When to do a water change in a new tank?

[Rafy0126]

Some help here please,

I just setup a 125 planted tank with dirt, is being running for almost 3 weeks, already did a big water change last weekend, water is still a bit cloudy.
Should I do another water change this weekend ? or give more time to cycle still fishless. I got a Fluval 405 and two Emperors 400. Plants are doing
good no algae, all good except for the cloudy water...

Your thoughts...

 

[candymancan]

Do daily 50% water changes until the cloudiness is gone.. The cloudy water is bacteria but it isn't the kind that eat ammonia.

 

[Rafy0126]

Yeap gess i'm doing a water change today. Thx

 

[Mebbid]

Do daily 50% water changes until the cloudiness is gone.. The cloudy water is bacteria but it isn't the kind that eat ammonia.

The cloudiness is a bacterial bloom like was said. But it is a type of bacteria that eats ammonia. It is there because with a cycling tank the parameters are out of whack allowing it to grow. No matter how many water changes you do there is nothing that will clear the water short of using antibiotics or a uv sterilizer.

Just let the bacterial bloom run its course and change out the water when necessary.


Are you doing a fish in or fishless cycle in this tank?

 

[Rafy0126]

Going fishless for now, I though upgrading my 405 for a Aquatop500uv because it has that uv light but the reviews are 50/50, im thinking going with a FX6. You mentioned the ammonia tested yesterday and is at 0. Still thinking of a big water change.

 

[Rivercats]

Depending on how many plants you have and they type of plants your tank may have already gone through a silent cycle. What are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings? My dirted 220 was silent cycled in 10 days and I had fish in it by day 14.

 

[Rafy0126]

The nitrite read 0 but the PH was around 7.4 or 7.5. I got a lots of plants to many to name. I'm gonna do the water change today around 75% maybe tomorrow add a fish or two no more. I guess the cloudy wster is part of a dirt tank cycle.

 

[Rivercats]

It's probably a bacterial bloom.

 

[Rafy0126]

Is that a good thing ?

 

[Rivercats]

It's quite normal and not a bad thing, most just annoying. They go away on their own usually from a couple days to a couple weeks. I had one last 3 weeks when I recently set up a new 24g tank. And just so you know WC's won't help. In fact if you do a WC and the cloudiness comes right back that is a sure sign you are having a bacterial bloom.

 

[Rafy0126]

 

[Rafy0126]

That's how it looks like

 

[Rivercats]

It's hard to tell how cloudy it is but it doesn't look bad. As I said if you do a WC and it clouds right back up it's a bacterial bloom and if it doesn't cloud right back up you have suspended particles in the water which can be filtered out with 100% Polyfill in your filter since the dirtier it gets the smaller the particles it will filter out.

 

[Rafy0126]

Yeap just did a big water change and added another polishing pad to my fluval. If the cloudiness comes back ill just wait. Might buy a couple fish this Sunday.