To start, you'll want your aquarium completely assembled and filled with everything you want in it, besides the fish. See our articles on setting up freshwater and marine aquariums for more information. Below is a brief checklist of things you'll want to do before getting started — this may not match all aquariums perfectly:  Assemble the aquarium Add substrate Add water Add air stones, air pumps, etc. Add plants, rocks, etc. Add filtration system (and/or protein skimmer) Add heater Your goal in this cycling process is to populate the tank with fish that produce waste but can survive the initial high levels of toxins long enough for the beneficial waste-processing bacteria to grow. Thus, you'll want to pick a variety that is known for being a good cycling fish and start with a small number. Later, once the bacteria have grown, you can slowly add more fish of different types. Below are just a few good choices for cycling fish:  White Clouds Zebra Danios Cherry or Tiger Barbs Pseudotrophius Zebra Banded Gouramis X-ray Tetras Pupfish Most minnows Most guppies When cycling an aquarium with your fish, it's very important not to overfeed them. Though different fish may have different dietary needs, a good rule of thumb is to give food once every other day. Only offer a moderate-sized meal — you don't want any extra food left over when the fish are done eating. This is done for two reasons:  Fish who eat more produce more waste, which can cause the levels of toxins in the tank to rise before the bacteria have a chance to colonize the aquarium. Leftover food will eventually rot, producing toxins on its own. While you're waiting for your tank to cycle, every few days, replace about 10-25% of the tank's water. As with the reduced feeding schedule described above, this is another way of ensuring that toxin levels don't get too high before the bacteria has a chance to grow. If you have a saltwater tank, don't forget to add a suitable amount of marine salt every time you change the water to keep the tank at a proper salinity.  Don't use chlorinated water — this can kill the bacteria in the tank, forcing the cycle to start over. If using tap water, make sure to treat it with an appropriate dechlorinator or water conditioner before adding it to your aquarium. If using bottled water, make sure to buy distilled water, as "purified" or "drinking" water may have minerals added for taste that may be harmful to fish. Be ready to perform water changes much more frequently if you start to see signs of serious ammonia stress in your fish (more information below in the "Solving Common Problems" section.) However, try to avoid stressing the fish by exposing them to big changes in water chemistry or temperature. When you add fish to your tank, the levels of toxic chemicals known as ammonia and nitrites will quickly rise as the fish release waste into the water. As beneficial bacteria begin to grow in response to these chemicals, their levels will gradually drop to near-zero, at which point it's safe to add more fish. To monitor these chemicals, you can use commercially-available test kits, which are usually sold at the same places fish and aquariums are. Testing daily is ideal, but you can sometimes get away with testing every few days.  You will want to keep ammonia levels below 0.5 mg/L and nitrite below 1 mg/L throughout the cycling process (ideally, they should be less than half of these values.) If these chemicals start to approach unsafe levels, increase the frequency of your water changes. The cycling process is complete when both ammonia and nitrite levels drop so low that they are undetectable. For practical purposes, this is often referred to as "zero," though this isn't technically accurate. As an alternative, you can take water samples to the pet store where you bought your fish or aquarium. Most will offer cheap testing services (some even do it for free!) The cycling process typically takes about six to eight weeks. Once ammonia and nitrite levels are so low that they aren't showing up on your tests, you may add more fish. However, you'll want to do this gradually, introducing just one or two new new fish at once. Adding just a few fish at a time keeps the increased amount of ammonia and nitrites in the tank from each new addition well within the ability of the bacteria to control. After each addition of new fish, wait at least a week or so, then test the water once more. If ammonia and nitrite levels are still low, you may add your next few fish.
أسس حوضك المائي ونظام الترشيح. أدخل عددًا صغيرًا من الأسماك القوية إلى الحوض. أطعم الأسماك بشكلٍ مقتصد. قم بتغيير الماء باستمرار. استخدم لوحات اختبارٍ لمراقبة مستوى السموم. أضف أسماكًا إضافيةً بالتدريج عندما تقترب مستويات السموم من الصفر.