Water Changes ?

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Sonata

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I have a 30 gallon fresh water tank with fish in.
I am 1 week into cycling.
Nitrates & Nitrites are 0. Ammonia is 1 & the PH is 7.4.
I want to hear your views on water changes.
Do I leave as is, as some say ? Allowing the ammonia to spike, then decease as nitrites increase & finally an increase in nitrates & good bacteria.
Or, do water changes, to avoid spikes as some would say ? To do without spikes altogether.
Weigh in.
I expect to hear many differing opinions.
What would you do & why ?
Thanks. :)
Looking forward to a great sharing time. :)
 
I'd say the most important thing is patience.
You need to let it go through the cycle, no way around it.
Now, if you can get a piece of filter media... floss or sponge from an established tank, you could be done with the cycle fairly fast.
 
Cycling is a process that you just have to "sweat it out". I think that 1 ppm of ammonia is too high. I would like to suggest 'live' plants. Plants absorb ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates from the water. Diana Walstad refers to plants as 'mini filters in her book.

I perform water changes once a week. 50%. yeah it is a lot of work especially with 7 tanks! My tanks are high tech with CO2 though. I perform water changes so the plants are able to acquire the minerals that they need plus keep algae down.

If you want something a little easier with less frequent water changes may i suggest reading "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" by Diana Walstad. Diana describes how to use plants for a balanced ecosystem. You can also go to YouTube and view videos by 'Dustin's Fish Tanks'.

Basically it depends on your level of dedication to the hobby.
 
The problem with cycling with fish is the ammonia and nitrite are toxic to them. If you want to keep your fish safe and make sure their lifespan isn't shortened, you'll need to change enough water to keep the levels of ammonia and nitrite below 1ppm. The cycle slowly happen. Last fish in cycle I did took 6 weeks. A lot of water changes and testing daily. That is my opinion. Some fish can survive the increased levels of ammonia and nitrite but those fish tend to live shorter lives than fish not exposed to the toxins.
 
The problem with cycling with fish is the ammonia and nitrite are toxic to them. If you want to keep your fish safe and make sure their lifespan isn't shortened, you'll need to change enough water to keep the levels of ammonia and nitrite below 1ppm. The cycle slowly happen. Last fish in cycle I did took 6 weeks. A lot of water changes and testing daily. That is my opinion. Some fish can survive the increased levels of ammonia and nitrite but those fish tend to live shorter lives than fish not exposed to the toxins.

Thanks.
I don't have time to plant a tank.
I know I need patience. I have no problem with that. I enjoy working on my aquariums. I have for MANY years. I don't call water changes work.
I want a healthy tank & fish & crystal clear water.
I just want to do what is best, with what I have now.
 
Sounds like you're on the right track. Keep testing and changing water and you won't have a problem!
 
I'd say the most important thing is patience.
You need to let it go through the cycle, no way around it.
Now, if you can get a piece of filter media... floss or sponge from an established tank, you could be done with the cycle fairly fast.

Sorry, I was reading a bit too fast, didn't realize you were doing a fish in cycle.
You must do frequent water changes to keep the ammonia down to a safer level.
I always have done the cycle with fish in but it required attention to ammonia levels and plenty of water changes. Most likely your fish won't tolerate the spikes as done in a fishless cycle so this is where the water changes help and eventually you will have a cycled tank.
One thing that will help is if there is a way you could get a piece of filter media from a cycled tank into your filter as I mentioned before.
Good luck
 
+1^ filter media from an established tank will work wonders for speeding up your cycle. If you can get some that is a very good suggestion.
 
Not Changing

Sounds like you're on the right track. Keep testing and changing water and you won't have a problem!
Thanks. I am testing, but have not been doing water changes. My ammonia is 1. I have been told changing water is not a good thing. I started this thread to hear other opinions.
 
Doing water changes helps the cycle go faster by removing the backlog of nitrogen compounds the bacteria needs to process. So it does help speed things along but you do need to go through it. I also think you should dose something like Prime or Amquel+ to lock up the Ammonia and Nitrite to protect the fish. Some qualified people say this might slow down the cycle slightly but I still think it is kinder to the fish.
 
