u'll add fish and some will be left to do the work of the many

SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

There is no reason not to follow the fishless cycle as far as growing the bacteria quickly.

Give the bacteria what they want, in the optimum range, and they will grow quickly. This means the bacteria will get very efficient at removing the ammonia, and it means they will be reproducing. They convert ammonia to nitrite and gain energy. What else are they doing with all that energy? Bacteria do not do much besides grow and reproduce. 
If there is poor water circulation, and you are not paying attention to replacing the ammonia they use, then sure they will remove whatever oxygen and ammonia there is quickly. 
But implicit in the fishless cycle is that the tank is properly set up as far as water circulation for good oxygenation, and you are adding a constant supply of ammonia. You are monitoring the ammonia and nitrites and keeping them in the optimum range. The bacteria will not use up all the oxygen and ammonia because you are taking care of them. 

When the cycle is done you can alter conditions to optimum for the fish. The bacteria may not keep on reproducing so fast, but they will still live. You do not need them to keep on reproducing so fast, the population has built up to a generous level in the 3 weeks you have been growing them. 

Why take longer when the job can be done quickly?


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

Diana said:


> There is no reason not to follow the fishless cycle as far as growing the bacteria quickly.
> 
> Give the bacteria what they want, in the optimum range, and they will grow quickly. This means the bacteria will get very efficient at removing the ammonia, and it means they will be reproducing. They convert ammonia to nitrite and gain energy. What else are they doing with all that energy? Bacteria do not do much besides grow and reproduce.
> If there is poor water circulation, and you are not paying attention to replacing the ammonia they use, then sure they will remove whatever oxygen and ammonia there is quickly.
> ...


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## Walleye (May 14, 2012)

Great info in this thread! Thanks Diana (and others) for taking the time to explain the cycling process.

I have a question regarding the Dry Start Method for plants. My understanding is the point of DSM is to give the plants a chance to establish their roots while emergent. I understand that during the DSM, bacteria will start to grow in the substrate where there is a little water/moisture. My question is: after a month or so of DSM, I will flood the tank... what kind of cycling needs to continue to happen before I add fish? Will the bacteria that grew in the substrate move to the filter faster than if I were cycling from scratch? Do the now (hopefully) established plants handle ammonia spikes better and reduce the cycle time?


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

Walleye said:


> Great info in this thread! Thanks Diana (and others) for taking the time to explain the cycling process.
> 
> I have a question regarding the Dry Start Method for plants. My understanding is the point of DSM is to give the plants a chance to establish their roots while emergent. I understand that during the DSM, bacteria will start to grow in the substrate where there is a little water/moisture. My question is: after a month or so of DSM, I will flood the tank... what kind of cycling needs to continue to happen before I add fish? Will the bacteria that grew in the substrate move to the filter faster than if I were cycling from scratch? Do the now (hopefully) established plants handle ammonia spikes better and reduce the cycle time?


 
if u keep he substrate moist some will grow there underneath the top layer where there is less light IF there ammonia and nitrites to be reduced.. otherwise the nitrifying bacteria will not grow. other's will be present though, some that are eve beneficial once flooded


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