New Member

Posts: 1
From:San Luis Obispo,CA.USA
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 12-12-2003 02:03 PM         

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I have read about ammonia dosing a new tank to achieve a bacteria bloom but I havn't actually done it. The science behind the idea seems sound.First the tank is dosed with live nitrobacter and an unknown amount of ammonia. Then the bacteria will start to break down the ammonia into nitrites and then into nitrates.Has anyone out there tried this? I know that it is documented but I can't find out were.Replay if you have any ideas.

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Member

Posts: 266
From:Canada
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-12-2003 02:14 PM         

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It's an interesting concept, but there's one thing that I haven't gotten a satisfactory answer on - When are the fish added? If you wait until the ammonia and nitrites spike, then there is no more ammonia left and those bacteria will die off. Likewise with nitrites. The flaw I see is that it's more than 'a' cycle, it's an ongoing process. The fish produce ammonia in a more or less constant manner. When we read our test results we get "no detectable ammonia" not "no ammonia", a subtle but important difference. The bacteria reach a balance at which the population neither blooms nor starves as long as waste input remains relatively constant. I don't see such an input pattern in this example. Perhaps dilute quantities over a period of time would better simulate this. Let me know how it goes.

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