Bacteria Questions

[PMK]

You could pee in the tank. Plenty of ammonia and its free. Just dont do it first thing in the morning(too concentrated).

 

[Bderick67]

I'd throw the shrimp back in. keep testing if ya still see no anmonia or nitrites but your nitrates are increasing then you are in business.

 

[RadleyMiller]

typo sorry nitrates between 20 and 30

ok, now we are talking

 

[Pburstrom]

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

"Nothing better to do" vanilla put together a competent sentence, or better yet a coherent thought, then you MAY be qualified to be obnoxious. I have been keeping fish, both fresh and salt for nearly thirty years. I take care of my wards. I would not take any life lightly.

 

[Dr Joe]

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

WOW...Did you take a breath in that sentence? Just to the left of the forward slash is a very useful key, watch ...

:j/k:

But where did you get the idea Pburstom had nothing better to do? I think that hurt...

Dr Joe

.

 

[Dr Joe]

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

Don't see many people using the shrimp method for F/W anymore (I used crushed clams myself) since all the bacteria in a bottle came out (they don't smell near as bad or as messy )

I rather doubt the bacteria came from the rock. but. if you really want to be sure thro some of the other rock in another tank or bucket and see if it cycles with a few drops of pure ammonia.

What kind of filter are you using?

Did you do any W/Cs while waiting for the cycle?

Nitrates had to come from somewhere that's for sure...

Keep us posted.

Dr Joe

.

 

[RadleyMiller]

Don't see many people using the shrimp method for F/W anymore (I used crushed clams myself) since all the bacteria in a bottle came out (they don't smell near as bad or as messy )

I rather doubt the bacteria came from the rock. but. if you really want to be sure thro some of the other rock in another tank or bucket and see if it cycles with a few drops of pure ammonia.

What kind of filter are you using?

Did you do any W/Cs while waiting for the cycle?

Nitrates had to come from somewhere that's for sure...

Keep us posted.

Dr Joe

.

Pburstrom, add some ammonia to the tank and see if it dissapears, I mean gets made into nitrates. If this happens, then the tank is cylced.

 

[Pburstrom]

No wc while waiting, my filter is cheap little via aqua canister (used that as supplemental filtraion/water movement in th sw) I think I will try a little H2O in a bucket. Two weeks just seems oddly short to cycle. As for the shrimp cycling, been doing that for most of the 30 years I have been keeping fish. Seems to work well for me. I have tried the bacteria in a bottle with mixed results, shrimp never fails.

 

[Dr Joe]

If it works for you, that's what counts, and at 30 yrs should just about know for sure if it does.

I used crushed clams for about the same amount of time, but switched to bottle bacteria about 10yrs ago for the ease of use and lack of smell.

Your right, 2wk cycling does seem a little short for the shrimp thing.

Keep us posted on the results,

Dr Joe

.

 

[vanilla__gorilla__]

"Nothing better to do" vanilla put together a competent sentence, or better yet a coherent thought, then you MAY be qualified to be obnoxious. I have been keeping fish, both fresh and salt for nearly thirty years. I take care of my wards. I would not take any life lightly.

I was only messing around when I posted that.