Will my tank re-cycle??

[Squadir]

If i take out my filter bags and wash them out under fairly high pressure, will all my 'cycled-bacteria' be lost and my tank re-cycle or go through a mini cycle?
I need to rinse that sucker out, its loaded with mess, should i seed another filterbag before i wash this one out? :drooool:

 

[theplantman]

Do you have live rock in your tank amounting to at least 1lb per gallon of water? If you do, your tank should not re-cycle. The majority of the beneficial bacteria that cleans your tank is in the live rock. Also, if you are using filter bags? I am guessing these are spongers or pads, they should probably be cleaned at least once per week or they can become nitrate factories.

 

[Squadir]

i'm running a hang on back filter, there are actually no live rocks in the tank, only sand / substrate but I doubt that its 1lb to 1 gallon. its about 2-3 inches thick across the entire bottom -36 x 18. i'm starting to see a problem arising here.........

 

[ddelozier]

if thats the case, the floss in the HOB cartriges and the sand are the only sources for nitrafying backteria. you can take the whole HOB filter off and spray it out and replace the cartriges. The loss of the present bacteria may result in an ammonia spike, but that can easily be managed with 20% water changes every 2-4 days. Just monitor Ammonia. If it ever hits .25, do a 20% water change. If you miss it, and it gets to .5, do a 50% change followed 12 hrs later by another 50% change.

I duno the setup of your tank, but without at least 1lbs per gal of DT Volume worth of Live rock, you're liable to be battling ammonia perpetually unless you setup some sort of additional filtration. A rubble filled sump with a skimmer and or Algae Turf Scrubber will do well. If you are not keeping Corals, you can probably get away with an ATS only.

 

[theplantman]

big +1 to everything ddelozier said

 

[Mayja]

^ Yeah, what he said

 

[Squadir]

i am running a protein skimmer, hang on back filter with bio scrubber and a 125 gph powerhead (upgrading to a 550 gph powerhead soon)

 

[SantaMonica]

Another helpful quick trick, is to circulate the display water rapidly from top to bottom; this will get urine (ammonia) from the fish to the sand as quick as possible. Ammonia spikes will be right after feeding, so feeding smaller amounts more often will give the sand a chance to remove the ammonia before the fish breath too much of it.