Can a temperature change kill off nitrifying bacteria?

[WaterBaby]

The reason I am posting this is I have a empty cycled tank that has no heater (broke). I do not have a spare heater and will not have one till at least the weekend.

The water is "COLD". It's around 64 degrees. The temp in the tank has always been around 76-78 degrees.

Will this kill off all or any of the nitrifying bacteria in the tank/filter?

 

[blitzen25bm]

they will slow down and reproduce less

 

[aquariumfishguy]

They will grow slower and like the above poster said, wont reproduce as quickly as they would in a warm "tropical aquarium". As for killing off the colony? nah....not at 64 degrees because remember, in the grand scheme of things 64 degrees is really NOT "cold".

 

[delmore]

Originally posted by WaterBaby
Will this kill off all or any of the nitrifying bacteria in the tank/filter?

No, but starving the bacteria will, and/or not running the filter.

I added a bit of food twice a week to an empty tank that had the filter running. It was like that for a month, and I tested it, no nitrite or nitrate. I just added neons and two cory's this evening.

 

[WaterBaby]

Filter's running, and I'm going to keep feeding the tank until I get a new heater (and new fish).