Can you "cycle" your aquarium for too long?

HiddenUser · Nov 18, 2015

Dumb question, but I'm just wondering as a neighbor of mine just started up a 120G tank and made me wonder about this.

He added water to his tank about 2-3 months ago. No sand, he did add some dry pukani rock, but never added raw shrimp, fish food, Dr. Tims, etc...Is it possible that the beneficial bacteria can run out of food once the leftover organics from his rock have been broken down and consumed? Thus if the tank were to continue to remain fallow for longer he could see a small ammonia spike upon adding his first fish?

Or would you basically have to leave the tank totally empty without any sort of food for the bacteria for like a year before it would be detrimental?

Waters · Nov 18, 2015

Yes, it is possible. You need to keep feeding the bacteria (people will often "ghost feed" their empty tank).

HiddenUser · Nov 18, 2015

Waters said:
Yes, it is possible. You need to keep feeding the bacteria (people will often "ghost feed" their empty tank).

Yeah I've always went the method of "ghost feeding" when cycling my own tanks. I had actually told him when he was initially setting his tank up to throw in a raw shrimp, but I guess he never did...Just don't want him to add a fish at this point and then go through an ammonia spike.

reefwiser · Nov 18, 2015

Bacteria needs a food source no food source no Bacteria. If you are going to have a large population of Fish and Corals you need to add ammonia to the system up to the amount of Bio load of the tank.

Lenny_S · Nov 18, 2015

Once all the "food" for the bacteria is gone they will first go dormant for a while. How long they go dormant is kind of like a bear hibernating, the more they fatten up the longer they can hibernate. But once all their reserves are depleted they will start to die off. If a new food source is reintroduced before they die, they don't wake up right away. There is a lag time between the new food being available and when they are fully active again. It could be a day or two or it could be a week or two.
Bottom line, best advice is to just keep feeding them.