The Host-Virus Evolutionary Dynamics Institute (HVEDI) studies virus systems across domains of life (Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya) with the goal of discovering common patterns, or “Rules of Life”, that persist across large groups of virus systems. Elements are a common currency across the tree of life. We are measuring elemental dynamics across microbial population growth and decay phases for various virus-infected hosts and examining the dynamics through the lens of biological and ecological stoichiometry to explore and integrate patterns. One of our core host-virus systems is Sulfolobus islandicus, a chemoautotrophic crenarchaeon that inhabits sulfuric geothermal pools and hot springs worldwide and that serves as a host for Sulfolobus Spindle-shaped Viruses (SSVs) as well as plasmids that may be strain-specific. We proposed that the presence of plasmids or viral replication should reduce host growth rates by altering requirements for P (by altering transcription), N (by altering translation), and/or C (by altering metabolism). The presence of plasmids in the host reduces viral production through translation interference. We cultured two strains of S. islandicus strain REN1H1, one (S17) that harbors two plasmids (i.e., pRN1 and pRN2) and another (S42) that is plasmid-free. Both were inoculated with SSV. The host without the plasmid grew faster and had a lower average CNP than the host with the plasmid providing the first evidence for the growth rate hypothesis in Archaea. Temporal patterns were driven by steady increases in host C-content throughout the experiment and greater N uptake/reduced P release by infected hosts during the second half of the study. Total dissolved elemental concentrations indicate that S42 growth acquired more C than N during the growth phase than S17 and S42 elemental uptake was greatly reduced during decay. This suggests that host-virus and ecosystem dynamics are regulated by mass balance tradeoffs associated with host growth and viral resilience.