waiting time

[kvdp]

Hi everyone
Got my first tank a couple of weeks ago and decided to do a fishless cycle after reading as much as possible on the subject.
Well after just over 3 weeks my 350L tank is fully cycled and ready for my malawi collection.
Now for my question part.
As i will be travelling up country for about 14 days,can i leave my tank as is,fully cycled and running without fish for that amount of time,or should i ask someone to still add amonia in very small amounts every couple of days to keep my bacteria active.When i return i will be stocking my tank asap.

 

[revfred]

Yes if the person knows what s/he is doing it should be OK. That includes the testing as well. It might be better if you could put in some hardy fish ... easier to feed fish while you are gone than breaking in someone who might be unfamiliar with cycling.

 

[Iggy]

You need to keep adding the same amount of ammonia to keep the same size of bacteria colony alive.

Yes, adding every 2nd day will keep the bacteria colony well fed. Just keep it consistantly fed (with ammonia) at the same levels.

No, don't add hardy fish, the 'extra' bacteria will die-off if you don't keep the same ammonia load... and if you add enough hardy fish, then you need to get rid of them later, which can be a pain in the arse.

 

[FroggyFox]

I agree with Iggy...get someone to add that ammonia every day or every other day...just make sure to tell them exactly how much and stress the importance of not adding more than that. (I can see someone going "ok they want three caps every other day...so I'll just do 15 caps now and they'll never know the difference) and kill all your bacteria that would be terrible.