Losing the cycled bacteria?

[howmanyds]

In theory, if I cycle to 2ppm ammonia and then put in my tank a few tiny fry and some juvie shell-dwellers which make at most .01ppm ammonia, do I lose all that bacteria that was grown to handle the remaining 1.99ppm?

Also, in such a situation, if I'm not quite cycled (there are about 0.1ppm nitrites left) can I drop my fish in and not worry about the remaining bit of nitrites since cycling to 2ppm ammonia is probably overkill? (I would do a 95% PWC first, of course).

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Great questions! I'll be following along to hear the answers.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

In theory, if I cycle to 2ppm ammonia and then put in my tank a few tiny fry and some juvie shell-dwellers which make at most .01ppm ammonia, do I lose all that bacteria that was grown to handle the remaining 1.99ppm?

Also, in such a situation, if I'm not quite cycled (there are about 0.1ppm nitrites left) can I drop my fish in and not worry about the remaining bit of nitrites since cycling to 2ppm ammonia is probably overkill? (I would do a 95% PWC first, of course).

Hello how...

Fry won't survive long in a tank with traces of either ammonia or nitrite in their water. If you want to cycle your tank using fish as the source for ammonia, then you need adult fish and hardy ones. Female Guppies, Rasboras, White Clouds, Zebra Danios, Platys and Swordtails are some of the hardiest. Use them at 3 to 4 for every 10 gallons of water.

If you cycle with fish, you test the water daily for ammonia and nitrite. If you get a positive test, you change 25 percent of the water, but no more. The plan is to grow the good bacteria that will use these forms of nitrogen for food. If you change out too much water you remove the food for the bacteria and they don't grow. You test daily and remove water when needed. When several daily tests show no ammonia or nitrite, the tank is cycled.

B

 

[howmanyds]

Thanks, however, that's not exactly what I'm asking. I've been cycling with ammonia. I'm nearly at the end: that is, I have 2ppm of ammonia processed down to 0 in 24 hours. The nitrites are NEARLY all processed down to 0.1ppm.

The question is: if my bacteria levels are such that they can handle ALL of the 2ppm of ammonia and NEARLY all of the nitrites, then wouldn't they be able to handle the small amount of ammonia and nitrites that come from a batch of three-week old fry and a handful of 1" shell-dwellers (7 to be exact)?

And the other question was this: if I have enough bacteria for 2 ppm of ammonia yet when I stop adding ammonia and put in fish instead, they make LESS than 2 ppm of ammonia, won't those extra bacteria die off?

 

[BBradbury]

Tank Cycling

Thanks, however, that's not exactly what I'm asking. I've been cycling with ammonia. I'm nearly at the end: that is, I have 2ppm of ammonia processed down to 0 in 24 hours. The nitrites are NEARLY all processed down to 0.1ppm.

The question is: if my bacteria levels are such that they can handle ALL of the 2ppm of ammonia and NEARLY all of the nitrites, then wouldn't they be able to handle the small amount of ammonia and nitrites that come from a batch of three-week old fry and a handful of 1" shell-dwellers (7 to be exact)?

And the other question was this: if I have enough bacteria for 2 ppm of ammonia yet when I stop adding ammonia and put in fish instead, they make LESS than 2 ppm of ammonia, won't those extra bacteria die off?

Hello again how...

Fry won't be able to tolerate even a trace of nitrite in their water. The water in an extremely healthy tank will test out at "0" for ammonia and nitrite and nitrates in the 10 to 20 ppm range. If you want to put in some fish in water with a trace of nitrite in it, then chose one or some of the very hardy fish I suggested in my earlier post, but not fry.

The bacteria will grow in relation to the amount of food in the tank. If your tank is cycled, all you need to do is change the tank water regularly to maintain stable water conditions.

B

 

[threnjen]

In theory, if I cycle to 2ppm ammonia and then put in my tank a few tiny fry and some juvie shell-dwellers which make at most .01ppm ammonia, do I lose all that bacteria that was grown to handle the remaining 1.99ppm?

No. In lab studies, the nitrifying bacteria can live for months without food, and immediately return to their previous activity when supplied with food. However the studies I have read center around the ammonia-eating bacteria, so it would still be prudent to stock gradually if you decide to add more fish in case the nitrite-eating bacteria are not so resilient.

Also, in such a situation, if I'm not quite cycled (there are about 0.1ppm nitrites left) can I drop my fish in and not worry about the remaining bit of nitrites since cycling to 2ppm ammonia is probably overkill? (I would do a 95% PWC first, of course).

Yes, as you've noted, your tank is 99% likely fine to support your stock.

 

[Caliban07]

Thanks, however, that's not exactly what I'm asking. I've been cycling with ammonia. I'm nearly at the end: that is, I have 2ppm of ammonia processed down to 0 in 24 hours. The nitrites are NEARLY all processed down to 0.1ppm.

The question is: if my bacteria levels are such that they can handle ALL of the 2ppm of ammonia and NEARLY all of the nitrites, then wouldn't they be able to handle the small amount of ammonia and nitrites that come from a batch of three-week old fry and a handful of 1" shell-dwellers (7 to be exact)?

And the other question was this: if I have enough bacteria for 2 ppm of ammonia yet when I stop adding ammonia and put in fish instead, they make LESS than 2 ppm of ammonia, won't those extra bacteria die off?

They will die off eventually but it will be a long process.

 

[howmanyds]

Thanks!!

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

I could be wrong, but I think if you want to keep the bacteria high after adding your fry that you could just put extra food in the tank every few days.