Can this be settled

[fernalfer]

As the title says i'm through my cycle but have nothing in my tank right now. No Corals, no inverts, no fish.

**This topic has been like 50/50 from a few different forums.

1. Some say if there is nothing in your tank that you have to provide an ammonia source or else the beneficial bacteria you have built up will start to die off (ammonia or ghost feeding)

2. Some say once your ammonia and nitrites hit 0 in under 24 hrs. after dosing ammonia that you don't have to provide an ammonia source anymore and the bacteria will do its thing and continue to thrive. (without feeding)

PLEASE! which one is it so i can figure out whether i will continue ghost feeding in a mesh bag letting the food decay causing nitrates to continue to rise.

OR stop ghost feeding so i can work on lowering Nitrates.

Bottom line i don't want to lose the bacteria i have built up so far. Just not sure what's right with the topic above?

 

[cougareyes]

Bacteria does need a source of food but they don't die overnight. If you have cycled through it is time to do a water change to lower your nitrates. When I allow my quarantine to go empty I dose a small amount of ammonium chloride once a week.

 

[Timfish]

If you don't have ammonia start adding animals. I would start with easy, fast growing soft and stoney corals and fish as quickly as possible but do wait several weeks between batches. Corals preference for nitrogen is uric acid, then ammonia then nitrates. As they become established they will be competing with bacteria for the nitrogen and you should see a drop in nitrates over time.

 

[fernalfer]

If you don't have ammonia start adding animals. I would start with easy, fast growing soft and stoney corals and fish as quickly as possible but do wait several weeks between batches. Corals preference for nitrogen is uric acid, then ammonia then nitrates. As they become established they will be competing with bacteria for the nitrogen and you should see a drop in nitrates over time.

I do have a fish but he is in Quarantine and will be there for another 30 days so putting a fish anytime soon is out. And it's not to soon for Corals?. And can't put in any invertebrates because my tank has no algae for them to feed on.

This is what my tank looks like after being cycled for a month. Lights have only been on the last 2 weeks. Have no phosphates because i had my Marco Dry Rock soaking in Brute tubs with RODI saltwater, heater and powerhead dosing phosfree to get rid of the phosphates they were leeching. Phosphates: 0.006 per Hanna Checker

 

[dt204]

Could you grab a fish from a very trusted friend or LFS to be a temporary inhabitant purely as an ammonia source? Only be a month until you put your qt fish in.

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[Timfish]

Hermit crabs will work and feed them a few pellets a day. You can dip them in fresh water for a few minutes to reduce the risk of transfering parasites. Here's a few research papers if you're interested:

Ammoium uptake
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/umrsmas/bullmar/1979/00000029/00000004/art00011

Uptake of amino acids
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/211/6/860.long

Uptake of nitrate
http://wap.aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_48/issue_6/2266.pdf

Uric acid in zooxanthellae
http://www.academia.edu/16113621/Uric_acid_deposits_in_symbiotic_marine_algae
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2707626/

And here's one on phosphate
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/16/2749.full

 

[cougareyes]

Get a bottle of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride; $2 online about $6 at the lfs. I put 10 drops in a 40g once a week and have kept my qt empty for as long as 2 months, do a water change just before I added and it was good to go.

 

[homer1475]

Your bacteria will not die overnight, or in a couple days with nothing to feed them. I remember reading somewhere on here that they can actually survive for over a year with no food source. Once your QT time is up(30 days), just dump the fish in, you'll be fine.