Question about BB

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wilkinson

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 26, 2009
367
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Upper Uranus
Hi

Here is a very simple question

If a tank is cycled but all the fish are removed from it and filters are left running for a month and a half
will the BB colony still be there ?
 
Yes there will be beneficial bacteria still in the tank. However, their numbers may not be as large as when there were fish in the tank.
 
Hello; My take is that snails and live plants in addition to fish produce waste products (ammonia) which the desired bacteria (bb) feed on and the desired bacteria are desired because the removal of ammonia makes the water more healthy for the fish which is what we want to keep in our tanks. Some have suggested tossing a raw shrimp into a tank to rot as the organisms feeding on the shrimp will also produce ammonia which will feed the bb. The size of the total population of bb spread thruout the tank and filter will depend on the food avaialble to them.
Some have also suggested adding liquid ammonia to feed the bb.
I suppose the tank will have to be considered to need to be somewhat cycled again before adding a number of fish if there has not been a source of ammonia present. The bb may not be present in sufficent numbers to prevent an ammonia spike if a large number of fish are added at one time??
These comments reflect my current understanding. I welcome constructive comments if there are flaws.
 
I agree, if the BB run out of their food source they will die off. I'm not sure how long it would take for them to die off or how long they can survive without food.. Will you still be around your tank for that month and a half. If so you caould dose your tank with ammonia to keep up the colony.
 
If it were my tank i would throw in a few goldies and see what happens, if theres not enough bb they should cause an amonia spike, in which case they should provide enough waste to get the BB started again.
I would do this with goldies first to assure i wasnt putting my beloved fish through the stress and danger of an amonia spike.
Just what i would do lol.
 
If the beneficial bacteria start dying off, that will be a food source for the remaining bacteria. Easiest way to maintain your bacteria colony is to add some fish food to the tank.
 
No ammonia source=no BB

idk how long it will take for the BB to die off, but I'd do one of the following to keep the BB going strong:

-Get some guppies
-Dose with pure ammonia
 
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