Once you have set up your tropical aquarium the next step is to ‘cycle’ it. This process produces beneficial bacteria that will process the waste ammonia from your fish and convert it into nitrites and then into relatively harmless nitrates. After adding fish to an uncycled tank the toxic ammonia and nitrite levels will rise to a dangerous high until there are sufficient numbers of bacteria to convert them into less toxic nitrates. In order to overcome this methods have been devised to encourage the growth of the bacteria. The traditional method is to add a few ‘hardy’ fish that will produce ammonia to encourage bacteria growth while the tank is ‘cycling’. This method is very stressful for the fish, many of which die or are damaged by the process. The toxic ammonia burns the gills and leads to permanent damage. At the end of the ‘cycling’ you are left with fish in poor condition which you may not want in your aquarium.

A better, more humane method to cycle the tank is to use a fishless cycling method. It uses household ammonia as a source, rather than live fish, and a bacteria culture obtained from a healthy tank or purchased from an aquarium supplier.

The Bacteria Starter Culture

You can obtain a starter bacteria culture by adding some gravel, filter medium or rock from a healthy, aged tropical fish tank. If you do not have a source there are commercial products available, for example StressZyme or Hagen’s Cycle. The culture will give a quick start to producing a colony of bacteria but you can also use this method without a starter culture. It will take a bit longer then to cycle your tank.

The Ammonia

Purchase some unscented, additive free 100% ammonia. Some aquarium supply shops are now selling ammonia for this purpose. If you know a chemist or science teacher they may be able to get you some pure ammonia from a laboratory supplier..

The Tank Temperature

The bacteria (Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter) thrive best at higher temperature than is usually used for a tropical tank so during the cycling increase the temperature to between 30 and 35 C (85-95F). When you add the fish you can turn it down again.

Testing Kit

A testing kit to check the ammonia and nitrite levels is essential to test the levels and to indicate when cycling is complete.

The Fishless Cycling Method

Extra aeration is recommended while cycling as bacteria need oxygen to grow. Increase the aeration through the tank and filter if possible. You could add an extra air stone or even use an extra pump if one is available. Add your bacteria culture, then add about a teaspoon of ammonia for a small tank. Increase this for a larger tank. Allow about an hour for the ammonia to circulate then test. The ammonia level should be between 5 mg/L (or 5ppm). Add some more ammonia if the level is too low. Leave the tank alone for a few days then test again.

At this stage the ammonia level should begin to drop and the nitrite level to rise. This means that the bacteria are doing their job of processing the ammonia. Add some more ammonia when it drops to zero to give the bacteria more to work on. The nitrite level should rise until it reaches a maximum then begin to drop as the nitrites are converted into relatively harmless nitrates. Three or four days after the maximum nitrite levels are seen the nitrite level should drop to zero. The cycling is now complete.

Change about 50-70% of the water, carefully so as not to disturb the filter or the gravel bed where the bacteria are colonised. Reset the temperature to 25°C, or the recommended temperature for your intended fish and allow the temperature to stabilise for a few hours. Retest for ammonia and nitrites and if the levels are zero you can now begin to add some fish.

It is possible after cycling the tank to add all the fish in one go but this will result in a spike in the ammonia and nitrite levels which is stressful for the fish and could cause them to become diseased. adding the fish slowly will allow the bacteria to grow to cope with the added levels of ammonia excreted by the fish. Even for a fully cycled tank it is advisable to gradually add the fish. aim to take about a month to fully stock the tank.

A fishless cycling method is more efficient and produces a fully cycled tank in a much shorter time than the traditional method of using hardy fish. It is also more humane and you will not be left with unwanted, often damaged fish, at the end.

Published At: www.Isnare.com
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As always, a good selection of birds and small animals. Today they had a pair of diamond silver doves available along with their always full stock of parakeets, cockatiels, parrots, conures, finches, and canaries. Kittens were also available, as were guinea pigs and bunnies.

Puppies available a Shih Tzu, Fox Terriers, and a pot-bellied pig.

Always worth a visit.

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The following is an excerpt from the website:

Since the qualifiers Mini-, Micro-, Nano- and Pico- are already being used for “enormous” aquariums with several liters in volume, I had to come up with a new name to categorize these ingenious beauties that two friends from Londrina (Brazil) have been creating. Rony Suzuki and Fabio Yoshida are veteran aquatic gardeners, with heaps of cuttings and talent to keep inventing new setups that are always surprising and inspiring us, but this time they’ve really outdone themselves…or indone themselves, whatever! (Read more)

Good selection of live stock to, although I didn’t see any puppies or kittens. I believe puppies are available Sunday mornings only. Birds available were lovebirds, canaries, parakeets, finches, and cockatiels. They had a large selection of freshwater fish and plants, with a small selection of saltwater fish displayed along side. The only small animals I saw today were a few rabbits that were spending the day napping.

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Small shop, tightly packed in the corner across Pizza Hut. Sells a decent assortment of accessories. Looks to specialize in freshwater fish stock and supplies. A large variety of fish can be found here from Cichlids, Tetra, Goldfish, Discus, Fighting Fish, among many others, with a good selection of aquariums to display them with if your in the market for that as well. I ended up picking up a Betta Sphere for the office as it was on sale (at the best price I found so far), but then I splurged on the Betta. I bought the full moon tail type…. I like the sound of that for some reason.

The shop also carried a couple of guinea pigs, mice, a couple of cockatiels, canaries, and Jackson chameleons. There was one star that really shined out from the rest, even though there was no lights in the aquarium it swam in. Thats the cichlid in the middle of the banner picture up top. I have never seen a cichlid with such vivid colors, not for sale by the way – this fish would be the pride of any aquarium. I’ll have to do more research on it and add it to my petpedia.

Overall nice shop, tightly cramped though with a great selection of freshwater fish.

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On a side note, I got my picture of the flame angelfish I wanted here, although it swam around too much for me to get the shot I was hoping for. Saltwater fish have the most brilliant colors. A bit of warning, after looking at these fish for a while, fresh water fish seem dull.

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Warehouse of pet accessories located by the old Costco store. Lots of accessories to choose from. Live stock includes a nice selections of freshwater fish, some saltwater fish, bunnies, tortoise, Jackson Chameleons, Parakeets, and Love birds. I particular liked the flame angelfish which I would have had a picture to show, but the clerk advised me I was not allowed to take any pictures of the store (Go figure).


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Nice shop located at 1199 Dillingham Blvd, carries a nice assortment of pet accessories. Looks to cater to the freshwater aquarium enthusiast with a wide selection of aquariums, accessories, and a variety of fresh water fish.

There were some puppies when I visited though they looked older than what I would prefer. I also saw Chinchillas and a selection of birds, of which they had a beautiful selection of finches. Along side the register counter they had a few turtles, a couple of frogs, and a Jackson Chameleon or two.

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I have visited the shop on various occasions and they always seem to have a couple of puppy breeds on sale. Usually I see mix-terrier types. Last time I visited they had Golden Retrievers which were already sold by the time I saw them. I have seen kittens once in a while, usually the common breed. Bunnies, dwarf bunnies, and guinea pigs can also be found here. As well as a good assortment of freshwater fish- tetra, goldfish, some cichlids, clown knife and a small selections of saltwater fish, including baby eels. Next to their fish you can find a small selection of turtles and jackson chameleons. They have a good assortment of birds as well, including a variety of parrots.

Overall though this is a nice size shop with a good selection. Everytime I come to Windward mall I find myself walking through to see whats new.

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