Does low temp ruin cycle?

[itom37]

I have a 29 gallon that was being used as a QT. It had been empty for a few days when the heater broke. I've just now replaced it (a few weeks later), so the temperature has been up and down between 55 and 72 for time. I have been feeding the tank a bit to keep the cycle up. My question is does anyone know if the cold temp will kill my bacteria? My suspicion is no since the temp wasn't that low and low temp doesn't really kill bacteria anyway, but I thought I'd get some opinions from anyone who has been in this situation. Thanks and happy holidays.

 

[earlybird]

55 is really low. Here's how you can find out if you still have bacteria colonies. Don't feed for 2-3 days and then feed a little extra and test for ammonia and nitrites for 3-4 days after. You'll be able to gauge everything depending on how high/low if any ammonia or nitrite is present.

 

[reefkprz]

pretty much all bacterial growth stops around 55-60 degrees and any lower and it starts dying off. it could have either paused the establishment of your cycle or set it back a bit.

 

[lexluethar]

Too low and your bacteria won't grow, this is why refrigerators work (i know stupid example), b/c they are kept at a temperature that keeps bacteria growth at a minimum.

 

[itom37]

Well the tank was already fully cycled, with a rather high bioload at that, so my concern is not bacterial growth, rather bacterial die-off, which shouldn't really occur at a bacteriostatic temperature, which of course 55 degrees is not. Oh well, I guess I will do some testing. I think I'll probably end up with a short cycle.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by itom37
Well the tank was already fully cycled, with a rather high bioload at that, so my concern is not bacterial growth, rather bacterial die-off, which shouldn't really occur at a bacteriostatic temperature, which of course 55 degrees is not. Oh well, I guess I will do some testing. I think I'll probably end up with a short cycle.
55 degrees is not low enough to kill off your bacteria. It should be fine. Add some food to your tank and test just be possitive though.