The study you have linked was undertaken in a controlled environment under controlled circumstances, after oganism starvation periods ranging from a few hours, up to 35 days if memory serves. The final 7 paragraphs of that study, from a laymans's point of view, appear to reflect 'resuscitation' rates and activity taking place slowly, over many hours and days, depending on the length of starvation times, which were relatively short.
There is no indication the efficacy of the nitrifying capability takes place within seconds, but merely that the start of some resuscitation activity begins to be noticed in a short period of time after only a few days of starvation, for example.
Overall, from my understanding of what was being said, and by extrapolating that to the time period of 8 months' of bacteria 'starvation' in the OP's case, as the subject of this thread, the study findings would seem to support what I am saying.
Until such time as the latent bacteria resumed fully resuscitated activity and the necessary reproduced colonization size to deal with the amount of ammonia and nitrites present and being generated, in my view it's not difficult to envision many days of livestock exposure to highly toxic conditions and resulting consequences. A fully completed 'cycle' would need to be established in the tank to produce safe conditions for the livestock.
There is no indication the efficacy of the nitrifying capability takes place within seconds, but merely that the start of some resuscitation activity begins to be noticed in a short period of time after only a few days of starvation, for example.
Overall, from my understanding of what was being said, and by extrapolating that to the time period of 8 months' of bacteria 'starvation' in the OP's case, as the subject of this thread, the study findings would seem to support what I am saying.
Until such time as the latent bacteria resumed fully resuscitated activity and the necessary reproduced colonization size to deal with the amount of ammonia and nitrites present and being generated, in my view it's not difficult to envision many days of livestock exposure to highly toxic conditions and resulting consequences. A fully completed 'cycle' would need to be established in the tank to produce safe conditions for the livestock.