Taking A Holiday With A Partially Cycled Tank

[travelling-guppy]

Hello all. I am new to this tropical fish world. Having read around the subject a bit I started by cycling my tank using the add and wait method described on this site. It was hard not to buy lots of shiny, little fish from the shop but I want to do this right.
I now have no ammonia for the first time (Hurray) but nitrates still off the scale. I am going out of town for 10 days in a week or two and I am not sure how to leave the tank to keep the colonies of bacteria that I will have painstakingly built up. Any ideas or will I have to start from scratch when I return.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Katty]

Welcome! Good job starting out on the right track!

You could put a tied off nylon stocking or mesh bag in the tank with a DEAD cocktail/jumbo shrimp in it (the kind you eat, if you have a grocery with a seafood counter you can get just one or two shrimp, if you don't want to buy a whole frozen bag of shrimp), it should decay slowly over time and feed the tank with ammonia for the time you are gone.

You didn't say how big your tank is, but I'm assuming it's not humongous and that one shrimp should do for the week or so you're gone.

 

[travelling-guppy]

Thanks. That sounds like a good idea. My tank is tiny - 23 litres, so would one or two shrimp do?

 

[Katty]

Yeah, I think one shrimp would be OK for the time you're gone as long as its one of those big shrimps

 

[waterdrop]

The assumption here I guess is that you can't convince a friend or neighbor to come in and dose the tank. Dosing the tank once every other day would keep the bacteria at about their current level but would not have the big stink of the decayed prawn when you came back. But assuming you can't or don't want to have a dosing person, the prawn should also work out ok. WD

 

[travelling-guppy]

Thanks. Yes I thought about getting my Dad to come around and do it but I am struggling to convince my family about fishless cycling. They think I should just get some fish and stuff them in and let them get on with it. I haven't managed to persuade them that I haven't completely lost the plot with all my potions and drops. If I can persuade someone that I am not clinically insane, how often should the tank be dosed with ammonia? The ammonia levels are currently going from 5ppm to zero in 24 hrs and the nitrites are still off the scale.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[Katty]

Make sure it's someone you can trust and understands what you're trying to do, otherwise I can imagine them thinking they're wasting their time and not bothering, or thinking, hey, that didn't look like enough lets just dump half the bottle in!

Ideally the tank would be dosed every day, since the tank is processing the ammonia every 24 hours now. You don't want the bacteria to sit around for a day or two without being supplied ammonia, taking the chance that there might be some die off. And if you think about it, you're simulating fish with the ammonia. Fish are always giving off ammonia, not every two or three days, so it would be best to replicate the conditions in which you're aiming for.

Of course it'd be perfect if you could get someone to dose your tank daily. I can't say though if it would be better if you could only get someone to come every other day and dose the tank with ammonia or to just leave the shrimp in there to decay.

 

[travelling-guppy]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will go with the big prawn idea.
Cheers.

 

[roadmaster]

Would not use Jumbo prawn for 23 L tank. Tank will be a toxic soup when you return.
Would maybe consider a couple small cocktail shrimp.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Sounds like a sign of true dedication, going by the thread title, taking a cycling tank on holiday with you!

 

[waterdrop]

everybody thought I was insane too, I loved it! You get to be the professor in the Back to the Future movie. Hang in there traveler. Good advice from roadmaster there, don't overdo it. WD