New tank; water changes

[alhaase]

I have an Oceanic 54 gal, and the water has now been in for 2 weeks, the live rock (cured, supposedly) has been in for 6 days. Filtration is running, including an extra powerhead for circulation. Water quality tests say everything is fine. Should I be doing water changes during this time, and if so how much? Or do water changes not begin until livestock is added? This will be a fish and invertebrate setup.

Thanks.

 

[OrionGirl]

If there's no ammonia/nitrite, I'd be concerned that the bacteria aren't established yet. Try challenging the setup with some ammonia--raise it to at least 1 ppm, wait 24 hours, and test again. Otherwise, water changes are done to prevent toxins from reaching harmful levels and restore trace elements.