# Cycle and dosing Questions



## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

Does an established tank remain cycled if the fish are removed for a period of say one or two months? And with the absence of fish, can I temporarily increase the amounts of CO2, lighting and PPS Pro dosing? 

I have a 20 gal lightly planted tank with 2x24 watts of T5 HO. CO2 is injected but it's somewhat infrequent right now because I'm 'sharing' one CO2 tank between to aquariums. Splitter valve is in the mail so this is temporary. I dose 2mL's of NPK and Macro every other day on alternating days, with one rest day per week.

I have removed the fish from the 20 gal and have some Hemianthus callitrichoides planted as well as some java moss. I want to know if I can go through a cycle were I gently accelerate their growth, and still have the tank ok for fish or shrimps by the end of this plan.

Not 100 % sure yet but this tank will likely be a shrimp farm. 

Any insight is appreciated.

Greg


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

No, if there is no ammonia source, the bacteria will slowly die off, so the tank will no longer remain cycled. Of course, you can prevent this from happening by feeding the aquarium with ammonia.

Of course, without fish, you can increase CO2 to extreme levels (though it is a waste of gas). The same goes for light, as well as nutrients. Just be aware that with extreme lighting comes extreme maintenance


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

^what he said 

Not good to share a co2 between two tanks as this will result in the fluctuation in water conditions, co2 levels as well as pH.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

You can easily share CO2 between two aquariums provided you can control each one individually (i.e. you have two needle valves). I assume this is what you meant by "sharing" a CO2 tank (i.e. the line is split between two aquariums).


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## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

The CO2 is split between the two tanks with a T junction. When gassing Tank 1 the line to Tank 2 is crimped, when gassing Tank 2 the line to Tank 1 is crimped.

Pretty ghetto right now, as mentioned I've ordered a splitter complete with dual valves and bubble counters.

In the meantime I'll probably set it up so Tank 1 gets gas during the day, regulated by the pH tester/controller, and Tank 2 gets gas (and light) during the night, drop checker to give visual of CO2 level. 

Anthony in your first reply you're basically saying that the amount of light, CO2 and nutrients can be increased up to a certain extent? (with added maintenance of course) And I could add ammonia and I'm guessing water and or filter media funk from another would be valuable as well?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Yes; light, CO2 and fertilizers can all be increased to a certain extent to encourage more plant growth.

Adding ammonia will definitely keep the current bacteria that are present alive; adding water from another aquarium will not do much, while adding the filter gunk from an already established filter will add more bacteria (not your goal, which is to simply keep the initial population alive for ~1-2 months).


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## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

Thanks for the advice.


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