Cycling and heavy bio load.

[terror]

Hi,

Just wondering , is it possible to cycle a tank with heavy bio load?
and once or twice huge daily water change to keep ammonia down.
also when doing water change to bring ammonia/nitrite to almost 0. will this affect the cycling process?

thanks.

 

[Rbishop]

There shouldn't be a reason to cycle the tank with a heavy bio-load unless something has gone very wrong, or the person wasn't well informed before starting up a tank.

The water changes, size and frequency, will be based on your testing. Keep ammonia and nitrites less than .25 ppm.

Even if your kit reads zero there is still some levels there if there are fish in the tank.

 

[southpaw]

If you do a fishless cycle and dose ammonia to 4-5ppm then it will produce enough good bacteria to handle a heavy bio load .....but if you are going to cycle with fish it would be easier to start with a few and then just add one or two a week to increase to bio load slowly.Doing it this way wont be putting alot of extra strain on the cycle that would make you have to resort to large water changes daily to keep the fish safe

 

[gvildawg]

Live plants and using Eco-Complete will increase your margin for error as well.

 

[jm1212]

if you do end up having to cycle (or re-cycle) a fully stocked tank, be prepared to do very frequent large water changes.

 

[blasterman_]

Water chages during a cycle *increase* the duration of the cycle. By changing out water you are starving the bacteria colonies you are trying to establish so they won't grow as fast - it's common sense. You will eventually hit equilibrium with aggresive water changes, but it will simply take longer.

However, you can't have ammo levels the saturation of tile cleaner because it's stressfull to most fish. So, it's a balancing act with water changes during the initial cycle. Cycling your tank with fish that can tolerate high ammo/nitrite levels is probably the most ideal way to go, but it sounds like you're already commited with the fish you have.

 

[terror]

thanks , my ph crashed a month ago. my tank is fully loaded.
so i'm currently cycling with a heavy load.

mmmm would cycling the sump only work?

 

[Marinemom]

Water changes will have no negative effect on your cycle. The bacteria needed to support life in the aquarium is being produced very quickly. It might take a bit longer but the safety of the fish is the most important when cycling with fish. Just do the water changes as needed to keep the levels of ammonia and nitrites below .25 or as close to 0 as possible during the cycle. If the tank has been up and running for a while or was previously an established tank, the cycle may not take as long as the original cycle when the tank was first set up.

Marinemom

 

[terror]

thanks my tank is recycling. after ph crash which killed off all the bacteria.