My 75 g reef tank crashed last month (lost filtration -> no o2) I pulled the three fish and what little coral survived, emptied the tank and stored the 100+ lbs of rock in a bin outside (dry). When i decided to set the tank back up i went fresh, way to much money gone to restart the reef. Here is my question: I scrubbed the tank under the faucet water to prep, placed it in the tank and filled it with tap. Next day i added the dechlor, threw in some market shrimp to decay for a few days to start off the cycle. Never had any ammonia or nitrite readings, tested daily for two weeks. I have always read the fresh and salt bacteria are different but if this is the case how could it be i never got any type of ammonia spike? held the shrimp in the tank for four days, it stunk like hell when i removed it but never any readings. Looks to me as if the bacteria survived in the core of the rocks. FYI used on about 40 lbs, have 60 lbs available for free pick up in socal
Bacteria Questions
- Thread starter Pburstrom
- Start date
I doubt that the bacteria survived in the rock and the switch to fresh water. I don't think you left the shrimp in long enough. I would put them back in and keep them in for a few weeks.
Checked the nitrates 2-3 ppm, hard for me to distinguish the subtle shades. The test kit is realtively new and the results (NH3/NH4+ and NO2) are confirmed by the LFS. The rock is relatively dense fiji for the most with some marshal island thrown in. Common"curing" process is to spray the rocks wth sw while waiting for all the nasties to die, seems possible the bacteria could have survived. Does anyone know if it is absolutely certain the bacteria from FW and SW are different?
bacteria is very sensitive a change in water temp can kill it so I would a month out side dry probley would also
but there all diferent type of bacteria so are hardier then others and not as sensitive no two tanks have the same groups of bacteria because bacteria competes with other bacteria for food and some die off as other grow you could set up two tanks the same in every way with all the same things and they mould not have the same bacteria with out the bacteria there is no nitrogen cycle and with out the nitrogen cycle there is dead fish
your bacteria maybe alive I highly doubt it even if so do you realy want to risk your fishes health just because you have nothing better to do
but there all diferent type of bacteria so are hardier then others and not as sensitive no two tanks have the same groups of bacteria because bacteria competes with other bacteria for food and some die off as other grow you could set up two tanks the same in every way with all the same things and they mould not have the same bacteria with out the bacteria there is no nitrogen cycle and with out the nitrogen cycle there is dead fish
your bacteria maybe alive I highly doubt it even if so do you realy want to risk your fishes health just because you have nothing better to do
it seems unlikely anything lived from your rock beneficial bacteria require h2o and o2 to live and neither of these conditions were met ,since you say you have nitrates you probably
have created a quick cycle with the shrimp i've done it before but to be on the safe side get a couple of fish suitable for cycling , 3 spotted gourama .zebra danios .
have created a quick cycle with the shrimp i've done it before but to be on the safe side get a couple of fish suitable for cycling , 3 spotted gourama .zebra danios .
even if it did the chance it would go from full salt to full fresh is ZEROfishnutham;630222; said:
I would try to get you hands on some pure ammonia, i bought a gal from a chemical supply house last year, this is what i bought
i have cycled 3 tanks with it so far,
add drops untill your water tests .5-.75 ppm when it cycles to nitrate in about 24 hours it is ready.
it seems unlikley that the bacteria colony would survive but not impossible
what about your filter?
it is wintertime, if the rocks remained slightly damp outside, who knows.. they may have pulled through
if you have not seen a ammonia spike and are reading 20 - 30 ppm nitrates after 2 weeks it just may be cycled
get your hands on some pure ammonia, that is probably the only way to be sure (w/o using a goldfish or some such as that)
i have cycled 3 tanks with it so far,
add drops untill your water tests .5-.75 ppm when it cycles to nitrate in about 24 hours it is ready.
it seems unlikley that the bacteria colony would survive but not impossible
what about your filter?
it is wintertime, if the rocks remained slightly damp outside, who knows.. they may have pulled through
if you have not seen a ammonia spike and are reading 20 - 30 ppm nitrates after 2 weeks it just may be cycled
get your hands on some pure ammonia, that is probably the only way to be sure (w/o using a goldfish or some such as that)