How long can my cycling tank....

[sanchezkk]

How long can my tank go without adding ammo before I will get dead bacteria?

 

[Luvbugg654]

I would be interested in hearing this answer as well

 

[sanchezkk]

I'm just curious. My wife and I want to take a trip to St. Louis for a 3 day weekend with the kids. I just wanted to know what I'm up against.

 

[Luvbugg654]

It seems as if people tell u to dose every few days. I doses with ammonia to 3 ppm Sunday evening and while my ammonia is now 0-0.25ish my nitrites are a 2-5 so I won't add anymore until those decrease. I cycled with some lr and have since added pure ammonia once but I think after my nitrites come down this time I'm just going to do a pwc and add 2 fish. I think I'm harming my lr more by adding pure ammonia. We will see what happens

 

[EriksFish315]

Throw in a shrimp. That will be enough decaying matter and ammonia for the cycle.

 

[sanchezkk]

But my 4ppm of ammonia is being consumed within 4 hours.

 

[paytertot]

How are your nitrites and nitrates doing?

 

[sanchezkk]

My Nitrites are off the charts and my Nitrates were at about 20 to 40 last I checked.

 

[paytertot]

How fast does the ammonia get converted to nitrate?

 

[sanchezkk]

Just as fast if not faster.

 

[paytertot]

If you have ammonia being converting all the way to nitrates that fast, your cycle ought to be finished I'd think.

 

[MacDracor]

Short answer is that without an ammonia source, the bacteria go dormant for a while before they will actually starve. Three days will be fine. But, a decaying piece of shrimp will give you a better indication of the cycle than just dosing every few days because the ammonia being produced will be constant, but the levels in the tank will not as the cycle progresses.

 

[sanchezkk]

Mac,

Would you please elaborate?

 

[MacDracor]

Lets say on Day 1 you dos pure ammonia. By Day 3, all the ammonia has been converted to Nitrite, but not yet to Nitrate. At this point, the Ammonia eating bacteria have no food and will go dormant. Then you dose again, and it takes one day to convert it all. That means that the ammonia eating bacteria population increased, but then has to go dormant again.
Now, if you add a shrimp, it decomposes at a fairly steady rate, releasing a constant stream of ammonia into the water. You'll know the ammonia eating bacteria population is good when it converts faster than the decaying shrimp releases it i.e., you know the shrimp is rotting, but can detect no ammonia. You're cutting out the dormant period between dosings.
So while you can dose, then leave for three days, the cycle may be faster if there is a constant source.
Does that help?

 

[sanchezkk]

I just don't want to lose it all.

 

[MacDracor]

Well, three days won't kill the cycle. It may stall it for a couple days, but that's all. Your best bet is just to toss in a small piece of uncooked shrimp. I used two pieces of krill recently when cycling my refugium. Worked wonders. I also dosed the tank with Cycle to speed things up, and I had a complete cycle in under two weeks.

 

[sanchezkk]

I have heard some negative talk about putting in a shrimp into a tank.

 

[MacDracor]

Biggest drawback would be the potential for smell. But if you're already so far along in the cycle that ammonia doesn't last more than a day or two, I don't think you'll have a problem. Also, you'll be gone, right?
IMO, it's the easiest way to cycle. Just make sure it's a small piece.