Re: Fishless cycling
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 4:20 pm
Hi everyone,
One little side note. I carried out a series of tests many years back while cycling a filter for a small Q-tank. The system volume was about 2000 liters and I ran the test each time for 6 weeks using a closed system without water changes. What I noticed was after about the forth week there was a stagnation in nitrite/nitrate convertion. In the second test I then added a bit of bentonite clay and the nitrite convertion picked up directly afterwards. My speculation is that it came down to a lack of some trace elements within the system. This raises the possibility that in starting a closed cycling system it might be benificial to add some trace minerals either but by adding them directly in the form of clay or perhaps even better occaionally changingout a small amount of water.
B.Scott
One little side note. I carried out a series of tests many years back while cycling a filter for a small Q-tank. The system volume was about 2000 liters and I ran the test each time for 6 weeks using a closed system without water changes. What I noticed was after about the forth week there was a stagnation in nitrite/nitrate convertion. In the second test I then added a bit of bentonite clay and the nitrite convertion picked up directly afterwards. My speculation is that it came down to a lack of some trace elements within the system. This raises the possibility that in starting a closed cycling system it might be benificial to add some trace minerals either but by adding them directly in the form of clay or perhaps even better occaionally changingout a small amount of water.
B.Scott