Thanks. I am testing, but have not been doing water changes. My ammonia is 1. I have been told changing water is not a good thing. I started this thread to hear other opinions.


It might not be a good thing to do water changes if you're doing a fishless cycle since the rise in ammonia is part of the cycle itself.
In your case, with fish in it, you'll have to change some of the water just to keep it safe for the fish.

The purpose to cycle a tank is to eventually get your filter to process ammonia and nitrites which are harmful to your fish, into nitrates which are way less harmful, that said, not changing the water as you're cycling with fish, goes against this.

Good luck with your tank.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice
 
Doing water changes helps the cycle go faster by removing the backlog of nitrogen compounds the bacteria needs to process. So it does help speed things along but you do need to go through it. I also think you should dose something like Prime or Amquel+ to lock up the Ammonia and Nitrite to protect the fish. Some qualified people say this might slow down the cycle slightly but I still think it is kinder to the fish.


a 30 gallon with ammonia 1ppm.
How many changes a week?
What percentage?
 
a 30 gallon with ammonia 1ppm.
How many changes a week?
What percentage?


When I did my fish in cycle, I was changing 25% every other day. I was also loosing fish often because that wasn't enough. I would try to do at least 30% every other day, you might be able to do every three days, if you changed 40%. That's the max I would change, though. Any more might slow the cycle too much.

Also, as was said, definitely use prime and/or API ammo lock. I'm sure there are others, but those are the two I'm familiar with.

Also, if you can get seeded material from another tank, and/or use bottled bacteria (the prior is preferred, but the latter will do if necessary. A combination is also good, that's what I'm doing with my planted tank) the cycle will go much faster. API, Tetra, and a couple others make the bottled bacteria.
 
a 30 gallon with ammonia 1ppm.
How many changes a week?
What percentage?


This is where test kits come in. Test daily as a cycle is different day by day and determine if a water change needs to be done.


Caleb
 
Well, how much how often depends on the levels. For example, if your trying to stay below 1ppm and your test says 1ppm, changing 50% would bring it down to .5ppm. If it was 2ppm changing 75% would bring it down to .5ppm. The percentage of water you change will directly correlate to the decrease in ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate.
 
Yeah, that is probably better advise: change based on your levels. For my tank, it correlated to roughly the percentages I stated in my above post, but ever tank is different, so you may end up needing to change more.
 
Well, how much how often depends on the levels. For example, if your trying to stay below 1ppm and your test says 1ppm, changing 50% would bring it down to .5ppm. If it was 2ppm changing 75% would bring it down to .5ppm. The percentage of water you change will directly correlate to the decrease in ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate.


+1

I've never done a fish in cycle though. Too much work. I stick to fishless so no need for water changes till the cycle completes.


Caleb
 
a 30 gallon with ammonia 1ppm.
How many changes a week?
What percentage?

As many as you feel like doing. There is no rule, it will eventually take care of itself. Mathematically, doing many small ones often is the same as doing a few big ones once in a while. I don't know how sensitive your fish are. I have done 10% and had neons die as well as doing 90% and had no problem with my cichlids. I think that I would pick a % that was very easy to do and do then so that the amount of ammonia was under 1ppm. Just to help things go faster. Don't over think it :) It's a living thing not a machine. Specific numbers are not as important as they seem. Just ranges. You are already in the right neighborhood. Keep it under 2ppm ammonia or nitrite and try not to worry. The lower you go the faster it cycles but I can't say exactly how fast because it is a living thing (bacteria) that will determine this and there are many factors.
 
Hard to Believe

When I did my fish in cycle, I was changing 25% every other day. I was also loosing fish often because that wasn't enough. I would try to do at least 30% every other day, you might be able to do every three days, if you changed 40%. That's the max I would change, though. Any more might slow the cycle too much.

Also, as was said, definitely use prime and/or API ammo lock. I'm sure there are others, but those are the two I'm familiar with.

Also, if you can get seeded material from another tank, and/or use bottled bacteria (the prior is preferred, but the latter will do if necessary. A combination is also good, that's what I'm doing with my planted tank) the cycle will go much faster. API, Tetra, and a couple others make the bottled bacteria.

The water in my tank is so clear & the fish appear in excellent condition. It is hard to believe that something could go wrong, but I realize it could.
 
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