Fishless Cycle

[Rorie]

I have KIND OF asked this before, but can't remember the answer haha.

I have a load of filters i need matured. If i fish less cycle a tank with a filter, i can theoretically fully stock the tank after the process is done. BUT, what happens if i have a small, 40L tank, with 6 sponge filters in it?! How does that effect the bacteria?

Will i be able to have 6 tanks running? Or will the filters be capable of only running a tank 1/6 the size its in just now (as 6 filters running)? What if i put in six times the amount of ammonia for the quantity of water?

Thanks

 

[CezzaXV]

Putting 6 times the ammonia won't help as the tank won't be able to cope with that much. Putting 6 filters in the tank means that each filter will get one sixth of the bacteria. This means that you can only stock the tanks they go in with one sixth of the stocking that you would put in the tank they cycled in.

 

[coldcazzie]

Putting 6 times the ammonia won't help as the tank won't be able to cope with that much. Putting 6 filters in the tank means that each filter will get one sixth of the bacteria. This means that you can only stock the tanks they go in with one sixth of the stocking that you would put in the tank they cycled in.

What he said!

 

[HayzH]

Putting 6 times the ammonia won't help as the tank won't be able to cope with that much. Putting 6 filters in the tank means that each filter will get one sixth of the bacteria. This means that you can only stock the tanks they go in with one sixth of the stocking that you would put in the tank they cycled in.

What he said!

she

 

[Rorie]

I thought that would be the answer....but why?

You say the tank won't be able to cope with that much ammonia....but surly it should be the filter that should have to deal with it...and if i have six filters, that should work... no?

Also, i guess i should just have a tank six times larger, and add six times the amount of ammonia with my six filters....but who is to say what that size should be? Some fish produce a lot of waste etc, and need more filtration....

I am not saying you are wrong....as i don't know! I am just asking the questions as the answer (which is as i expected) does not make logical sense....

1 tank + 1 lot of ammonia + 6 filters = 6 filters with 1/6th the level of ammonia to filter a fully stocked tank

BUT

1 tank + 6 lots of ammonia + 6 filters is NOT = 6 filters at a full bacteria level.........

Thanks

 

[Rorie]

nobody know?

 

[chrisjj]

Putting 6 times the ammonia won't help as the tank won't be able to cope with that much. Putting 6 filters in the tank means that each filter will get one sixth of the bacteria. This means that you can only stock the tanks they go in with one sixth of the stocking that you would put in the tank they cycled in.

what she said

 

[Rorie]

but that still doesn't answer my questions:

1) Why can the 'tank' not deal with it? The tank is glass haha....so what is it that can't deal with the ammonia?
2) So if i have a tank, say 100L, and put in 5 filters, that mean i can either then run 5x 100L tanks at 20% stocking? Or 5 tanks at 20L fully stocked....correct? In which case, if i want to develop filters for, say, 10 tanks at 100L each, i would need to put 10 filters in a tank which is 1,000L in capacity?! Why?! Why can i not just add more ammonia?!

Surely if someone were to have an over stocked tank (like most shops) they just have a huge amount of filtration to deal with it.... is that not just the same theory?

 

[nurglespuss]

Hi there,

Its not just a matter of filteration but also of total volume.

Yes, if you had a bigg enough tank (1000L) your theory might hold some weight.

However, bacteria can only colonise at a certain rate, and can only utilise a certain ammount of ammonia at once.

If you were working on 'feeding' your bacteria (like us sciency lot are want to do in the lab) then yes, you CAN gradually build up a large colony of bacteria if you have the available flow, surface area and food, but you also still need the alrge total volume to deal with waste products, which while harmless to fish aren't beneficial to bacterial loading!

I hope that goes someway to explaining it in easy terminology

 

[Rorie]

I'm an engineer, but chemistry has always confused me! Maybe i am not meant to understand haha. Well, i guess by having six filters which will be able to deal with a little bacteria is a start. I think i am correct in saying that after the bacteria has started developing, it will develop at a high rate. So maybe some frequent water changes will sort the rest out