I have a 350 liters Aquarium, whit 9 kg biohome ultimate media, that I has just finished at full cycle whit putting fish food in the Aquarium, i stop putting fish food in, and just put in 6 small Otocinclus affinis, i dont feed them yet because i want them to eat the algae, is that enough fore the first week and then put some more in afterwards ? or should I put more in, to keep the bacteria alive, ore should i keep putting fish food in? I'm so confused
Last edited by Boffer; 20th Dec 2019 at 22:10.
Okay thanks for the answer, I don't have to worry then good to know
Actually, that's my gripe with the whole idea of "cycling" a tank. People get very focused on maintaining particular numbers of bacteria but their populations are very dynamic and should wax and wane according to nutrient availability (in your case, coming from either fish food, or actual fish waste). What happens when people go on vacation and stop feeding for a week? Does bacteria all die off? How about when they come back and resume feeding? Do tanks crash due to the sudden surge of nitrogenous waste again?
Tanks are mini-ecosystems and many people underestimate their resilience - if you have plants and substrate, together with a modest fish load, the bacteria should multiply/decline along with your fish count and feeding rate. There's no real fear that they will all die off, or that you could possibly add so much fish that they can't cope. Within reason of course - if you're putting in ten mature oscar cichlids into 350 litres and feeding them meaty foods daily you probably can't depend on nitrifying bacteria to handle the sudden increase in bioload.
Thanks for the answer
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