Fishless Cycling

[martyn413]

Hi there,

I have a little problem: My tank is currently cycling. The ammonia has been at 5-6ppm for almost two weeks now.

The problem is that this weekend the house will be empty as i am travelling long distance (mum's birthday). If the ammonia starts to drop when I'm not there to add more, will i have to start the cycle all over again?

Martyn

 

[Miss Wiggle]

how long do you envisage being away for?

i wouldn't worry desperatley tbh if it's just a couple of days, if it's not dropped at all yet even if it starts too it's unlikley to drop right down to 0 straight away, it'll often take several days to reach that level. However if it does get down to 0 then you've 12 hrs after that before bacteria start to die off, it would be several days before all the bacteria dies. If it does drop you may have a small amount of bacteria die off and this may mean it'd take a day or two longer to cycle than if you hadn't gone away. however i don't think it'll scupper you altogether.

if you're really concerned you could try the following, do a water change and then add ammonia but only to around 3ppm, add a pinch of fish food to the tank though (not a lot) as this will break down slowly and release ammonia over the next few days while you're away. the reason i say start with 3ppm of ammonia not the usual 5 is because if the ammonia rises up too high this can stall a cycle, so just putting it at 3ppm to start off means there's a food source there and also room for ammonia to increase from the fish food over a couple of days.

 

[martyn413]

Thanks miss wiggle,

I will be leaving on saturday mid day and returning on Monday evening.

That is a good idea. I should be bringing some mature media with me too.

Thanks

Martyn

 

[Miss Wiggle]

excellent, well hopefully that and the addition of some mature media should see you through the cycle in no time