Beneficial Bacteria - Temperature Drop Die Off?

[Oliver]

Hey guys, 

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are regarding benefial bacteria. Specifically whether there would be a big die off due to a large temp drop. 

When setting up a new tank I like to 'kickstart' it by using media from an already cycled aquarium. If I fill the tank with water at say 10 degrees celcius (50f) and put the media straight in from a tank sitting at 25 degrees (77f) will there be a large die off? 

Interested to hear peoples thoughts! 

 

Oli 🙂 

[Daniel]

I doubt it. It might be a brief shock the bacteria's metabolism, but fatal? I doubt it. But for the sake of argument, let us say 90% of the beneficial bacteria did die. The remaining 10% through exponential growth would quickly bounce back to the earlier level if there were adequate nutrients.

And it is only 50°F for the (relatively) short amount of time it takes for the temperature to move back up to 77°, right? That doesn't seem like enough time to do permanent damage.

[MattyIce]

From what I understand at lower temps than ideal (below 65) it is more a hibernation than a die off. 

It might delay cycling due to the bacteria having to return to its active state, couldn't say how long of a delay, could be a few hours, could be a couple days. 

Depending on how soon you want to put fish in and how many fish, it might be worth it to get the water to 65 degrees before adding the sponge filter.