Ammonia breaks down into nitrite and nitrite is further broken down into nitrate. This is the nitrogen cycle.
Before this chapter in my life, I took care of aquatic animals. Fishes, salamanders, frogs, insects, and even a strange order of animals called caecilians.
Taking care of aquatic animals is unlike taking care of terrestrial ones like your dog or cat. The environment the animals live in is akin to the international space station. (Yeah I know, an analogy for an analogy is a clear sign that your analogy is bad. Get ready, my life is full of bad analogies.)
The crew aboard the ISS are kept alive thanks to their life support systems. Aquatic animals are likewise kept alive by life support systems. The wastes produced by these animals are called nitrogenous wastes, they come in the form of ammonia or urea (feces or urine). Many people think that machines can do the bulk of the life support for an aquarium. (Ever header of filters?) But what many don’t realize is that most, if not all of the life support is provided by micro-organisms. A microbiome of “nitrifying” bacteria. But when people fill their brand new aquariums with the freshest and cleanest water. They don’t realize that the good they think they’re doing will harm the new fishes they have waiting. When the fishes go into the aquarium, their environment is sterile. When the fish poop. The ammonia levels rise. No bacteria exist to break down the ammonia. The fish eventually undergo toxic shock and die. This generally occurs within 30-60 days of setting up a fish tank.
To prevent this, the solution is simple. Do not add your fish into the aquarium for 30-60 days until your aquarium grows a microbiome of nitrifying bacteria. Just add something to your aquarium that can decompose (turn into nitrogenous waste), the bacteria are already present and will grow in number. Give the bacteria time, and they will provide your aquarium with a lifetime of health.
I know you’re not here to learn about how to set up an aquarium or to raise fishes. But I bring this process up to raise a point in how I approach new chapters in my life. The process of growing the microbiome of nitrifying bacteria so that life can exist in your aquarium is called “cycling.”
Every new chapter in my life has had a period of “cycling” whether I chose to see it or not. When something new starts I am fresh and excited for this new thing. Soon thereafter, I can quickly become overwhelmed by the mountain of work ahead of me. But eventually I arrive at an equilibrium of work and understanding. From the lessons I learned above, I now try and practice patience and grace at the beginning of a new chapter. Eventually, my microbiome will grow in and I’ll arrive at where I want to be. Regardless of however many showers my girlfriend tells me to take.
Finally, onto our raison d’être ici or reason for being here. I am now starting the Online Capstone Course CS 467. This blog is intentionally written to fulfill an assignment requirement, but is unintentionally serving as my free therapy for the day. I have a lot of mixed emotions for this course, which differ from every other course I’ve taken thus far. Excitement, which is familiar. But also some apprehension. I will be graduating soon and, to be honest I am comfortable with the struggles that I know rather than the future that is unknown. However, I have decided to tackle this with the best strategy I know.
One step at a time
I’ll leave with this. My life support system consists of more than just getting the work done to finish the semester. It consists of friends, family, and my passions. The morning coffee, the homemade kombucha, the billionth Rimworld colony yet to collapse, the unfinished Arduino greenhouse project, and more. If anyone is reading this, I would love to know what your life support system consists of.
That’s one small step,
Robert Behring
