carey
Aquarium Advice Addict
I also have a fw tank that is just running a filter for the last 2 weeks I think. I can't keep track anymore lol.
We'll have some scientific fun with this!
We'll have some scientific fun with this!
bacteria longevity test
- Thread starter James_in_MN
- Start date
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OP
OP
James_in_MN
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Yes, it will definitely be fun, and informative. 
It's information that I didn't find readily available on the internet. Everything I googled claimed that all the bacteria dies off after a week, but there wasn't much in the way of concrete results to back up that assumption.
Now I at least know that you can go for up to two weeks without seeding a cycled or nearly-cycled tank and still have bacteria in the filter. If yours pans out, we could conclude that some of the bacteria culture will still be in the filter media after three weeks.
Keep us posted!
P.S.: I'll be posting what I hope is final results tomorrow, which should also mean that I'll be within a day of stocking my 10g tank.
It's information that I didn't find readily available on the internet. Everything I googled claimed that all the bacteria dies off after a week, but there wasn't much in the way of concrete results to back up that assumption.
Now I at least know that you can go for up to two weeks without seeding a cycled or nearly-cycled tank and still have bacteria in the filter. If yours pans out, we could conclude that some of the bacteria culture will still be in the filter media after three weeks.
Keep us posted!
P.S.: I'll be posting what I hope is final results tomorrow, which should also mean that I'll be within a day of stocking my 10g tank.
OP
OP
James_in_MN
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Found out a few things while getting my 10g ready for inhabitants.
- Although both ammonia and nitrIte eating bacteria can survive a 2 week period, nitrIte bacteria take longer to rev back up again. Ammonia was quickly back to disappearing overnight after dosing the tank, but there seems to be a bit of a lag in consumption of the nitrItes. NitrItes never hit over 2.0ppm, but aren't quickly dropping to 0ppm either.
- Because of my absence while the tank was cycling, I ended up fighting nitrAte levels that were the equivalent of two fishless cycles. My nitrAte levels looked like they hit well over 80 ppm yesterday, and it took several back-to-back water changes just to bring the number under 40 ppm. I'm also of the suspicion that my very high nitrAte levels could have slowed down nitrIte consumption.
Right now, my tests are showing:
0 ppm ammonia
0.5 ppm nitrItes
40 ppm nitrAtes
The tank will finish cycling eventually. Nonetheless, it's been an interesting and informative experiment. It's probably safe for me to say that if you left a cycled tank without fish for a week or stalled out a fishless cycle for a couple of days, you should do a large water change before starting to dose your tank with ammonia so the nitrAte levels don't get too obnoxious.
- Although both ammonia and nitrIte eating bacteria can survive a 2 week period, nitrIte bacteria take longer to rev back up again. Ammonia was quickly back to disappearing overnight after dosing the tank, but there seems to be a bit of a lag in consumption of the nitrItes. NitrItes never hit over 2.0ppm, but aren't quickly dropping to 0ppm either.
- Because of my absence while the tank was cycling, I ended up fighting nitrAte levels that were the equivalent of two fishless cycles. My nitrAte levels looked like they hit well over 80 ppm yesterday, and it took several back-to-back water changes just to bring the number under 40 ppm. I'm also of the suspicion that my very high nitrAte levels could have slowed down nitrIte consumption.
Right now, my tests are showing:
0 ppm ammonia
0.5 ppm nitrItes
40 ppm nitrAtes
The tank will finish cycling eventually. Nonetheless, it's been an interesting and informative experiment. It's probably safe for me to say that if you left a cycled tank without fish for a week or stalled out a fishless cycle for a couple of days, you should do a large water change before starting to dose your tank with ammonia so the nitrAte levels don't get too obnoxious.
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