Empty Cycled Tank bacteria

[RussellHill]

My 125g tank with 175lbs of live rock is fully cycled but I will be buying fish to put into my quarantine tank for 6 weeks. I have been adding 2 capfuls of Ammonia to the 125g every couple of days to keep the bacteria thriving. Ammonia is 0 , Nitrite is 0.

Here is my question- Should I not dose Ammonia and just let it sit? Someone on another forum advised me to only a a pinch of flake food once a week.

Any thoughts?

 

[KingTriton1]

Bacteria will survive 3 weeks without an energy source (ammonia) and thats playing it safe. I prefer feeding my tank with food instead of dosing pure ammonia. I think a pinch a week is good or maybe even a few flakes every day.

 

[Hitch08]

Is there much consensus on how long bacteria will survive without an energy/food source? I've read much longer numbers. At the least, I understand that the bacteria will bounce back very quickly after "starvation".

This thread might be better off in the Reef Chemistry forum.

EDIT:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1913382/

http://jb.oxfordjournals.org/content/124/4/811.short 342 days of ammonia starvation and bacteria had instant recovery when ammonia was added.

but I agree just ghost feed and you wont have to worry about it.

 

[Joe's Coral Reef]

I'd toss in a pinch of food, but I don't think it matters that much. I don't think the bacteria will completely die off, the population should decrease, but once you start adding live stock it should grow fast.