View Full Version : Cycling with cold water?
CHINABOY1021
06-28-2003, 1:55 PM
is it possible to fishless cycle a tank in fair cold water? i got a 10 g sitting in my basement, can i cycle without heater?
thanks
thom336
06-28-2003, 2:02 PM
Shouldnt be a problem - may take a little longer, with the heat probably usually speeding things up. Not to sure though, but all the same it should cycle fine.
Hebdizzle
06-28-2003, 2:24 PM
unless you are doing a coldwater tank, you will need a heater eventually (unless you have a fish room that you plan on putting the tank in later) so why not just buy a heater right now? It will lessen the time needed to cycle your tank and is needed later anyways.
aaron
anonapersona
06-28-2003, 10:51 PM
There are some limits to temps that the bacteria will be active.
How cold are you talking about?
From wetmanNY's recent thread here, we know the bacteria's optimum is ~84-84F, so anything below that will be slower than optimum.
What temp is the tank going to operate? If tropical, then it should be cycled at tropical temps or at bacterial optimum.
CHINABOY1021
06-29-2003, 12:27 AM
okay thanks for the info guys.
i guess i just had the urge to rush the cycle by cycling an unused 10 in my basement. since i havent got my tank yet, with the heater.
i guess i can wait a week until i can just cycle the main tank.
btw, about a week ago, i've already added some ammonia to the cold 10g. now my ammonia is around 6 (yes, i added too much) and my nitrites are at 5.
NJ Devils Fan
07-20-2003, 11:26 AM
That actually would be a good experiment, have two tanks and cycle them, one with no heater and the other at around 85 degrees.
I assume that unless you have converted your basement into a freezer that it shouldn't be that cold overall and probably won't make a huge difference.
NJ Devils Fan
07-20-2003, 4:19 PM
It would be cool to have 3, one at like 40 degrees, one at room temperature, and one at 100 degrees.
riffless
07-21-2003, 8:07 PM
just to see how long it will take, but I figure that with temps in my area at 85-90F, it won't take too long...
Mightyraven
07-23-2003, 1:50 PM
Wouldn't the bacteria die when he adds the heater? I thought I read somewhere once that large temperature changes can have adverse effects on the bacteria.
The rate of change in the temperature would be important. Heaters usually do not bring the water up that fast.
At 40F, the bacteria will not grow, period.
At normal room temperature they will, but not at optimum.
At 100F the bacteria would be well above their optimum (~85F), and oxygenation would be a potential issue.