Is it okay to do two 50% water changes per day in an emergency while fish in cycling?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

eduguy

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Aug 14, 2012
Messages
975
An emergency as in Ammonia levels are very high even after doing a 50% PWC.
 
Do you know why this has happened ??

Just make sure you don't compromise your filtration medium because that is where your beneficial bacteria lives..


I would maybe make the 2nd water change a 30% wait a day and do another 30%

But the question remains why is it high ?
 
Do you know why this has happened ??

Just make sure you don't compromise your filtration medium because that is where your beneficial bacteria lives..


I would maybe make the 2nd water change a 30% wait a day and do another 30%

But the question remains why is it high ?

The filtration medium won't be compromised because the filter is still running, right? If so, that plan sounds good. I guess I'll just make sure the water temps are matched really well.
 
Your tank is cycling. 30% water changes are not going to do much.

Generally speaking I would try to wait 4 hours between large water changes but high ammonia is much more dangerous than frequent water changes. Do a 90% change if you have to.

How high is ammonia and what do you have in the tank?
 
Change water until it is under .5 ,no matter how much.
The when ammonia gets over 1 change 50%.
The % of water change is how much nutrient is removed...SO if your ammonia was 5 and you did a 50% wc it would then be 2.5[assuming no ammonia in your source].
For others worried about bacteria and the filter ,the title says FISH IN CYCLING....
Change water ,get yourself some Prime to help you out maybe.
It can dose up to 5X normal to convert ammonia ,and nitrites [which are more lethal then ammonia and coming next probably]for 2 days..It will not effect your cycle.It converts ammonia to the non toxic form assuming the filter will deal with it ,which may help your filter grow at a reasonable pace....

Tank size and fish in it during this cycling ?
I fish in cycled for years[no TSS or one and only back then ,or the knowledge of fishless cycling] ,you just need to check your parameters daily now that the first nutrient is showing.
 
Hello edu...

Large water changes may help the fish, but will starve the bacteria and delay the cycle. This is why you always use a hardy fish species that will more easily tolerate changes in the water chemistry. You simply feed the fish a little every day or two to maintain a steady ammonia source and test the water daily for traces of ammonia and nitrite. If you have a positive test for either, change out 25 percent of the water. This keeps the water in a safer zone for the fish and gives the bacteria something to grow on.

Just test daily and remove and replace one-quarter of the water. When several daily tests show no traces of the above forms of nitrogen, the tank is cycled. Then, just change out half or more of the water every few days to maintain healthy water conditions for the fish.

Pretty east,

B
 
Hello edu...

Large water changes may help the fish, but will starve the bacteria and delay the cycle. This is why you always use a hardy fish species that will more easily tolerate changes in the water chemistry. You simply feed the fish a little every day or two to maintain a steady ammonia source and test the water daily for traces of ammonia and nitrite. If you have a positive test for either, change out 25 percent of the water. This keeps the water in a safer zone for the fish and gives the bacteria something to grow on.

Just test daily and remove and replace one-quarter of the water. When several daily tests show no traces of the above forms of nitrogen, the tank is cycled. Then, just change out half or more of the water every few days to maintain healthy water conditions for the fish.

Pretty easy,

B
 
Hello edu...

Large water changes may help the fish, but will starve the bacteria and delay the cycle. This is why you always use a hardy fish species that will more easily tolerate changes in the water chemistry. You simply feed the fish a little every day or two to maintain a steady ammonia source and test the water daily for traces of ammonia and nitrite. If you have a positive test for either, change out 25 percent of the water. This keeps the water in a safer zone for the fish and gives the bacteria something to grow on.

Just test daily and remove and replace one-quarter of the water. When several daily tests show no traces of the above forms of nitrogen, the tank is cycled. Then, just change out half or more of the water every few days to maintain healthy water conditions for the fish.

Pretty east,

B

I just did 50% about 5 hours ago and I tested the water with the API Freshwater kit and I still have 1.0PPM of ammonia and my fish is acting unusually. Not much movement. Should I do another 50%?
 
