Temperature - Cycling Tank

AJsTank · Oct 30, 2013

Okay, I'm on day 5 with water in my tank. My heaters don't come until next week and my water has stayed at 72. Will this affect the nitrogen cycle? Meaning, will this delay the ammonia and nitrite spike with the low temp? I've been in this hobby since 2000, but it's been a very very long time since I've started a new tank. Wasn't sure how the temp was going to affect it...

Badfish83 · Oct 30, 2013

I've always heard higher temps speed bacteria growth, so I would assume lower temps could hinder it. Curious also, where are the scientists?

RichieT · Oct 30, 2013

Depends on the specific bacteria. But typically bacteria work well within a certain range. The nitrifying bacteria work within a pretty broad range 77- mid 80s. There probably isn't going to be much difference in growth rates if you stay within those ranges. Taking it above or below and you risk slowing the process down.

AJsTank · Oct 30, 2013

RichieT said:
Depends on the specific bacteria. But typically bacteria work well within a certain range. The nitrifying bacteria work within a pretty broad range 77- mid 80s. There probably isn't going to be much difference in growth rates if you stay within those ranges. Taking it above or below and you risk slowing the process down.

That's what I was thinking... Ugh

RichieT · Oct 30, 2013

AJsTank said:
That's what I was thinking... Ugh

My guess is it will just slow the process down by a few days. Definitely not going to be killing anything at 72. You didn't ask this question but I'll throw in my two cents anyway. You won't significantly speed up the process with temp, but you can increase the cycle by increasing the amount of bacteria you start with. The reason why it takes so long for a tank to cycle is people usually start with a relatively low culture of the good bacteria. Let's just assume the population doubles everyday (probably a lot faster)
1
2
4
8
16
...
8192 after two weeks.

If you start with that then you are cutting that first two weeks of your cycle off the total time. Dr Tim's one and only and other bacterial additives do this pretty effectively. I literally cycled my tank in a week. Tank is still up and running after 6 months. No issues.

Just a thought

AJsTank · Oct 30, 2013

RichieT said:
My guess is it will just slow the process down by a few days. Definitely not going to be killing anything at 72. You didn't ask this question but I'll throw in my two cents anyway. You won't significantly speed up the process with temp, but you can increase the cycle by increasing the amount of bacteria you start with. The reason why it takes so long for a tank to cycle is people usually start with a relatively low culture of the good bacteria. Let's just assume the population doubles everyday (probably a lot faster)
1
2
4
8
16
...
8192 after two weeks.

If you start with that then you are cutting that first two weeks of your cycle off the total time. Dr Tim's one and only and other bacterial additives do this pretty effectively. I literally cycled my tank in a week. Tank is still up and running after 6 months. No issues.

Just a thought

This is a 450 gallon system. 400lbs of dry rock. I added about 30lbs of live rock from my 120 reef and about 10 cups of sand to see my new sand bed. I also dosed a little bit of MB7 as well. It never even came into my mind about the low temp until this morning. I just called a pet store locally and they have a 500 watt heater I can grab for $35 until my new heaters show up. I know I probably need more than 500 watts, but I'm hoping it will raise the temp enough to get make it a little warmer. Thanks for the reply.