evaporating water

[blankenship]

Hi,

I've been cycling my tank for about two and a half weeks now. Things seem to be progressing smoothly, however the water level has decreased by about 3 inches. Should I add water back in to raise the level back up, or just leave it be and wait till the cycling is complete?

 

[Matt W]

Either way is fine...it shouldn't affect anything.

 

[OrionGirl]

While cycling, just adding topoff is fine. Once youget fish in there, you'll want to consider doing water changes frequently enough to avoid needing topoff. The reason: evaporation leaves higher concentrations of minerals and waste. Anything dissolved in the tank remains behind as the water leaves. This can result in fluctuating water parameters, especially when you do a water change, and rising levels of toxins. This is just my guide, but if I need more than 10% of the tank volume in topoff in 2 weeks, I do more frequent changes. Hence, I do water changes every week on all my tanks.

 

[blankenship]

Thanks for the guide. I think I'll just leave it for now, and after I add fish I'll stick to a weekly water change.