To Change The Water or Not, That Is The Question

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AlanofSmith

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Dec 12, 2011
Messages
9
Location
Wallingford, Connecticut
I am three and a half weeks into cycling (fish-in) my children's new 20 gallon freshwater aquarium. We have an Aqueon 20 gallon deluxe aquarium which included a 24" lighting hood, QuietFlow power filtration, and 100 watt submersible heater. The substrate is a mix of black and tan, pea sized stone. There are three ceramic decorative pieces including a large and small coral reef in bright blue, yellow, and pink as well as a medium sized piece of off-white coral. We have two plants which are not looking good (giant hygrophila and subulata) as well as a Japanese moss ball. The tank is currently stocked with four Glofish (2 pink & 2 yellow) which are genetically altered Zebra Danio.


My son is in Kindergarten and has been testing the water every three days for Ammonia, pH, Hardness, Alkalinity, Nitrates, and Nitrites and recording the data. My (almost) 2 year old daughter loves to help do the drops for the tests. We have been doing a 20-50% water change every Sunday. This past week the Ammonia finally spiked up to .5 ppm. As of this evening the Ammonia is back down to zero and the Nitrites have risen to .5 ppm. Everything seems to be going as expected.

I have four questions:
1. Should I do regular water changes while the Nitrogen process is initially occurring? There seems to be differing opinions online. I did not do a water change yesterday for fear of messing things up.

2. Knowing that I have a 20 gallon tank and four Zebra Danio, how long can I expect the Nitrites to last, when will the Nitrates develop, and how long will they last?

3. I have a brown film developing on the glass and all over the substrate and decorations. Is that something I should worry about while the tank is cycling? If so what recommendations do you have? (water changes, brushing everything off, washing the decorations in tap water which is chlorinated, etc)

4. My plants look terrible (except the moss ball). From what I understand the plants used during the cycling process should be considered disposable. Is that true or am I doing something wrong?

My children and I are very excited to continue (slowly) stocking our tank once the initial cycling has completed. The advise on this forum has helped us in avoiding many beginner mistakes.

Thank you for your advise,
Alan Smith
Wallingford, Connecticut
 
Hi Alan & welcome!!!! Ill try to help out a bit & i am sure others shall as well!

1. water changes- very important! While your tank is cycling, you want to check your water daily for ammonia & nitrites. When these levels reach .25ppm (or higher), you will need to do water changes to get these levels below .25ppm to keep your fish healthy. Ammonia & nitrite are very toxic to your fish. Just make sure you dose water conditioner for the size of your tank & match the temp of the new water to your tank water. Water changes will not hurt/affect your cycle & will keep your fish healthy. Once your tank is cycled, weekly water changes will help to remove the buildup of dissolved substances & reduce nitrate levels. Do not be afraid of water changes!!

2. nitrites- The nitrite phase is the longest & can last a 1-3wks (or longer)before they zero out. Because you only have a few small fish, your bioload is very light. You probably wont see high spikes in amm or nitrite which is a good thing. Just stay on top of your testing & water changes to keep your fish healthy.

3. brown film- This is a diatom outbreak which is common in new tanks. It should resolve itself on its own over a period of time. You are fine to wipe it off the glass & rinse any items with a brown coating in dechlorinated water (plants, decor). Weekly gravel vacs should help to remove it off of your rocks. Its nothing to worry about!

4. plants- Plants can survive cycling just fine & can even help it along. You will have to look at the bulbs in your stock light fixture & see what they are. It may not be sufficient lighting for the plants you have. You should consider looking into some low-tech, low-light plants (anubias, mosses, etc) that will be fine for your present setup. If you do a search on here, you will find a bunch of threads with recommendations for low-tech plants.

Good luck with your new tank & do not hesitate to ask more questions!!! We are all here to help! :)
 
Okay, I may have made first newbie mistake ...

I just completed my water change (I always do them on Sundays but skipped it this week until I received JLK's response).

HOWEVER, the water conditioner that the LPS sold me is Kordon AmQuel Plus. After doing my water change, I read the bottle a little closer and discovered it detoxifies Chlorine & Chloramines, which is good. It also detoxifies Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia. Is this okay or did I just ruin everything I have worked towards in the past three and a half weeks? If this is not good, can you recommend a good water conditioner?

Thanks for the advise,
Alan Smith
Wallingford, CT
 
Okay, I may have made first newbie mistake ...

I just completed my water change (I always do them on Sundays but skipped it this week until I received JLK's response).

HOWEVER, the water conditioner that the LPS sold me is Kordon AmQuel Plus. After doing my water change, I read the bottle a little closer and discovered it detoxifies Chlorine & Chloramines, which is good. It also detoxifies Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia. Is this okay or did I just ruin everything I have worked towards in the past three and a half weeks? If this is not good, can you recommend a good water conditioner?

Thanks for the advise,
Alan Smith
Wallingford, CT

The water conditioner you are using is fine! When its gone, you can consider switching to Prime or another conditioner. This will not affect your cycle & will help to detox any detectable ammonia/nitrite that is present up to 2ppm. This conditioner does not remove the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate- it merely converts them to less toxic forms for a period of @24hrs. The less toxic forms are still usable by your bacteria & will not affect your cycle. Your primary objective is to detox chlorine/chloramines (which this product does) which can harm both your bacteria & your fish. The only thing you will have to watch with this particular product is that it will reduce oxygen levels for a period of time after using it-just make sure your tank is well aerated. Hope this helps!
 
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