PascalKrypt
Member
Sorry for the confusing title -- I wasn't sure how else to condense it.
Basically what I would like to discuss is how much of the cycle do you estimate lives on the tank walls, decorations, plants, and in and on the substrate in a tank?
Let's say for arguments sake this is a well-stocked, well-planted tank with a filter just the right size for the tank.
Let's take this hypothetical for instance: if I were to take out the filter media of such a long-running, established tank, but leave the circulation pump on, what % of the stocking would the cycle remaining in the tank itself be able to support?
0%? 30%? Anywhere in between? More?
Has anyone ever tried it? I think I saw a thread many months ago were someone said they had turned off the filter on a tank of several years and they never saw a mini-cycle, but that seems a bit optimistic to me.
Basically what I would like to discuss is how much of the cycle do you estimate lives on the tank walls, decorations, plants, and in and on the substrate in a tank?
Let's say for arguments sake this is a well-stocked, well-planted tank with a filter just the right size for the tank.
Let's take this hypothetical for instance: if I were to take out the filter media of such a long-running, established tank, but leave the circulation pump on, what % of the stocking would the cycle remaining in the tank itself be able to support?
0%? 30%? Anywhere in between? More?
Has anyone ever tried it? I think I saw a thread many months ago were someone said they had turned off the filter on a tank of several years and they never saw a mini-cycle, but that seems a bit optimistic to me.