How Long Will The Bacteria Last...

[wreckster]

My tank has just completed its fishless cycle but I am going on holiday for a week on Saturday. I don't want to add fish to the tank at this stage as I will not be able to monitor the water quality. Tank is approx 94litres (36"x12"x15"), tetratec EX700 filter and a few plants, some of which the leaves have browned and broken off.

How long do you think the bacteria will last without being fed ammonia/nitrite?

You can see my notes and water quality/fishless cycle here --> http/spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pFt...UpbaA&hl=en

 

[Miss Wiggle]

bacteria will start to die off after 24hrs, i'm afraid if left with no food source after a week you'll be back to square one or not far off there

is it possible to get a friend/neighbour to call in and 'feed' the bacteria will ammonia every day?

if not then i'd suggest getting an automatic feeder and rigging this up to drop some fish food (crumbled up flake is best for this purpose) into the tank every day. this will provide some ammonia for the bacteria. When you got home you'd need to do a big water change, vac up the food from the floor of the tank and then add 5ppm of ammonia and monitor things. You may find you're back a few days in the cycle and that the ammonia and nitrite are not entirley processed in 12 hrs, but it should just take a short while more of cycling (couple of days or maybe a week) and you'll be back where you were before the hols.

 

[wreckster]

Thanks Miss Wiggle. Ididn't think they would last long.

i will start the fishless cycle again when I get back and take it from there. Easiest of all the options without having to give the keys to the neighbours.

 

[paul_219]

Most probably the bacteria will die in 24 hours and may cause fish to die because some fish do need bacteria to live.

 

[wreckster]

Most probably the bacteria will die in 24 hours and may cause fish to die because some fish do need bacteria to live.

Thanks Paul, but there is no fish in the tank.

No fish were harmed in the making of this thread!

 

[rabbut]

But to add, if fish were in there, they would be producing the ammonia to support the bacteria in question

In theory, bacteria will last a few weeks without food before seeing any significat die-off. In practice though, they can go far less lengths of time, as in the real world the other contitions aren't ideal either.

I doubt you'd be back to square one after a week away, you'd mebe get a mini-cycle IMO The safest thing to do is what you are planning to do and start as though fishless cycling again once you get back.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[locust267]

When did your cycle finish?

Could you not add some fish to the tank to keep it going whilst you are away? Possibly not the safest idea but would keep some of the bacteria alive.

Or how about dropping in a prawn or something that would slowly break down and feed the ammonia, would that work?

Vicki

 

[vinylman]

It may be worth your while to buy a cheap automatic feeder, just to drop a little food in every day.

 

[fishyness0809]

IMO, I would suggest adding a couple of hardy fish and getting you a automatic fish feeder, as for the fish i would get three platies (1m/2f) they are pretty hardy and you wouldnt worry about ruining your cycle.

 

[waterdrop]

I was in this same situation - definately didn't want to add fish yet - and I found it much easier to just have one of the neighbor children come over and put the squirts of ammonia in. They rather liked the responsibility and learning about the bacteria and did a good job. Don't know your situation with neighbors, but this worked very well for me.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[wreckster]

Thanks all for the replies.

As much as I would like to add fish now, I'm not 100% that the cycle has completed fully as the nitrites have just spiked, and I would need another 2 days of tests and adding ammonia before I was happy putting any fish in this tank.

Unfortunatley, there is noone close enough to us to come in and add the ammonia for us, so I will go for a fishless cycle again when we return and see what happens from there. Hopefully it wont take much to get it restarted

 

[waterdrop]

In that case it would be best to follow MW's advice and be sure to add fish food flakes right before you leave. Best would be an automatic feeder that added them several times, but even if you don't have time to set that up, leaving a bunch of flakes in there will prolong the feeding of the bacteria for a time during the week -- you may find that the bacterial die-back is not too bad and will pick back up quickly when you return and begin adding ammonia again.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Corleone]

Go buy some cocktail shrimp and put them in nylon stockings and drop one or two in. Some people let them rot in their tanks to produce ammonia when you can't get the right bottled stuff.

 

[waterdrop]

good idea Corleone! I think I've heard other members say that shrimp can last a little longer rotting than fish flakes. None of this stuff is good when you are home and doing a fishless cycle, but it may be a great solution for this situation of going on holiday with noone to add ammonia for you.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tag2008]

I read a couple of raw prawns would give the same effect.