Bacteria Life

[nzafi]

My rhom died and now I have a 180g tank sitting empty. Trying to decide if I stay in the hobby and what fish to get. How long can my tank sit empty before the bacteria starts dying? What can I do to keep it alive?

I have left the filters and heaters running, but I am thinking I don't want to recycle the tank a week from now. Thoughts? My rhom died yesterday so it has been about 24hrs already. He also did not produce a ton of waste as he had not eaten in 6 weeks.

 

[Angelphish]

I have a little bottle of ammonia that I use to cycle tanks, but it also works perfectly for what you want to do with it, which is keeping a colony alive. I've been keeping my bacteria in my 20 gallon alive with it until it's ready for my breeder pair of Angels. Here's a link (Buy more than one bottle, they're small): https://www.amazon.com/DrTims-Aquat...65834614&sr=8-1&keywords=ammonia+for+aquarium

 

[Oxymus]

Put something that you can easy remove it later, I would say put 1 or 2 cheap goldfishes to keep the tank cycle until you find a new fish.

Edit:
OR go with Stephen method, it's easier and effective.

 

[rsanz85]

You could throw some food in there and let it decompose to keep the bacteria colony fed.

 

[nzafi]

I have some silversides I was thinking of throwing in there. Put them in a filter sock and hang in the tank.

 

[rodger]

Either plain ammonia, fish for or filets. I find ammonia works the best. I buy a qt at hardware store for less than a buck. Make sure it is unscented and soap free.

 

[rodger]

Food not for

 

[MonsterFishCreeper]

Ammonia is the best option as it is highly controllable. Just make sure it's 100% pure ammonia and doesn't have any soaps in it. If you have Ace Hardware where you live, they sell they're own brand of ammonia labeled "Janitorial Strength Ammonia" which is pure.

To be 100% sure just check the ingredients. The only two things in the bottle will be ammonia and water. I dose up to 4ppm ammonia when fishless cycling but since your colony is well established 1ppm will probably be fine depending how heavily you stock the tank. Just make sure to keep adding it as your bacteria convert it over and remember to do a large water change before adding new fish as your nitrates will be very high. Maybe even like a 90% water change and check your levels before adding fish. Good luck!

 

[Angelphish]

I've been feeding that colony 2ppm per day just to be safe. That way I know it will handle the breeding pair I put in it.

 

[nzafi]

Ammonia is the best option as it is highly controllable. Just make sure it's 100% pure ammonia and doesn't have any soaps in it. If you have Ace Hardware where you live, they sell they're own brand of ammonia labeled "Janitorial Strength Ammonia" which is pure.

To be 100% sure just check the ingredients. The only two things in the bottle will be ammonia and water. I dose up to 4ppm ammonia when fishless cycling but since your colony is well established 1ppm will probably be fine depending how heavily you stock the tank. Just make sure to keep adding it as your bacteria convert it over and remember to do a large water change before adding new fish as your nitrates will be very high. Maybe even like a 90% water change and check your levels before adding fish. Good luck!

Thanks for this. How do I calculate the 1ppm for a 180g tank? Never done that before. And should I do this daily, once a week,etc?