I just did 50% about 5 hours ago and I tested the water with the API Freshwater kit and I still have 1.0PPM of ammonia and my fish is acting unusually. Not much movement. Should I do another 50%?

50% will only bring it down .5. You might as well do 75%.
 
50% will only bring it down .5. You might as well do 75%.

Should I be cleaning my filter while changing the water once per week or would this hurt the BB too much?
 
Should I be cleaning my filter while changing the water once per week or would this hurt the BB too much?

Yeah, you should leave the filter alone as much as possible during your cycle.

The important thing is replacing the ammonia filled water with clean water.
 
Add a bottle of Dr Tim's, wait 8 to 12 hours and do PWC.
 
Change water until it is under .5 ,no matter how much.
The when ammonia gets over 1 change 50%.
The % of water change is how much nutrient is removed...SO if your ammonia was 5 and you did a 50% wc it would then be 2.5[assuming no ammonia in your source].
For others worried about bacteria and the filter ,the title says FISH IN CYCLING....
Change water ,get yourself some Prime to help you out maybe.
It can dose up to 5X normal to convert ammonia ,and nitrites [which are more lethal then ammonia and coming next probably]for 2 days..It will not effect your cycle.It converts ammonia to the non toxic form assuming the filter will deal with it ,which may help your filter grow at a reasonable pace....

Tank size and fish in it during this cycling ?
I fish in cycled for years[no TSS or one and only back then ,or the knowledge of fishless cycling] ,you just need to check your parameters daily now that the first nutrient is showing.

Good advice. You are doing a FISH IN cycle. Fish cannot live with high ammonia. You have two choices...1. Do lots of water changes to keep the ammonia and later Nitrites down. or 2. Get rid of the fish and continue to cycle fishless. Without lots of water changes option 2 is the default.
 
yeah listen to these guys.. High ammonia is troublesome

I've never really dealt with high ammonia but you are wielding a double edge sword..

1.) You have to get ammonia down, so water changes
2.) frequent water changes are not beneficial to the bacteria you need to covert ammonia to less harmful nitrates

If you have a friend with a fish tank and you trust this friends ability with tanks you might be able to grab some water from your friends fish tank to speed things up.. or get some filtration medium and soak it in your friends cycled fish tank and then place it in yours. this should accelerate the process some
 
The water is not important, there is no beneficial bacteria in the water, it is the ammonia that establishes your beneficial bacteria. Frequent water changes and low ammonia don't allow the ammonia eating bacteria to establish as fast. So the ammonia is bad for the fish and good for the cycle. You need low ammonia to keep the fish healthy and plenty of ammonia to help establish the cycle. Basically you are caught in the middle. The best solution is water changes often and big enough to protect the fish even if it takes longer for the cycle to complete.
 
You can easily and safely do multiple 50% water changes daily. Simply wait at least 2 hours between water changes and everything will be fine. It's best to drop ammonia as low as possible. Many people have been stating to keep it no higher 0.5ppm, I prefer 0.25ppm; however either will be relatively safe.

Frequent testing of the water and very light feedings will be your friend right now.



Hello edu...

Large water changes may help the fish, but will starve the bacteria and delay the cycle. This is why you always use a hardy fish species that will more easily tolerate changes in the water chemistry. You simply feed the fish a little every day or two to maintain a steady ammonia source and test the water daily for traces of ammonia and nitrite. If you have a positive test for either, change out 25 percent of the water. This keeps the water in a safer zone for the fish and gives the bacteria something to grow on.

Just test daily and remove and replace one-quarter of the water. When several daily tests show no traces of the above forms of nitrogen, the tank is cycled. Then, just change out half or more of the water every few days to maintain healthy water conditions for the fish.

Pretty easy,

B

Water changes will not "Starve" a cycle. If there is detectable ammonia in the water then there is more than enough ammonia to grow bacteria.
 
Frequent water changes and low ammonia don't allow the ammonia eating bacteria to establish as fast.

Personally, I have not had more ammonia cause the cycle to go measurably faster. Especially in a fish-in cycle where the ammonia load is going to drop off once the bacteria catches up.
 
Back
Top Bottom