Water Change After Cycling?

M

MiSan

AC Members
Dec 30, 2007
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I am trying to get my head around the water cycling.:help:
Will live plants start a tank cycle?

Why change out most of your water when you get the desired results?

When I had my 35 gal tank years ago we did not do water changes just added water due to evaporation. Yet here I am reading that you change a larger portion of your water quite regularly.
We are getting close to having water in the tank so and starting to cycle. I have decided on a Rena filter. Still deciding on a heater and what type of light. One thing at a time. We will read more posts and decide. Making ourselves go slow.
 
Have you seen...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598

The live plants will help your tank over all and minimize build up of nitrates.

You change out the majority of the water when you have been doing a fishless cycle where you started the cycle with an ammonia source or raw shrimp/fish food.

When doing the fishless cycle, the ammonia source simulates the fish waste. As bacteria develop to consume the ammonia, nitrites are formed. Bacteria will develop to convert the nitrites to nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites are very harmful to fish.

The end result of the cycle gives you nitrates, bad at high levels. The large water change at the end of the fishless cycle is get the nitrates down, back under 20 ppm.

So you will see ammonia steady at about 5 ppm if you dose correctly and maintained. As the cycle progresses ammonia will go down and you will continue to dose to bring ammonia back up. Start testing for nitrites, and you will see them climb. Very high in fact. Eventually, nitrates will show up and the nitrites will start going down.

When you see ammonia and nitrites at zero, 24 hrs after dosing the ammonia, your cycle is done and you do the large water change.

Regular water changes is what maintains the consistency and stability in your tank. Replacing for evaporation only doesn't replace items that are being consumed to maintain your pH and trace elements in the water.

Evaporation doesn't remove the toxins in the tank and replacing for evaporation just reduces their concentration for a short term.

By doing the regular water changes, you are removing other impurities that exist from the fish waste and adding back in fresh water. Think of taking a bath, and leaving the water in the tub. Some of it leaks out and all you do for your next bath is to add more water. You would still be sitting in the old dirt from the last one, but the tub was full for the new bath. Not a healthy choice.
 
MiSan,
Welcome to AC and welcome back to the hobby. I remember that I used to do exactly as you said. We would fill a tank with water, wait a few days, put some sacrificial fish in the tank and wait. When fish stopped dropping dead it was time to add the fish you really wanted.
The essence of this new approach is to save those fish we used to kill by using water changes and if possible by substituting ammonia for dead fish. It seems to work and now an aged water approach is considered a poor sustitute for proper cycling. Plants still help your fish as they always did but the people who change some water every week are the mainstream instead of being the ones who have been misled.
Good luck with your fish. After reading about this modern method I have found it very effective. Again welcome back
 
Thanks for the link and the comments. So if I have this right I could get the filter from my daughters 10 gal and some gravel place them in the tank and that would be enough to get a cycle started or is it better to try the pure ammonia. The ammonia would not affect the plants?
 
The filter media and gravel will give you a sample of the bacteria that you want. If you use the ammonia method lightly, that bacteria will be fed and grow quickly in the new tank. The idea of seeding the tank is to get some of the right stuff in the tank right away. Otherwise you would be putting the ammonia in the water and just waiting until some bacteria showed up by pure chance. The seeding will definitely make it take less time to get cycled.
 
Save yourself a lot of grief and fishless cycle without any live plants. Ammonia is the #1 cause of algae problems and plants need light. Ammonia in the water + light is a recipe from green water. Once the tank is cycled, and you have your fish stock in there. Wait until they are known to be disease free before you start adding plants. Will save you a lot of hassle.

Seeding is a good idea. I started my first tank from scratch and it took 28 days to fishless cycle without seeding. I used pathmark brand clear ammonia to do the job.
 
A lot will also depend on how you wish to stock your tank. If you wish to stock a few fish at a time then the seeding material (ie gravel and filter media) will probably be enough to keep things stable. If you want to add all your fish at once then you will want to grow that initial bacteria to a greater level first. Test kits will be esential either way to initially test when water changes are needed and how much. If you add fish right away then live plants are a great choice as they will help keep the water in much better condition.
 
rbishop said:
By doing the regular water changes, you are removing other impurities that exist from the fish waste and adding back in fresh water. Think of taking a bath, and leaving the water in the tub. Some of it leaks out and all you do for your next bath is to add more water. You would still be sitting in the old dirt from the last one, but the tub was full for the new bath. Not a healthy choice.
Click to expand...


best metaphor ever.

love. it.
 
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