FishN00b83
Aquarium Advice FINatic
eco23 said:The beneficial bacteria is established in the filter media and the bio-film, there is virtually none in the actual water column, so pwc's do no harm. At the end of a fishless cycle the no3 is through the roof, so doing massive water changes is needed to get them down below 20.
If you're doing a 100% water change it should be done quickly though because you don't want the walls , substrate, deco, etc...to dry out. Even though the majority of BB is in the filter media, there's still some on all the surfaces of your tank...so dry bacteria = dead bacteria.
Ever since I got the aqueon water changer they couldn't get any quicker/easier. I don't think it gets any better then just turning the handle lol