Saltwater cycle

Hey there Yash..

The tanks itself does not need a constant ammonia source, or i would not of thought it would not anyway..it will just stay at the level that it was when the cycle finished. It will not die off as long as the system has been kept running..Thats just my thoughts on the matter anyway..

As long as results are all reading correctly, then i would start with one fish..

Niko
 
Hows it going Niko? Hmm ... I guess I stand corrected then. From all that I had read thus far, if you leave a tank without any food source for the bacteria, that they will eventually die off? Just thinking out aloud here ... where would they get their ammonia from to break down since there'd be no fish food not waste from livestock?

Cheers mate!
Yash
 
Well, it is my understanding of bacteria that once a certain bacteria have been created, in our case "Nitrobacter ", that colony will self sustain at the level at which you have created..So, if you used a prawn or shrimp for the cycling processs, the ammonia will create an ammount of nitrobacter that is relative to the ammonia produced, and stay at that level as long as the paramters stay resonably constant like water temp, salinity and flow. If one of the stops...I.E the tank is turned off becuase it is not being used, then it will die, which is the same for any bacteria.

So, because the ammount of ammonia only gets to a certain level and combating nitrobactar raise to the same level to be able to compete, we only stock a fish tank slowly because the bacteria has to in effect catch up, which will then raise to a higher level..

Right then, back to the start, if no more ammonia is being produced, the nitrobacter will stay at the level at which it was when the cycle finished, it should not grow more or deplete any...in theory that is...

Hope this helps a little

Niko
 
Not trying to be argumentative here, this is sort of new information to me so I'm trying to understand the whole concept. Besides, I'm sure this will help someone else if they stumble upon this sticky and are going through the same situation. So, isn't the nitro bacter like any living organism, needing food to stay alive? i.e. if you cut off the food source, which would happen without any fish or fish food creating decaying matter, won't the bacteria slowly die off even if the other tank params that you mentioned above stay the same?

Cheers mate!
Yash
 
Yes, i agree it would, but in a system that is running, it would take a really long time for that to happen...more than what was talked about towards the beginning of this thread..That is why i think Boo should buy a fish and get the system going again..

Niko
 
maybe this is a stupid question as well, but would using nitrite and nitrate reducers to get the numbers down quicker defeat the purpose of the cycle?
 
Boo...There are no such things as stupid questions...It does not matter how stupid or silly you may think a question is, aslways ask...We dont laugh at people ( well, i dont anyways )...

So, in answer to your question..Let nature do its thing, on its own without the use of chemicals if at all possible...There is no real need to be pushing things along, let it all happen under its own steam..As they say, patience is a virtue...

Hope that answers your question mate

Niko
 
yep it does, thanks...i just had some bottles of ammonia and nitrite removers, didn't know if I should put them to use or not.
 
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