If you are doing a fishless cycle, then you may be interested in this work I resurrected from 1952.
Perhaps you've even known someone that has had a tank stall during it's bacterial cycle/start-up phase?
This may be why. It appears that besides ammonia, there are a few required elements for those bacteria to survive.
Most are provided by the seawater we mix-
NH3 (ammonia, aka- NH4OH as aqueous)
CO2
Magnesium &
Phosphorous, just 0.02 milligrams per liter, minimum, but it HAS to be there! So, about 0.06 mg/Liter of phosphate will do, or 0.23 milligrams per gallon. A very small amount!
"THE nutrient requirements of the autotrophic nitrifying bacteria are simple, but among the elements which seem to be essential for them are phosphorus and magnesium. Bömeke1 reported that Nitrobacter would not grow in media from which either phosphate or magnesium was omitted; and Nitrosomonas would not grow in medium with magnesium omitted. Wimmer2 found that phosphate was necessary for the growth of both organisms, but the minimum requirement was only 0.02 mgm. phosphorus per litre for both Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas."
www.nature.com
Perhaps you've even known someone that has had a tank stall during it's bacterial cycle/start-up phase?
This may be why. It appears that besides ammonia, there are a few required elements for those bacteria to survive.
Most are provided by the seawater we mix-
NH3 (ammonia, aka- NH4OH as aqueous)
CO2
Magnesium &
Phosphorous, just 0.02 milligrams per liter, minimum, but it HAS to be there! So, about 0.06 mg/Liter of phosphate will do, or 0.23 milligrams per gallon. A very small amount!
"THE nutrient requirements of the autotrophic nitrifying bacteria are simple, but among the elements which seem to be essential for them are phosphorus and magnesium. Bömeke1 reported that Nitrobacter would not grow in media from which either phosphate or magnesium was omitted; and Nitrosomonas would not grow in medium with magnesium omitted. Wimmer2 found that phosphate was necessary for the growth of both organisms, but the minimum requirement was only 0.02 mgm. phosphorus per litre for both Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas."
Minimum Phosphate and Magnesium Requirements of Nitrifying Bacteria - Nature
THE nutrient requirements of the autotrophic nitrifying bacteria are simple, but among the elements which seem to be essential for them are phosphorus and magnesium. Bömeke1 reported that Nitrobacter would not grow in media from which either phosphate or magnesium was omitted; and Nitrosomonas...
www.nature.com