do water changes delay cycling? will it make cycling LONGER?

[Bubble_Boy]

i haven't done water changes yet.
I'm into week 3.


will water changes delay/interrupt cycling and make cycling go longer?


also
when doing water changes during cycling.
How much water do u change? do u change enough water that the ammonia and nitrite reading = 0 (ALL THE TIME)????

also.
do u vacuum the gravel during the water change?

[Rocket2001]

from my short experience..water changes may delay cycling, but I stress MAY. They may not..
but you do not want to vacumn for quite a while. The wastes in the gravel bed is where your benifical bactiria is growing (along with your filter).
As for how much and how often..I have heard so many different answers to that. i guess it depends on how big your tank is and how many fish you have...but from all the different suggestions I've heard I would say 20-25% of yor water volume.
I would just do this once and only because your having ammonia problems. I wouldn't do it again while cycling unless you absolutly had to.

But maybe some members with more experince can comment..it still kind of a rookie. Tank Girl knows her stuff hopfully she'll pick up this thread

[BrianNY]

Good question. Are you cycling with or without fish? If you're cycling without fish there is no need to change water. If you're cycling with fish, then water changes are needed just to combat the effects of ammonia and nitrite spikes.

Doing a water change has no impact on cycling as you're removing the "nasty stuff" from your water column, not your filter beds. If your water contains chlorine and or chloramines you must use a conditioner to remove that. Chlorine will kill your good bacteria.

[yanek]

When I re-started my tank after "the move" <shudder>... I used some LR from my old tank, much LR from the LFS, mostly new sand and CC in a DSB and some live sand from my old tank. Water was all new. I didn't run the skimmer during cycling. I did water changes every day for the first five days or so; 10%. I then dropped it to 5G every other day. Basically I adjusted what I did based on readings. I have that chart around somewhere, maybe hmm.... My cycle lasted 11 days.

FWIW