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aquaholic
Sat Sep 23, 2006, 10:42 PM
does anyone know wether a bio filter once cycled needs to have fish in the tank to keep the bacteria alive as i have a tank that hasn't had fish in it for a couple of months but has had driftwood and plants in it.

cheers andrew
flaggy
Sat Sep 23, 2006, 11:22 PM
hi andrew

it might be safest in any case to simply swap some filter media with the filters from your other tanks carrying active bioload...

since you have not had fish in that tank, and the driftwood is not likely to be rotting, then perhaps the only source of organic waste and subsequently ammonia would be any dead/decaying bits of your plants. the bacteria population rises and falls according to availability of the ammonia. whatever's there - if any - is probably not as good as what would be available in filter media from your active tanks
*Chris*
Sun Sep 24, 2006, 12:33 AM
if you want chuck a small teaspoon of sugar in the tank it acts as a feed for the bio filter , mayeb do this everyweek to insure it stays alive.
this method can be used in any tank at any time but dont over do it because you will end up with a very cloudy tank that wont settle until the bacteria consume the sugar
EXAI
aquaholic
Sun Sep 24, 2006, 01:27 AM
Hey guys thanks for that
good idear flaggy but the filter is a sponge filter.i just gave the tank a bit of a clean and man it was dirty so maybe that has help feed the filter.the sugar thing sounds great. i will defenitly be doing that as it's always handy to have a cycled tank ready to go.
flaggy
Sun Sep 24, 2006, 05:08 AM
no probs...

if it is a sponge filter, maybe u could put it in the other used tanks to keep it cycled until u need it. then when u need to use the "empty" tank, u can move back the sponge filter after doing a water change using some of the water from the other tanks
Merrilyn
Sun Sep 24, 2006, 06:44 AM
Just a heads up with the sugar in the tank. It's fine when there are no fish in the tank, to keep the tank cycled, or you could even use a raw prawn or a piece of raw beefheart.

Anything like that will keep the ammonia up in the tank, to feed the bio filter, but obiviously, do a BIG water change in that tank before you add any precious fish.