What are the many cycles of an aquarium?

[Jkedra]

Hi, I am well aware that a new aquarium goes through many cycles...i am just familiar with the first and foremost, the nitrogen cycle. What are the other cycles that a tank goes through? And also, a timetable would be helpful and please if you can, include some chemistry such as formulas, equations,etc...it would be much easier for me to understand what is really happening...thanks

ex:
1-2 months....
2-4 months...
5-8 months...
etc.

 

[DREUTZ]

As far as timetables, doesn't it all depend on your WC schedule, bioload and overall parameters of your tank so that everyone's initial cycle varies in time? Not too familiar with the other cycles, but I'd assume it followed the same general principle.

 

[Jkedra]

yup I agree with you on all those factors...i would assume that after the nitrogen cycle,you would have to simply monitor your parameters and such...the only thing that I can think of is Hydrogen Sulfide which would also have to be taken care of...which leads me to asking another question...since H2S is produced from dissolved organics, would a skimmer take most of it out?
And I also heard that moving the sand bed around manually can lead to unstable release of gases...but how harmful is it really?

(I move my sand just a little bit every day because my goby makes a mess)