I've had my tank about 2 and a half weeks now. ITs a 10g and i havn't done any water changes because i was told it slows down the cycling process. When should i do this water change or should i have done it already cause my tank is definately cycled. Also i used just tap water and dechlorinated it. IS this fine. My water here in edmonton is pretty good and i was just wondering since i had such a small tank if i should use distilled water?
cycle
- Thread starter brent6969
- Start date
I would use reverse osmosis water. You can usually get it out front of your grocery store for .30 a gallon where I live or the LFS.
The question is - Is your tank cycled? You will see a spike in Ammonia, the nitrite, then nitrate. If you are 14 days into it, get your test kit out and test all of these. My guess is you are in the nitrite phase that will start showing high. Once it is completely cycled, I would do a water change. On average, this takes about 30 - 40 days doing it totally naturally without throwing shrimp or fish in there.
Mike
The question is - Is your tank cycled? You will see a spike in Ammonia, the nitrite, then nitrate. If you are 14 days into it, get your test kit out and test all of these. My guess is you are in the nitrite phase that will start showing high. Once it is completely cycled, I would do a water change. On average, this takes about 30 - 40 days doing it totally naturally without throwing shrimp or fish in there.
Mike
Every tank is going to be different. My cycle took just under 2 weeks. I added 70 lbs of live rock and spiked the tank with clear ammonia because there wasn't enough die-off on the rock to provide any ammonia. I tested twice daily and saw the ammonia disappear very fast, nitrite spiked and stayed there for a day or so then nitrate came up. Then an algae bloom took care of the nitrates. This was all within the first week. That's when I added my cleaner crew. The following week I contiued daily testing and saw that all the parameters had stabilized. At the end of that week I added 3 blue-green chromis and an algae blenny. All are doing superb, as are the Zoanthids and all the other critters that hitch hiked in with my live rock.
Very unconventional way to cycle a tank but it's worked wonderfully for me.
Very unconventional way to cycle a tank but it's worked wonderfully for me.
My tank tank cycled pretty much the same way as Wrench's. Mine is a 36gal tank with about 25lbs of LR and 15 lbs of base rock. I cycled using a raw prawn (just it in some pantyhose and let it decay). It took a few days for the ammonia to register, and the spike wasn't a real big one either. The max my ammonia went up to was 1.5 ppm. The tank registered all 0's in close to 2 weeks and stayed there. Just to make sure that it was cycled, I dosed the tank with some pure ammonia and overnight the NH3 and NO2 were back down to zero. The higest my NO3 went up to was 20 ppm ... its down to 10 now and stays there.
You'll need a fairly large water change after the cycle has compeleted. Make sure you have 0's on your NH3 and NO2 for a few days straight before considering your tank cycled. Only then will you need a water change.
Lastly, I would also highly recommend using RO water for your tank. Its much better for the overall health of the tank and critters.
Cheers!
Yash
You'll need a fairly large water change after the cycle has compeleted. Make sure you have 0's on your NH3 and NO2 for a few days straight before considering your tank cycled. Only then will you need a water change.
Lastly, I would also highly recommend using RO water for your tank. Its much better for the overall health of the tank and critters.
Cheers!
Yash