It's less about water movement as such but you do want water moving through your filter and more about growing a heap of bacteria.
Forgive, me this is a copy and paste from another thread so there may be a few situation specific sections from the other person's thread that I missed to delete or change
Cycling can be confusing and hard to get your head around as you have discovered mostly because there are 2 things you need to get a grip of.
The first is fairly simple ~ What is the nitrogen cycle? Big name for a simple process :happy:
Here it is
Axolotls produce waste and waste, rotting plants and decaying food all equal
Ammonia.
Here starts the cycle! Here it is as simply as I can
Ammonia is turned to Nitrite which is then turned into Nitrate.
There you go, that's it, in all it's simplistic glory
So
Ammonia > Nitrite > Nitrate
or if you prefer
Very toxic > Less toxic > a little toxic
All of this is done by the bacteria living on the surface of everything in your tank but especially in your FILTER :happy: The Nitrate is then removed by your water changes and small amounts of it will also be used by your plants for food.
Which brings us to the actual cycling :happy: and thing # 2 that you need to get your head at least partially around
I know it's long and complicated but I've made it as simple as I can.
Cycling is what we call process that happens while all the bacteria you will need to keep your axies water healthy sets itself up and gets settled in your filter to the point where the ammonia is being consumed at the same rate or faster then it is being produced and Nitrite is being consumed at the same rate or faster than it is being produced.
Cycling is what your tank is dong while the bacteria moves in to make the nitrogen cycle happen in your tank.
There are 2 types of bacterial colonies in the filter when all this is finished. One bunch that eats the Ammonia and excretes Nitrite and another lot that eats Nitrite and excretes Nitrate.
That's it. Personally I think it is poorly named.. Cycling your tank
you're cycling your filter, it's ALL about the filter.
OK so How do you do it?
What you're looking for are the 3 Phases of cycling to run their course.
There is no set time frame for how long this will take however it's generally anywhere from about 2 weeks to 2 months.
Over the next few weeks you will be growing both lots of bacteria.
Each day test your water for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. You don't really need the nitrate at the start but it's good to have it should it do anything funny on you so ignore the result until later in Phase 2
Well that's all well and good but how do I do it and what am I looking for?
First you'll need an ammonia source. This could be fish food, axie pellets, live fish. Pretty much anything organic that will decompose or in the case of the fish will create ammonia with their waste. You need to add a little, an I do mean a LITTLE, of you choice of ammonia source every couple of days or so depending on what you ammonia levels are doing.
Phase 1 ~ The Ammonia eaters move in and multiply
What your tests will show;
Ammonia ~ Rises steadily to a peak before starting to drop back down.
Nitrite ~ will be 0 or at least remain steady and will begin to rise as the ammonia levels drop
Nitrate ~ will be 0 or at least remain steady with no real increase or decrease except after water changes.
You may find you tank goes a little cloudy for a couple of days during this phase, don't worry about it, it's completely normal and will clear on it's own
Phase 2 ~ The Nitrite eaters move in and multiply
What your tests will show;
Ammonia ~ Will continue to drop and will then remain at zero
Nitrite ~ Will continue to rise to a peak before starting to drop back down to zero
Nitrate ~ will be 0 or at least remain steady until the Nitrite begins to drop at which point it will begin to rise.
Phase 3 ~ A fully cycled tank
What your tests will show;
Ammonia ~ 0
Nitrite ~ 0
Nitrate ~ rising slowly
NOTE: if at any time while doing a livestock free cycle you get ANY of the following readings do a 20% water change to bring the numbers down!
Ammonia ~ 0.8 or higher
Nitrite ~ 0.5 or higher
Nitrate ~ 40 or higher
If you have
anything else living in the tank you will need to change some water if you get any of these levels at any time.
Ammonia ~ 0.5 or higher
Nitrite ~ 0.3 or higher
Nitrate ~ 35 or higher
