Cycling and Temperature

ElderMillennial · Mar 22, 2022

So I have just a general question. I haven’t been able to find anything out on this. I know about cycling,flow, light, no light, skimming, time and the stages etc… my question is: does temperature play any role or have any affect on the quality of the bacteria and the quality of the cycle itself? As in, if it is too cold will it kill off the ”good” bacteria we want and proliferate the bacteria we don’t want? Or vice versa? I normally run a heater when I cycle tanks or rocks or anything, is it really necessary?… I was just thinking about this the other day… any thoughts?

blaxsun · Mar 22, 2022

I'm not entirely sure, but I think cycling close to 78 is probably better.

Lividfanatica · Mar 22, 2022

Dr. Tim Hovanec did a great talk at Macna 2019 on this that BRS has on their youtube channel. If you are trying to grow nitrifying bacteria, they grow faster and in colder temperatures. Also, lower salinity if i recall correclty. Take a watch for yourself!

fulltang · Mar 22, 2022

This is interesting, so in theory you can cycle a tank in the dark in a closet somewhere? Do you need oxygen exchange for a cycle using bottle bac?

Lividfanatica · Mar 22, 2022

fulltang said:
This is interesting, so in theory you can cycle a tank in the dark in a closet somewhere? Do you need oxygen exchange for a cycle using bottle bac?

They are aerobic bacteria, so some sort of water movement/surface agitation would definitely be beneficial as they need O2.

Tamberav · Mar 22, 2022

I have a cold water reef tank, and the cycle took MONTHS to really finish at 55 degrees. Not heating the cycle won't be harmful. I kept cycled rock in my basement for a year without a heater.

Lividfanatica · Mar 22, 2022

Tamberav said:
I have a cold water reef tank, and the cycle took MONTHS to really finish at 55 degrees. Not heating the cycle won't be harmful. I kept cycled rock in my basement for a year without a heater.

Yea, 55 seems a bit cold... I'd have to rewatch the video, but I think there was a sweet spot. Keep in mind, this was ONLY for nitrifying bacteria... not all the others that make up the biome of a healthy reef. I would guess they all have different parameters in which they are happy.

ElderMillennial · Mar 24, 2022

That was pretty much my thought. I know each type of bacteria has a “happy spot”. So is there one that grows a good amount of the good bacteria, and keeps down the bad?
I know when cycling we focus on the nitrogen cycle Bcz that’s what we can measure. But there are other things that should “happen” that we cannot. And it’s safer if they do when we are cycling.

Thanks for the video it was interesting!

Coopkid94 · Jul 18, 2022

Lividfanatica said:
Dr. Tim Hovanec did a great talk at Macna 2019 on this that BRS has on their youtube channel. If you are trying to grow nitrifying bacteria, they grow faster and in colder temperatures. Also, lower salinity if i recall correclty. Take a watch for yourself!

Not true, they grow faster in warmer water