Quote:
Originally Posted by goggles2
yes i am feeding my tank with fish food (yes i know it can build up phosphates....)
oh and stability says it has both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria  |
Phosphates may actually be necessary. Over my past year at Fishlore, I've heard of people using the pure ammonia method of cycling who have just never seen their tank cycle, so they start over with another method.
I've wondered about this until two things happened: First of all, I wrote an article on cyanobacteria, a nasty infection of this bluish "algae" that can kill off a tank. In doing so, I did some research and discovered that not all cyanobacteria was bad and, in fact, some were nitrifying agents. Second, someone here made an off-hand comment that they had heard that you needed phosphate for the cycle.
Putting it all together, it makes sense. Cyanobacteria are sort of the link between algae and bacteria. They possess traits of both, which includes a plant's need for phosphorous. All of the fishless cycling methods, with the exception of pure ammonia, add phosphorous in some amount to the tank. In addition,
most water supplies have phosphorous in them. (It's actually a major problem for watersheds, since it feeds algal blooms in natural waterways). However, some water supplies are very lacking in phosphorous, especially if you use heavily filtered water.
The important part for nitrifying bacteria in aquariums isn't just aerobic vs anaerobic, but also aquatic vs terrestrial. As Alessa said, most "cycle" products have the terrestrial version of nitrifying bacteria. It works for awhile, but eventually drowns, releasing the ammonia back unless you add more. Unfortunately, during this time, it usually beats the aquatic bacteria out when competing for food, and so the aquatic stuff simply doesn't grow.
The end result is a continuous mini-cycle that is only held in check by constant addition of this product.
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