All hobbies start with overwhelming enthusiasm! We are so eager to learn all that we can about whatever it is, then buy all the necessary gear and equipment (most hobbies have the coolest gear and accessories to go along with them!) and dive right in with all the excitement of a 6 year old on Christmas morning! These are the things that make hobbies so much fun! They are generally new to us and open us up to all kinds of new ideas and people, places and things. Your budding hobby has you jumping out of your shorts and you just don’t want to wait another minute to get it completely mastered.
Some hobbies, however, do require some patience – at least at the beginning stages. Gardening is one of those hobbies. You can’t plant your seeds or seedlings one day and then go out the next day or following week and dig them up to replant them because you think they are not growing fast enough. This will surely inhibit their growth, if not kill them in the process. Plants have roots that need to establish themselves in the soil before they can send nourishment to the plant for growth. The soil & roots need time to go through a nitrogen-fixing cycle, or nitrification cycle. It is a natural activity in which nitrogen is processed by bacteria in the soil in order to make it available to the plant for nourishment. This cycling process is also necessary in marine environments in order to create a safe and non-toxic environment for your fish and /or invertebrates. Without the nitrification process completed in your system, you will not be successful at keeping anything alive—it’s a fact.
Patience is needed to allow the beneficial bacteria to populate your biological filters. Generally biological filters are a darkened area like a filter box where no light enters. Bacteria are inhibited by light so a filter box is best for housing the biological filter. It is also an area that will not be disturbed during maintenance because we don’t want cause a bacterial bloom in the aquarium. Once they are established, your biological filters are the foundation in which your hobby can begin.
So, remember these bacteria populations need a lot of food energy to grow so you don’t want to take away any of the ammonia producing elements in your system. The dirty filters, the detritus on the bottom, the slightly cloudy water—these are food producing (ammonia producing) and are just what you want to get those bacteria populations growing! Don’t do any water or filter changes (mechanical or chemical) during the cycling process. You will only be prolonging the cycle by diluting the food source for the bacteria.
This is not a jellyfish specific task. This is what every aquarist—hobbyist or professional, has to deal with all the time. But, once completed properly you can feel confident you have taken the necessary measures creating a safe and healthy home for your new pet jellyfish.
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