Fishless cycling
maturing an aquarium by providing ammonia to allow colonisation by beneficial bacteria
Fishless cycling is a form of "maturing" an aquarium. The goal of the process is to establish a robust colony of nitrifiers, with the ammonia source provided to allow nitrifiers ('beneficial bacteria,' although nitrifiers can also be archaea) to grow and reproduce coming from non-fish sources, hence 'fishless.' Fishless cycling can reduce the chance of fish loss resulting from insufficient populations of nitrifiers.
Process
Fishless cycling can be instant or take a long time, up to six months in some reported cases. During this time, the aquarist provides an ammonia source for developing the nitrifier colony. Nitrifiers in the aquarium grow on all surfaces, particularly in areas of high water flow and high surface area, such as the filter. Allowing ammonia to be converted to nitrite and onto the less harmful nitrate minimizes stress and injury to aquarium fish. 'Cycling' is not identical to the nitrogen cycle, as it is specifically the process of establishing nitrification; not the other parts of the nitrogen cycle.
Cycling can be sped up via specific methodologies. Seeding the aquarium with nitrifiers, either from established biomedia, or a biological booster product can help. However, not all products have been found to work, or are even suitable for cycling.
“Fishless cycling” enters the record as maturing an aquarium by providing ammonia to allow colonisation by beneficial bacteria. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Fishless, cycling and maturing can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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