With a new aquarium, cycling tank is the first and most important thing you need to do. This is the process in which your aquarium needs to establish good bacteria. When you first set up your aquarium will be contaminated with bad bacteria. Before cichlid in the tank, it is important that these bad (harmful) bacteria converts it to good bacteria. The first stage of bacteria break down ammonia into nitrites, and the second stage of bacteria break down the nitrites into nitrates. Both ammonia and nitrites are harmful to your fish, but nitrates are not sure how long they are at a safe level (below 20 ppm).
There are two ways to make the tank cycle with or without fish. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, but most fish enthusiasts prefer to do a fishless cycle. Doing a fishless cycle (which I recommend) has many other advantages: it is faster, simpler, and avoids permanently damage fish. In addition, the water is completely ready for fish once the cycle is complete.
Fishless cycle An effective way to do this is a fishless cycle, media, gravel, sand, or decoration from another are (free of disease) established aquarium that already good bacteria. If you can not find any of these materials you can buy in a bottle bacteria from your local fish store. Also during this process, I recommend increasing the temperature in the aquarium at 85 degrees, this allows a faster chemical reaction.
Cycling with fish If you want to go the other way, then you need hardy fish that can withstand these harmful water, I suggest either tetras or guppies. Cycling your tank with fish can establish anywhere between 4-6 weeks for the nitrates. You need frequent water changes (20%) to do 3-4 times a week, until the cycle is complete. Of course, if you have to be a cichlid aquarium to before you remove the starter fish any cichlids in the tank.
Conclusion Whichever method you choose, it is important to recognize that this can be very time consuming (3-6 weeks), so patience is a virtue. It is also important to constantly test your water during this process to ensure that your tank is cycling properly. I recommend using a liquid test kit, rather than the basic test strips. Make sure before you add delicate fish, your nitrates are at or below 20 ppm....
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