Tropical Fish Forums

[freshigal]

Rationale - Many new fishkeepers pose questions about cycling and the friendly folks on the board refer them to the existing articles on the Nitrogen Cycle and Fishless Cycling. Those articles are comprehensive and well-written. However, they are also quite long and detailed. I decided to try my hand at composing a short article on the whys and hows of cycling in non-technical language. My hope is that the article would meet the needs of beginning fishkeepers who may not have the patience to read the longer articles. I also tried to keep the language simple and consistent for those whose first language is not English.

Please comment on:
1. whether the article is needed
2. whether this version meets its target audience (for language and consistency)
3. has the right amount of information
4. any other aspects you think are relevant

Thanks,

Karen

A Short, Non-Technical Guide to Cycling

You are probably reading this because you just got a new fish tank and have been told you should do something called cycling. This short article will explain why you need to cycle, what may happen if you don

[Michael L.]

The content looks good and I think there is a good amount of content in there.

As for the article being needed, I am not totally sure. It definitely would serve it's purpose- as a beginning guide to those who do not have english as a first language, and it would eliminate some unnecissary posts in the forums. I won't comment on whether it is needed though, as I am not really the target audience for this article.

I would also include some of the exemptions to cycling, like planted tanks. It can be pretty confusing if you don't have a nitrite spike when you are supposed to because you didn't know.
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[freshigal]

Michael, thanks for the feedback. I added some more detail to the section on the Silent Cycle. I ran into the nitrite spike problem with my own tank so I can see where added explanation is useful. When Dusko's article is ready I would like to link to it as well.

Here's why I wrote it. It seems there are a lot of posts from people who have set up their tanks and added fish right away. They come here in a panic because the situation has gone wrong and one of two things happens. One, a helpful person writes a mini-version of this article in a post. Two, a helpful person includes the link to the cycling articles. In the first case, wouldn't it be nice for this article to be available as a shortcut? It could save a lot of time and typing. In the second case, the new fishkeeper may look at the long articles with chemical formulas and get scared off by the complexity. I wanted to fill the gap between the replies in posts and the more in-depth articles. I think the key is to keep it short while still pointing the way to more information.

I also wanted the language to be simple enough for folks who speak English as a second (or third or fourth) language and the younger members of the board. However, I also wanted to avoid sounding condescending or too simplistic.

More comments?

[Dusko]

I agree, we do need more articles about cycling. That is the first step towards fish keeping, then the rest.
I like it. This should ideally be added before Fish-less cycle article that is more technical, just to give the first objective insight.
Yes, the Silent cycle should be linked to this one.

Nice one

Kind regards, Dusko.
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[freshigal]

Thank you for the feedback, Dusko. I didn't want to link to your article until you felt it was ready.

To drum up more feedback I plan to start linking to this draft in my responses to cycling questions. I'd appreciate any additional feedback from members as well.

[freshigal]

^ bump ^

Anyone care to comment? I've made references in posts and people have replied saying that the article was helpful. Is this ready to be marked READY for Marcos' input?

[Dusko]

I believe it is ready. This article is a useful intro.
Maybe this article can be used as a sticky in the4 freshwater basics? Just a thought, because it is linked to the fish-less and silent cycling.

Regards, Dusko.
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[Marcos Avila]

I'm following Dusko's suggestion and placing this as a Sticky in the FW Basics forum. It should help those "community oriented" members who refuse to read any recommended static articles and only pay attention to what people post on message boards

Freshigal, feel free to edit the initial post as you like...
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Success with a fish/tank is measured in YEARS, not months or weeks...

[Miss_DirtyPoo]

Maybe this information is somewhere else and I haven't seen it yet - but I think there should be a bit more of a step-by-step how-to in this post.

I have had feeder goldfish tanks for my entire life, 4 of which lived for 12 years, I've also had bettas, and now I have my first bunch of freshwater tropicals...and I have NO idea how to cycle a tank, and most places I see info about it, the writer assumes that the reader at least has some knowledge about this process.

I feel it is better to write something assuming the reader has absolutely no idea what you're talking about at all, therefore not scrimping on important information.

Point me the right way if there is more info somewhere, though!

[DF Bobo]

this is a shrotened version meant for begginers to understand it more. a full article that you are looking for is here I suggest you read the other articles here[/url]
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