Post cycle question

[Runnin'Reefer]

My tank has been cycled for about 3 weeks now with no added ammonia since the cycle has been complete. I was going to continue cycling it with ammonia to make sure the bacteria were still continuing to grow because I haven't been able to get fish, but a friend gifted me a zoa frag that I put in my tank. I didn't want to add ammonia for fear of killing it. Did the bacteria die off without an ammonia source or do they not live off the ammonia and nitrite? I'm getting fish in two days which is why I am asking. I want to make sure the tank is still cycled

 

[Gadbery]

yes, you should keep dosing ammonia (dont have to dose high) but the bacteria need ammonia to stay alive and reproducing. Jus t dose smaller level of ammonia. and make sure your tank is still solid.

 

[brandon429]

no

because we can't find any article ever mentioning that happening. we can only find it in forum assessments.

that's among the things reef forums made up, the starving cycle.

no seneye experiment has ever shown a starved cycle that's for sure, and it's searchable.

you can't find any articles, google scholar searches etc that state your biofilter dies off without you adding continuous feed


notice I didn't say in a few days, as was the challenge here

ever die off


an open-topped reef tank cycle can't be starved, it's being continually fed. but not by you. you can sure find that in an article...minute ways contamination feed gets into open bodies of water in a home that are heated, and circulating. tiny trace input off feed accumulates

you had residual organic slicks on those rocks that trap food like flypaper, there's articles on that / bioslick adherence

all the reading material remarks upon the amazing ways a bioslick survives a food loss, not how they succumb to it so we instantly feel compelled to buy more bacteria from a bottle.

don't ever doubt your cycle at all.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

No need to dose. If anything, add a pinch of flake food, but for just a couple days its not neccessary. You shouldn't add ammonia to a tank with live animals.

 

[brandon429]

I have seen a starvation cycle experiment done by Dr. Reef in which a sealed off container did not stay self fed, and was a dead cycle on month 15 ish. it takes an extreme to be able to demonstrate a dead biofilter.

in this case, any fish you add to the tank now, or in six more mos of never feeding, will be just fine says every cycle variation ever charted on seneye it just takes something more extreme than an aquarist withholding pellet feed to stop what mother nature has adapted to accomplishing in a street puddle without our help.

we really really help bacteria in these tanks by concentrate inoculation, then heating and circulation on high surface area jagged rocks. they will self feed forever in an aquarium, open-topped.
thats a powerful starting embellishment which sets up the aquarium for years of uninterrupted running.

 

[Gadbery]

no

because we can't find any article ever mentioning that happening. we can only find it in forum assessments.

that's among the things reef forums made up, the starving cycle.

no seneye experiment has ever shown a starved cycle that's for sure, and it's searchable.

you can't find any articles, google scholar searches etc that state your biofilter dies off without you adding continuous feed


notice I didn't say in a few days, as was the challenge here

ever die off


an open-topped reef tank cycle can't be starved, it's being continually fed. but not by you. you can sure find that in an article...minute ways contamination feed gets into open bodies of water in a home that are heated, and circulating. tiny trace input off feed accumulates

you had residual organic slicks on those rocks that trap food like flypaper, there's articles on that / bioslick adherence

all the reading material remarks upon the amazing ways a bioslick survives a food loss, not how they succumb to it so we instantly feel compelled to buy more bacteria from a bottle.

don't ever doubt your cycle at all.

interesting. ill have to look into those articles

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

no

because we can't find any article ever mentioning that happening. we can only find it in forum assessments.

that's among the things reef forums made up, the starving cycle.

no seneye experiment has ever shown a starved cycle that's for sure, and it's searchable.

you can't find any articles, google scholar searches etc that state your biofilter dies off without you adding continuous feed


notice I didn't say in a few days, as was the challenge here

ever die off


an open-topped reef tank cycle can't be starved, it's being continually fed. but not by you. you can sure find that in an article...minute ways contamination feed gets into open bodies of water in a home that are heated, and circulating. tiny trace input off feed accumulates

you had residual organic slicks on those rocks that trap food like flypaper, there's articles on that / bioslick adherence

all the reading material remarks upon the amazing ways a bioslick survives a food loss, not how they succumb to it so we instantly feel compelled to buy more bacteria from a bottle.

don't ever doubt your cycle at all.

This is great to know! Thank you for that piece of advice. I have tried to read up on ammonia and nitrite cycling bacteria a little bit and the only thing I could find was that they need ATP to break down the NH3 into NO2 which would mean they get energy from another source and not from the ammonia cycle. Thank you! Now i'm a little less paranoid haha

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

No need to dose. If anything, add a pinch of flake food, but for just a couple days its not neccessary. You shouldn't add ammonia to a tank with live animals.

The last few days I have been trying to add a few flakes of food to make sure there is something in the water for the coral frag to eat

 

[brandon429]

that alone did the trick for sure. literally any form of macro input is ten orders beyond what they needed, these bac set up shop even off micro or trace compounding inputs. your surfaces were already maxed out on bacteria/the bioslick over the actual surface holds the functioning bacteria and stacking more on top of it doesn't help increase filtration


your surface area was never low on bacteria even if this was month seven on total food withholding 100% (but still open-topped in a common home setting)

you adding feed only boosted the bacteria in the water column, those are destined to be skimmed, waterchanged or exported eventually, only benthic bacteria matter and those aren't going anywhere until you dry, freeze or boil the setup or cap it off sealed for years on end until internal stores are used up.

a reef tank cycle is truly, truly set and forget and never test for it again lest ye doubt something undoubtable.