Cycling Your Aquarium: The Nitrogen Cycle 06/27/2017 As fish eat and excrete digested food, they release ammonia into their environment. Ammonia can also be built up by decaying plant matter if you have a live-planted aquarium. This ammonia is toxic and must be converted into a non-toxic form- this is where the importance of filtration and a cycled tank comes in. As the filter brings in water, bacteria within it will convert the ammonia present into nitrites, which is even more toxic than ammonia. Then the beneficial bacteria that has built up
As fish eat and excrete digested food, they release ammonia into their environment. Ammonia can also be built up by decaying plant matter if you have a live-planted aquarium. This ammonia is toxic and must be converted into a non-toxic form- this is where the importance of filtration and a cycled tank comes in. As the filter brings in water, bacteria within it will convert the ammonia present into nitrites, which is even more toxic than ammonia. Then the beneficial bacteria that has built up
