How Many Water Changes is too Many?

[pbkuhn123]

I am cycling a 36 gallon aquarium with 10 fish (I know too many, but I didn't know till too late). I am 12 days into it and ammonia levels have been minor, but two days ago ammonia spiked to a whopping 4.0! I am doing daily water changes ranging from 25-40% and using Prime when changing water and keep temps level. Ammonia did lower to 2.0 yesterday. However, I checked ammonia levels again tonight and it still registered at 2.0 even after a 25% water change today. I did read where API ammonia test will read both free ammonia and also non-toxic ammonia giving a higher reading when using Prime. Is this true? Also, should I leave my tank at it's current 2.0 or do yet another small water change for the second time today? I don't want to stress the fish further with excess water changes, but don't know if Prime will be enough to help them through this, albeit the fish are lively thus far. I ordered Seachem's Multi-test ammonia kit to make sure I am not stressing over non-toxic ammonia reading.

Would welcome feedback!

 

[joejeff]

Prime does effect the readings. I would stick w dailys for another week as caution. Fish safety first!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Coyne]

Frequent water changes will be less stressful to fish than high ammonia levels (and nitrite, when that starts up).
If your ammonia reads 2ppm, and you do a 25% PWC, then you'll have ammonia at around 1.5ppm when you're done... which is still pretty high.
Maybe when you're doing your PWCs, change out a larger volume. This way you'll have a larger impact and hopefully wont have to do them as frequently.

The downside (in my opinion) of a Fish-In cycle is that you end up having to do a lot of large, frequent water changing to keep the water safe. When my ammonia and nitrite readings would start spiking, I would end up doing 50% in the morning, another 50% in the afternoon, and one more 50% in the evening for a 2-3 day stretch.

 

[BBradbury]

Fish In Tank Cycling

Hello pb...

Cycling a tank with fish takes 3 to 4 hardy, small to medium sized adult fish for every 10 gallons of water. You get some floating plants like Hornwort and Anacharis to help out as filters.

You test the water daily for traces of ammonia and nitrite. If you have a positive test, change out a quarter of the tank water and replace that with pure, treated tap water.

You're keeping the fish relatively safe, but you're growing the biofilter. The living filter that will take over part of the job of keeping the water clean. If you remove too much water, you starve the good bacteria and you can delay the nitrogen cycle.

Just test the water every day and remove 25 percent when needed. When several daily tests show no traces of ammonia or nitrite, the tank is cycled.

B

 

[joejeff]

That's a lot of fish to put in a tank to cycle.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[MICEY]

there is no such thing as to much water changes , you can run fresh water into the tank and over flow it out nonstop for ever ,
if you did it enough you would not need a filter

 

[BBradbury]

Fish In Tank Cycling

Cycling a tank with fish is very efficient and safe for the fish, if you start with hardy fish. If you like egglayers, then Rasboras, Zebra Danios, Rosy Barbs and White Clouds are good. If you prefer livebearers, Platys and Guppies are good. These species have no trouble with water that's a bit high in nitrogen. The best part is, you have activity in the tank right away.

The water needs a steady source of ammonia to mix with oxygen and begin to grow the bacteria, so you should have 3 to 4 of these adult fish for every 10 gallons of tank volume. I cycled my 30 gallon with 8 adult female Guppies. All easily survived and had fry at the end of the cycle.

You should include floating plants like Hornwort and Anacharis. Both thrive on dissolved fish wastes and help steady the water chemisty. Have a good testing kit handy and test the water every day. If you have a trace of either ammonia or nitrite, you change a quarter of the water. This small change keeps the water safe for the fish and allows enough nitrogen in the water to feed your growing good bacteria. Don't forget to feed a little every couple of days or you won't get any waste from your fish.

Test and change the water until several daily tests show no trace of the above forms of toxic nitrogen. At this point, the tank is cycled. Then, you change half the tank water weekly to maintain pure water conditions for the fish and plants.

B

 

[Mebbid]

Prime does effect the readings. I would stick w dailys for another week as caution. Fish safety first!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Prime does not effect the readings of ammonia. Test kits read the total amount of ammonia in the water. This includes both the toxic ammonia and less toxic ammonium. These two chemicals are in constant flux in any aquarium due to fluctuating pH and temperature. Prime also has the effect of converting the ammonia to less toxic ammonium. The tests read exactly what it's supposed to. What you can't tell is how much of that ammonia in the tank is ammonia vs ammonium without fairly expensive testing equipment.

I am cycling a 36 gallon aquarium with 10 fish (I know too many, but I didn't know till too late). I am 12 days into it and ammonia levels have been minor, but two days ago ammonia spiked to a whopping 4.0! I am doing daily water changes ranging from 25-40% and using Prime when changing water and keep temps level. Ammonia did lower to 2.0 yesterday. However, I checked ammonia levels again tonight and it still registered at 2.0 even after a 25% water change today. I did read where API ammonia test will read both free ammonia and also non-toxic ammonia giving a higher reading when using Prime. Is this true? Also, should I leave my tank at it's current 2.0 or do yet another small water change for the second time today? I don't want to stress the fish further with excess water changes, but don't know if Prime will be enough to help them through this, albeit the fish are lively thus far. I ordered Seachem's Multi-test ammonia kit to make sure I am not stressing over non-toxic ammonia reading.

Would welcome feedback!

Whatever the concentration of ammonia vs ammonium it shouldn't matter. Ammonium is still toxic to fish although less toxic than ammonia. Whenever you have a reading of 0.5ppm ammonia or above then do a 50% water change. You can do multiple water changes daily provided you wait at least an hour between the changes. Once you get your ammonia under control you'll find it's a lot easier to keep under wraps then when it's as high as it is.

 

[joejeff]

I under explained my statement. Much better put mebbid

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[pbkuhn123]

Thanks all! This is VERY helpful. I will keep after the water changes. Ammonia is coming down now. I'm not there yet but getting closer with each change!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice