Aquarium completes its cycle?

Cool_fish

New member
I'm reading in the stickies about pumps, etc, and I read the title phrase... I cannot seem to find this in any of the information. Can someone simply tell me what it means for an aquarium to complete it's cycle?
 
There is A LOT to learn. Basically you will need to get a bacterial colony built up to process the waste created by fish food and fish waste. Keep reading you will be happy you learned all you could before you start. Patience is key!
Look up the fishless cycle, that way you don't put any living things at risk when you first start your tank. Don't put any faith in any "instant cycle" or bacteria in a bottle type quick fixes.
 
The fact that you're reading, asking questions, showing an interest to actually learn this stuff is wonderful! You'd be amazed at how many people who's first post is something like this: HELP! My fish are dying!

Yes, there's a lot to learn. I've been keeping aquariums since the early 1980's, and I'm _still_ learning. The basics, you'll pick up fast. Advanced stuff comes as you need it.

Keep on learning, and MOVE SLOW. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby.
 
Love this forum.... nobody has judged my insanity or brain-dead questions yet. And yes, I want to set up an aquarium that by the time I actually put something live in it, hope to be able to give it as good a place to live as possible, in a tank anyway. As an avid diver, I love seeing fish in the water, so I'm committed to knowing as much as possible before doing something that will kill anything....
 
Love this forum.... nobody has judged my insanity or brain-dead questions yet. And yes, I want to set up an aquarium that by the time I actually put something live in it, hope to be able to give it as good a place to live as possible, in a tank anyway. As an avid diver, I love seeing fish in the water, so I'm committed to knowing as much as possible before doing something that will kill anything....

As a diver you may appreciate tank bread species and should ask your LFS when you buy fish if they are tank bread or wild caught. Would be nice to have fish there the next time you dive! How are things progressing? Just curious if you have questions or are coming along well?
 
Thanks for the tip and thanks for asking! Well, I've been soaking everything in water and vinegar. The suggestion was 50/50 but with a 55 gallon tank, that is a LOT of vinegar. So, I put about a gallon in the main tank, and had all the other pieces in a big container that I usually rinse my dive gear in. So, I have all the parts as clean as can be, and I got about half of the vinegar water out of it last night - taking 5 gal buckets out to the culvert so it doesn't kill my new grass outside.

Interesting idea about wild caught.... have you ever caught anything and put it into your tank? I'm not sure what all I would need to keep a fish all the way home but I have seen some fairly pretty fish out here in the Gulf. If you did this PAX, how did you get the fish home?
 
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