Should I change water during cycling?

[Bubbleguppy]

I made a post earlier about the 10 gallon i'm currently cycling and I've looked for information on whether or not I should do water changes , however answers are varied. I do weekly water changes on my 2.5 gallon I've had a year and use now as a hospital tank, I plan to water change tomorrow and am curious if I should change water at all and if I should, how much of the water ? My research has concluded 10% if I am to change the water during cycling, but i'm not sure.

 

[Fishanatic]

Definitely do small water changes if this is a fishless aquarium cycle. Ive found that the sweet spot is about 2-3ppm of ammonia for the fastest and most efficient cycle. Also, this will allow proper oxygenation for the bacteria to thrive as well. Nothing too drastic, 10% should suffice.

 

[Fishanatic]

Definitely do small water changes if this is a fishless aquarium cycle. Ive found that the sweet spot is about 2-3ppm of ammonia for the fastest and most efficient cycle. Also, this will allow proper oxygenation for the bacteria to thrive as well. Nothing too drastic, 10% should suffice.

I will add that water changes are not necessary in fishless cycles, but will help if youre trying to keep your ammonia in line.

 

[King Fisher]

Agree with Fish. Do 20% changes if the ammonia gets high. For me anything over 4 ppm. I don't disagree with 2-3. I've done fish in cycles with a lot less in about a month.

 

[agrasyuk]

if the cycle is fishless why would ammonia over 5ppm be of any problem?

 

[King Fisher]

I've heard of tanks not cycling or having difficulty cycling at 5 or more. I've never kept it that high and have had success cycling fairly quickly. If there's no difference then all is well.

 

[dylanp]

I do salt water so obviously we do stuff differently. How ever bb isn't in the water it forms on the substrate and on whatever you have in the tank. I've cycled lots of tanks and I hardly do any water changes until the ammonia levels drop significantly from its peak. You could do the whole cycle without a water change if you really wanted and do a 90% water change when it's done. The ammonia levels will drop as the bb grows and turn it to nitrites when your nitrates spike is when you want to Do water changes. If you're continuously doing water changes at the ammonia and nitrite stage you'll just be restarting your cycle as the bb doesn't have the nutrients to feed off and will die and cause another ammonia spike

 

[King Fisher]

Interesting concept. In my early years I once dumped over a half dozen fish in an uncycled tank. Needless to say I had a bacteria bloom which caused ich in my entire tank of fish. I was doing water changes twice a day for weeks and I inevitability cycled the tank trying to get rid of the ich. My ammonia never went over 1 ppm after I started my ich treatment and the tank cycled within three weeks with an in fish cycle based strictly off a lack of knowledge. I'm not saying high ammonia cycles aren't possible but I'm positive low ammonia cycles do work as well with daily water changes.

 

[dylanp]

That's because you had a bunch of fish in the aquarium causing nutrients for bb to feed off. You can easily cycle a tank with fish in it it's just a lot more of a hassle and a lot of up keep to not stress your fish. It's also frowned upon as most first time fish keepers just fill up a tank of water not knowing anything about the cycling process and ant water testing as an end result over load the system. Obviously not in your case. I'm just trying to help a fellow fish activist out and try to avoid those bumps

 

[coralbandit]

Some have claimed the cycle stalls with ammonia too high..
What is too high? I know several who used the fishless method that you added ammonia daily after getting 4 ppmm [the same amount originally added to get 4ppm] until you saw nitirtes then cut dose in half or kept it the same but only added every other day.
While I have heard others who say once over 5-8ppm it will take much longer ?
I know Caliban had a conversion for ammonia to nitrite and according to that you are going to get like 3-4ppm[ I think ,maybe even higher] nitrite per ppm of ammonia so going high can have lasting slowed effects with all the nitrites that will need to be processed also ...
I am old enough to have cycled fish in regularly and fishless with fish food !
We used to just pretend we were feeding our invisible fish and the tank would cycle without any water changes till the end as dylanp said..
I cycled my 75 g marine in one month only testing when the month was up !
That tank is 4-5 years old easy and many of the fish originally stocked after the cycle are still in it ...
Being patient and not having calendar goals is a big mental health crutch in cycling IMO...If you are in a hurry get some seeded media to add or possibly even try using one of the bottled bacteria.
Dr.Tims One and Only and Tetra Safe Start [TSS] are the two best trusted ones...
I would if cycling new do an ammonia fishless with the bacteria added...I have read of people [I know] who stocked their 75g in one week with out issue using this method...

 

[Bubbleguppy]

Thank you and I have another question, I recently bought Pure Ammonia, and im reading currently as of today , at 1 ppm , should I add 2 ppm of Ammonia or leave it be and keep putting fish food in and waiting for it to increase?

 

[smallfry53]

I'm not sure what level of ammonia is the best, however I would stop putting fish food in. It makes a mess, and the purpose is just to create ammonia, which you already have. Good luck.

 

[fishytales]

Ammonia between 2 and 4 ppm works best. Don’t go beyond 4, I’ve had that stall my cycle. If you have seeded media, all the better...

 

[fishytales]

I echo smallfrys thoughts on food.