New Tank Syndrome and the Nitrogen Cycle

New Tank Syndrome refers to what happens to a newly established fish tank for the first 6 to 8 weeks while it is establish a biological filter or bio-cycle. When a tank is first set up and some fish a placed in the tank they are living in fresh water and a tank with new decorations filter and aquarium substrate. The fish will produce waste which adds toxins to the water. These toxins are very poisonous to fish. As the level of toxins increase in the water it become armful to the fish and even fatal. This is why many fish will die in the first few day after being placed in a new aquarium.

New Tank Syndrome happens to all new aquariums. It is something that every aquarium fish keeper will experience. So anyone keeping an aquarium must learn about it and know how to find a solution. There are two possible solutions.

One solution is to buy a couple hardy tropical fish to start in order to establish the biological cycle in the new aquarium. Hardy fish are certain types of fish that can tolerate the higher amounts of toxins that are present in the aquarium while it is cycling. Some hardy fish are zebra danios, female guppies, blue, opaline and gold gouramis.

The other solution is to cycle the tank doing what is called a fishless cycle. Instead of getting hardy fish for the new tank the aquarium owner can buy special kits at local pet stores. these kits contain chemicals that get added to the water to cycle the tank. The chemicals are similar to the ones that are produced by the fish that would be living in the aquarium. The kits will come with instructions on how to use them to establish the biological filter in the aquarium.

The Nitrogen Cycle also called the Biological Cycle is a cycle that all new aquariums must establish to be able to provide a healthy living environment for the fish that will live in the tank. When a brand new tank is set up it lacks the bacteria needed to break down the toxin produced by the waste products from the fish. These bacteria need time to grow. The time that it takes for the bacteria to grow is what is called cycling the tank.

The cycle starts with wasted products entering the water from the fish. These products produce ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to fish. As more ammonia enters the water some bacteria will begin to grow in the tank. This bacteria will eat the ammonia and the ammonia level will then drop.

The ammonia eating bacteria produce another waste product that puts nitrite into the water. Nitrites are also very toxic to fish. As the nitrites in water start to increase another bacteria will then start to grow. This new bacteria will eat the nitrites causing the nitrites to drop.

The nitrite eating bacteria produce their own waste products which give of nitrates. Nitrates are not as toxic to aquarium fish. Even though nitrates are not as toxic they should not be allowed to build up in the tank. Regular partial water changes are needed to keep the nitrates low. Once there are nitrates in the water and the other 2 toxins have pretty much vanished the Nitrogen Cycle is completed and the tank has establish a biological filter.