Known as the nitrogen cycle, ALL new aquariums have to go through a biological cycling process which stabilizes the system. Learn about the important role this process plays in keeping saltwater and reef tank systems functioning properly, how it works, how long it takes, the many ways you can choose to cycle an aquarium.
FAQ - Biological Cycle and Using Biozyme? Answer to a question about the biological cycle and using Biozyme tank starter.
FAQ - What is the biological cycle and how does it work? An explanation of what the biological cycle is and how it works in a saltwater aquarium.
FAQ - Should I do a water change while my aquarium is cycling? -FAQ - Find the answer, here.
Participate in this poll created by your About Guides to tell them and other aquarists what main source of biological filration your system runs on, or just view the polling results to get a consensus on which type is most often chosen.
From your Guides Featured Articles Archive, a simple to understand explanation of what the nitrogen or biological cycle is and how it works to keep your aquarium functioning properly.
You hear people talking about their "Biological Filter" a lot, but do you really know what it is? The answer may surprise you. You probably have more biological filtration in your tank than you know.<
Methods on how to speed up the nitrogen cycling process by seeding a new saltwater aquarium with some mature bacteria from various sources.
Participate and view the results of this poll that your About Guides have created to see which methods hobbyists have used most often for cycling a new saltwater aquarium.
From your About Guides Featured Articles Archive, this syndrome can occur whether you have a new tank or a well established one. Find out what causes New Tank Syndrome and how to avoid it.
Here is an easy to use Cause and Solution table to help you determine what caused and the solution for your "New Tank Syndrome".
Many people who live near the ocean want to know if they can use ocean water in their tanks.
Now that your new saltwater aquarium has reached the end of the nitrogen cycling process and completed its task of establishing the beginning of your tank's biological filter base, what do you do next? If you are not careful, you could find yourself back on square one.
If you are planning on cycling a new saltwater aquarium with fish, read these tips from your Guides about making good tank starter fish choices.
If you are an aquarists that does not like to put fish in harms way to cycle a new saltwater aquariums, here is a list of other options from your Guides that you can choose from rather than having to use fish.
From your About Guides How To Set Up a Saltwater Aquarium in 10 Easy Steps article, Step 4 outlines the beginning phase for how to prepare live rock if you are planning on cycling your newly set up aquarium by this method.
Your About Guides explain what live sand is, what type is best used, how much to add, how to add it to a saltwater aquarium, and more about using and buying it to cycle a new tank or enhance the biological filter base of an established one.
Read brief product reviews and compare prices on what your About Guides to Saltwater Aquariums consider to be some to the top nitrifying bacteria starters on the market that can help speed up the cycling process of a newly set up aquarium.
A forums discussion about using dead cocktail type shrimp for cycling a new saltwater aquarium.
From Winston Schoenfeld's Suite101 site, Winston gives a brief outline about the biological/nitrogen cycle, then discusses four of the basic types of filters used for biological filtration; box, undergravel, canister and wet/drys.
From the AMDA Handouts page, John H. Tullock gives step-by-step instructions for using ammonium chloride to cycle a new tank, which prevents risking the health or lives of any livestock to do so!
From Aquatics Unlimited, James Kostich outlines the typical 30 day cycling process, simply breaking it down into the number of days each phase takes place, and accompanies the days with descriptions and colored bar graphs to easily understand this process.
From the Reef Sources Guide section, information about biological filtration and the nitrogen cycle, which includes a really cool animated tank diagram that shows the relative levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in an average 6 week cycle period.
What is the nitrogen cycle? How much is too much ammonia? These questions and others about the nitrogen cycling process are answered in the FINS Beginner FAQs.
