Welcome To Ben's Aquariums!
I have FINALLY updated this web site. I have added a new section on Marine Aquaria. This section will go into great details about keeping anemones and marine fish. My intrest all started about 6 months ago when I converted my 10 gallon fresh water into a wonderfull reef aquarium. That 10 gallon soon turned into a 25 gallon (I have just cycled it as of 8-12-99) Who knows what will be next.
Welcome to my site. Here you will find information on setting up an aquarium and how to keep it healthy. There are lots of things to learn in keeping a healthy aquarium. So I have built this web page in the mind that I am keeping the Aquarium hobby alive. If you have any questions about the site or if you have any questions about an aquarium problem please E-mail me.
Now You can send me a message right from the web page. Please just enter your name and your E-mail address then just type your message below. I will get it instantly. Please send me all of you questions and comments.
Nitrogen Cycle
This is the most important thing you have to understand. (This is why I put this on the first page!!!) The Idea behind filtration is to break down waste products from the fish and food and convert them into harmless products. This process is known as the nitrogen cycle.
Fish excrete ammonia produced by breaking down proteins, mostly through the gills. Ammonia is bad, very very bad. A bacteria know as Nitrosomas converts the ammonia into nitrite. Nitrite is bad but not as bad as ammonia. Then a bacteria know as Nitrobacter converts nitrite into nitrate. Nitrate is good, everyone should like it but not to much. If you have real live plants then they will absorb the nitrate and turn it into oxygen for the fish to breath. It is very very important.
Now you ask "how do I start the Nitrogen cycle". Well that is a good question. Your tank goes through the nitrogen cycle once, when you first set up your tank. But it can sometime take a long time. To start off you should have a tank fill with a substrate (gravel, sand, rock) and water. It should be hooked to a filter. Go to your local pet store and buy some cheap "feeder fish"(cheep because you might kill some fish) they cost about $.25 each. Buy as many as you can the more the faster the nitrogen cycle will complete. Add them to your tank and test the water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates once a week. You will see a big spike of ammonia (you might loose fish that is why you bought cheap fish) then it will diminish then a big spike of nitrite then it will diminish then a big spike of nitrate. After all of that the nitrogen cycle is over.
Now you ask "what do I do with all of these boring gold fish"? Well don't flush them down the toilet. You can take the back to the pet store and they will give you credit for more interesting fish or they will give you your money back.
This is the most important thing you need to know. If you rush this important step it could cost you hundreds of dollars in dead fish. So please take the seriously.
I just started this page so give me a few day to get everything up and running. Right now the Fish Index, Growing Plants section and algae section are all down. I have school to tend to now.
Some information on this page comes from "The complete aquarium problem solver!" by Kevin w. Boyd.
This page is created and managed by Ben Nash.