Question: What is a cycle?

Hi, I'm relatively new to the world of owning an axolotl and I was wondering, what is cycling? I have had an axolotl for about 2-3 months since I got him as a baby from a school project and he seems to be okay in the tank they way it is now, and when I first set it up I put the water in and let it sit for a little over a day to get the chlorine out and he seems to have no problems, but I have seen many people talking about cycling and was wondering if I did something wrong? I am planning on getting some sand soon, and maybe some plants but I don't know what ones, and setting up my filter so I figured now might be a good time to "cycle". Thanks for any advice you can give! Also sorry for the long post :/

Hey there DarkWolf649, welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of axolotls. :happy:
Tank cycling is the process of ensuring that your tank filter has all the good bacteria required to deal with the waste that your axolotl is going to produce. Rather than typing everything out here I will just attach several links for you to look through.
Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity
Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
Silly Axolotls

I am relatively new to axolotls myself, I only got my first few in February/March this year. I now have 6, they are quite addictive. The three sites I have linked you to, plus the forum here, are the sources that I used when dealing with setting up my tanks etc.
It is important to use dechlorinator with your water as this deals with chloramines and heavy metals in the water, not just chlorine. It is also important to have a water testing kit to monitor your tank. I use the API master test kit. It is not awfully cheap, but the number of tests it contains makes it good value for money. Liquid test kits are also more accurate than the dip strips.
Anyway, please read through the links/sites and get back to us with any questions.
Best of luck.

As for plants, I've attached a link to a previous thread which is very helpful.
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be.../105089-what-plants-dont-mind-cold-water.html

And if you want a step-by-step guide of tank cycling, here is a link to a fish forum that I have used. It describes fishless cycling using ammonia. For an axolotl tank increase the ammount of ammonia to 4ppm instead of the 3ppm described for the fish.
FISHLESS CYCLING - HOW TO DO IT | Think Fish Tropical Aquarium Forum

Please keep us posted on your progress and feel free to ask any questions. There are a lot of very experienced keepers/breeders (not me) on this forum and they are an excellent source of information, advice and experience. They are very friendly and have helped a lot of us who have been in your position of new owner. :happy: