Cycling Tempature

[Gogi]

Tonight I am going to start a fishless cycle. This tank is different from all the the other tanks I have set up this past year. This will be a cold water tank. It is going to be kept at room temp with no heater. This tank will house an axolotl which need temp between 60 to 72 deg F.

I know that a tank will cycle faster and efficiently with higher temps around 80+ deg F.

How will lower tempatures effect the nitrogen cycle?

I suspect it will take longer but are there any other issues when cycle at lower temps?

[fishn00b]

Why not raise the temp for the cycle then let it drop back down to desired level? From what I have read by everyone on here it will just be very slow. and axolotl are crazy looking! So cool, had no idea something like that existed, thanks for posting about it.

[Gogi]

You bring up a good point Fishn00b. So I will add another question.

Will a drastic tempature drop effect the beneifical bacteria colony?

I think I have read that low temps slow down BB activity. Is this correct?

And yes axolotl are insane looking cant wait to get em.

[jeffs99dime]

Yes, low temps will stall or stop your cycle. If they go low enough they will kill them.

[Lady Hobbs]

This is an interesting thread. I had to go in search of axolotl because I don't know a darned thing about them. Like ya say, temps too high or too low causes them to be lethargic and stressed out.
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Keep the water temperature the same. The water temperature of an axolotl's house is very important. You should keep it 16 °C and 18 °C (60-64 °F). Cooler temperatures leads to lazy behaviour. Temperatures above 24 °C (75 °F) are very stressful to axolotls.
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I just wonder if they are really a good tankmate for goldfish, tho. Especially the fancy goldfish who do better with a higher temp ......more like 72-74? What will you do in the summer time when tank temps are hard to control and routinely shoot up to the mid 80's during the summer months?

[Gogi]

Yes, low temps will stall or stop your cycle. If they go low enough they will kill them.

How low does the Temp have to be to kill the cycle?

I am trying to research online but its hard to find exact values.

[Gogi]

I just wonder if they are really a good tankmate for goldfish, tho. Especially the fancy goldfish who do better with a higher temp ......more like 72-74?
It is recommended to keep axolotl in species tank. Either they will eat their tankmates or tankmates will nip on their gills or limbs.

What will you do in the summer time when tank temps are hard to control and routinely shoot up to the mid 80's during the summer months?
The room where the tank will be should be air conditioned all summer long. If for some reason it get too hot I plan on running the in/out take tubes through a cooler with ice, DIY chiller

I did see one tank at Caudata.org with one gold fish and one axolotl. The tank was a 55 gallon.