Hopefully someone has some good information on this. I'm looking to cycle a 125 gallon aquarium before a 2 week trip where I will not be around. I wanted the tank to be ready to add fish as soon as I get back. Would this stay cycled if I used an automatic feeder to put in some flake food every day? Or could I get 2 clowns, and use the automatic feeder to feed them while I'm gone for the 2 weeks? Or if I dropped a shrimp in there, would that be enough to keep the cycle going? Any info would be great!
How long will an aquarium remain cycled without fish?
- Thread starter Rmcuddy
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2 weeks. No prob nonfood.
I think I would just do the ghost feeding. I would be nervous that something might happen and hurt the clowns. And leaving the shrimp in that long isnt good. When you get back test everything and if there's no ammonia then add straight ammonia up to 2ppm and if it goes to 0 in 24 hrs your good.
Don’t leave fish in there.
It’ll be fine for a couple weeks.
It’ll be fine for a couple weeks.
Any of you all ever run a tank for months with nothing in it for months and not feed it ?
I have.
I have.
Not the same.
But ok.
Did it die in two weeks with no food?
did some. Wasn’t watching for of checking for a crash, but had more spikes when fish were added. Don’t know precisely how long it takes, but if you don’t feed the bacteria that support your cycle it will die
Ariel V Rosa
Active Member
Ghost feed it... you will be fine. But when you are going to reintroduce a bio load do it slow. Beneficial bacteria is only as abundant as the nutriens they need to live. Just toss some food in there once a week.
brandon429
what, exactly, are you doing in your avatar
The answer to the question about how long bacteria already established can go without getting direct feed from the aquarist is as long as they're wet they will not die back at all.
Aquarist adding feed not required, they were doing fine before us. Adding feed to support bac makes the aquarist feel ok, it removes a risk they're just not sure about and no tank is harmed with a little feeding.
But the direct answer is they need no help from us to get feed, we're not accounting for all the means they can use to be fed
Wet equals bacteria doing fine with or without us, we have three year fallow testing threads demoing this fact. If nothing is going to use the feed, then it's algae base material.
B
Aquarist adding feed not required, they were doing fine before us. Adding feed to support bac makes the aquarist feel ok, it removes a risk they're just not sure about and no tank is harmed with a little feeding.
But the direct answer is they need no help from us to get feed, we're not accounting for all the means they can use to be fed
Wet equals bacteria doing fine with or without us, we have three year fallow testing threads demoing this fact. If nothing is going to use the feed, then it's algae base material.
B
ReeferReefer
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If it was me, I would just toss an cocktail shrimp in there and not worry. It will break down over time.
Captain Quint
Plank Owner of the Orca
Yes sir.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
My best guess is that the tank would be fine for around 1 year without ghost feeding. In fact, I suspect it will process ammonia better when you get back than when you left with no action on your part.
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