Question About Nitrifying Bacteria

[aquaristcpa]

I'm in the middle of a fishless cycle on a 5 gallon Fluval Spec. I have 0ppm ammonia, 1ppm nitrItes, and 10ppm nitrAtes. I "feed" the tank 4 ppm of pure ammonia a day.

My question is how long the bacteria can survive without ammonia? I have to take a last minute trip which is 4 days long and have no way of dosing my tank with ammonia over that time. I started cycling my tank on Jan 26, and I just in the last week finally started getting my nitrites reading, so needless to say I'd hate to have to basically start all over since it's taken nearly 2 months to get to where I'm at.

I have a betta who currently lives in a one gallon bowl (I got the Fluval as an upgrade for him), but I'm reluctant to stick him in there while the cycle's still not 100% complete. If I put a vacation feeder in my tank, would that produce enough ammonia to prevent the bacteria from dying off for the 4 days (it's actually more like 3.5 days) I'm gone?

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Ian086]

I'm in the middle of a fishless cycle on a 5 gallon Fluval Spec. I have 0ppm ammonia, 1ppm nitrItes, and 10ppm nitrAtes. I "feed" the tank 4 ppm of pure ammonia a day.

My question is how long the bacteria can survive without ammonia? I have to take a last minute trip which is 4 days long and have no way of dosing my tank with ammonia over that time. I started cycling my tank on Jan 26, and I just in the last week finally started getting my nitrites reading, so needless to say I'd hate to have to basically start all over since it's taken nearly 2 months to get to where I'm at.

I have a betta who currently lives in a one gallon bowl (I got the Fluval as an upgrade for him), but I'm reluctant to stick him in there while the cycle's still not 100% complete. If I put a vacation feeder in my tank, would that produce enough ammonia to prevent the bacteria from dying off for the 4 days (it's actually more like 3.5 days) I'm gone?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi, you could try, if possible, getting some 'hardy' fish to maintain the cycle. I used Danio's in my Fishin Cycle. All are well and still alive. I re-homed them after. You could try using a couple of vacation feeders. Hopefully librarygirl might join the thread or you could PM her. She is great with all things cycling...

 

[xxwolfpackof1xx]

I generally disagree with fish in cycle as an alternative you could definitely try the weekend feeders or throw a healthy amount of food in the tank. I feel a couple of weekend feeder blocks or a 7 day one would do the trick. Seeing as you'll only be gone for four day I think you'll be completely fine using food to keep the cycle going.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

If you dose as you leave and dose as soon as you get back then the cycle will be fine. Is the betta in a cycled tank? If not I would be more worried about him going that long without a water change. The new tank is probably cycled enough to add the betta. They don't produce very much waste and it looks like your cycle is far enough along to be converting a sufficient amount of nitrite to nitrate.

 

[nativenuyorker]

To the pro's, will adding a dead store brought shrimp (in a stocking) help to keep the cycling going. It worked well for me?

 

[Ian086]

To the pro's, will adding a dead store brought shrimp (in a stocking) help to keep the cycling going. It worked well for me?

It would but i tried to cycle with one and it stunk the house after 4hrs!!!.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

It would but by the time the shrimp started to break down enough to produce a significant amount of ammonia the OP would just about be back. The bacteria can live for a few days without food. They will be fine for 3 IMHO.