How long can I leave a tank fishless?

[wizard]

Hello and a Happy New Year to all.

I have a question regarding my grow out tank. I am going to move my discus from growout to my show tank. I have done all the steps necessary to move them into the show tank by moving a discus from show in with them. They have been together for two months now with no issues. The water used for all is from the same source. I anticipate getting some more young discus to start growing out soon but am concerned as to how long the growout tank can go without any fish in it. I want to move the grown discus during a water change this weekend and hopefully get my new fish within a week, two at most. My question is, how long can the growout tank be without fish in it ?

Thanks for your help in advance. Greg

[pcsb23]

Greg, just add some pure ammonia (a teaspoon max!!) to keep the bio filter going, then you can go as long as you like.

[kaceyo]

I'd suggest that, after adding the ammonia, you do an ammo test every few days and if the ammo reaches 0 well before the fish will arrive, add another tsp. Make sure there is 0 ammo when the fish are added.

Kacey

[mikel]

Hi Paul and Kacey: If using a teaspoon pure ammonia (I guess you can buy it at a drug store or a supermarket?) is enough to feed the bio filter. If there are trace amount of ammonia left when the new fish arrives, can one use a capful of prime or amquil to neutralize the ammonia? Or, why take chance testing it...dump a capful of Prime into the water before adding fish just to make sure? I see on the Prime label that it "removes Chlorine, Chloramine, Ammonia" etc. Thanks mike

[Don Trinko]

Get pure ammonia, usualy the cheapest brand. It should not foam when shaken and should be clear. I bought IGA brand.
The ammonia that you add is the same as the ammonia the fish would add. some people do a large wc before putting fish in. I don't. I have 2 20g tanks that I add ammonia to keep it ready for any possible purchases. I add 1/2 teaspoon to each tank 3 times a week.
The tank you are putting them is cycled I hope. The good bacteria is in the filter, sand etc. Mostly in the filter. I like to have chemicals on hand ( I use Amaquel + but many others work fine) to nutralize ammonia just in case something goes wrong. Don T.

[kaceyo]

Hi Mikel,
If it were me, I'd do as near to 100% wc as possible and use a dechlor/ammo detox before adding fish. Keeping a filter going with pure ammonia without doing wc's will drive the pH way down and the nitrates way up. Using a detoxifier like Amquel or Prime without testing to see what the actual amount of ammonia is could be a big problem if the ammonia is higher than you think.
Doing a near total wc is the safest and easiest way on the already stressed fish.

Kacey

[mikel]

Yes, thank you both. I did not realize that one can actually keep the bio-filter functioning without the use of any kind of fish...This takes away the need to buy inexpensive fish to try to keep the filter running. I love Prime and Amquil +! mike

[bs6749]

You guys all missed the SIMPLE SOLUTION to the problem at hand. That solution is move the filter over to the show tank until you are ready to put it back in the growout tank. Sponge filters are obvioulsy the easiest to move and are great for growout tanks. If you don't have a sponge filter or 3 in your growout tanks I'd highly recommend that you get some!

[rickztahone]

You guys all missed the SIMPLE SOLUTION to the problem at hand. That solution is move the filter over to the show tank until you are ready to put it back in the growout tank. Sponge filters are obvioulsy the easiest to move and are great for growout tanks. If you don't have a sponge filter or 3 in your growout tanks I'd highly recommend that you get some!

i was going to suggest the exact same thing. i am currently running my HOB filter on my main tank and will place it back when i'm ready to get my discus from Kenny

[gotfish?]

ok with all that being said...BUT how long can a cycled tank stayed cycled with out any fish or with out supplying ammonia in it?? thanks:D

[Eddie]

ok with all that being said...BUT how long can a cycled tank stayed cycled with out any fish or with out supplying ammonia in it?? thanks

Not too long, it really depends on the bio culture. If it is a small tank probably within a day or 2, maybe faster. The bacteria needs the ammonia to survive, period.

Just relieve yourself into the tank. It works :D

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/doc...fishless.shtml

http://www.mobileimage.com/images/CalvinPiss.jpg

HTH
Eddie

[gotfish?]

hahaha ummm not a bad a idea :D:D

[Ed13]

Back when I was doing aquarium maintenance, before I worked on the tank, I always looked at the customer and wondered if they dumped the "yellow liquid" in the tank!...Thank you for reminding me:mad:

[Eddie]

Back when I was doing aquarium maintenance, before I worked on the tank, I always looked at the customer and wondered if they dumped the "yellow liquid" in the tank!...Thank you for reminding me:mad:

HAHAHA :laugh:, you never know....

[wizard]

ok with all that being said...BUT how long can a cycled tank stayed cycled with out any fish or with out supplying ammonia in it?? thanks:D



Thanks gotfish?, that's all I really wanted to know.

So only a day or two at most.

Thank you to all for your kind and helpful advice.

Greg

[Graham]

Hi It's not that black and white. There are dozens of species of bacteria that form the bio-film in our tanks and bio-media. As much as we think of it as just Nitrosomonas or Nitro Spira sp thiers lots more going on than just them. Just because there is no source of NH3 for a couple of days doesn't mean that they all die off.

The bio film has a life/death cycle of its own that feeds itself to a degree. The addition of ammonia feeds all these species.

There are hundreds of ancedotal reports of bio-media and gravel stored wet in bags for months to be used again and the tank would cycle completely in days, not weeks.

A tank sitting empty for a couple of days, with the same bio-load going back into it would see no spike at all from an established bio. After several weeks you might see some decline in nitrification

G