"Reel McKoi" wrote in message
...

"Tynk" wrote in message
...
On Apr 8, 10:35�pm, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:52:19 +0000, Gail Futoran wrote:
The 55G has been set up for about a month.
Since I moved plants, driftwood, and decor
from the 20G, the 55G is already cycled.
I.e., ammonia is zero, nitrites are zero, nitrates
are present but low.

Unless you've been adding ammonia, or there are fish already in the
tank,
I don't see how it could be considered cycled.
I too was wondering about the tank running with live bacteria that
was
moved into the tank, but nothing to feed it for a month.


Gail,

Just a nerdy thought on this.

Even if your 55G was a sterile new setup, I'd predict the plants you
introduced "should" have been enough of a bacterial seed even though
their population would have been reduced only to the level of what was
needed in the new tank. The reason is the geometric reproductive rate
of bacterial - it really only takes a few for them to be able to
acheive "critical mass" quickly. Excellent water circulation and
careful, graduated introduction of the fish-load (if large) should be
all you'd need to add to the plants for assured success.

Some fun links from people who probably know more about it than I:
http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/agll/ipns/....jsp?term=g025 (nice formula here)
http://www.science.org.au/nova/087/087box02.htm (nice chart here)
http://www.pondenterprises.com/filter/nitrogen.html (bacterial
reproductive rates and more info)

Supplemental quotes (links change so often!):
"Bacteria multiply in geometric progression. The mean generation time
(MGT) for fast growing Rhizobium is 2 - 4 hours, for slow growers 6 -
12 hours and for Azotobacter it is 2 - 3 hours."
"In fresh water [our bacteria] tend to replicate geometrically every 8
hours, salt water slows the reproductive rate to about once every 24
hours."
Good luck!
-Matt