after the cycle

[angelofdeath132]

after the cycle is complete in my 55, do i do a water change right away? how much?

 

[ruaround]

IMO I wouldnt do one right away. The longer you let your system age without disturbing it the better off you are. Give it a couple weeks then do like a 5 to 10% WC. The longer you wait to put any inhabitants in it the better too. I would give it like 4 to 5 weeks then add a clean-up crew. After the clean-up crew I would give it another month or two then slowly add fish.

 

[ohscc]

I agree with ruaround. The slower you go and the more info you get, the more money and headaches you will save yourself. I also have a 55 gal aggressive tank and went slowly this time and so far so good.

 

[fshhub]

i would not do any water changes until the cycle is complete, but personally i would do one after it has completed

 

[frankl15207]

Agree with fshhub. In addition to being good for the system overall, it starts you into the right maintenance pattern. The longer you put it off, the more likely you are to not to do routine water changes.

 

[ruaround]

Why/How would letting your water age at the end of a cycle get you out of a habbit you havent even started? IMO the slower you go the better off you are. There is plenty of time after your system is established to do water changes.

 

[wildblue4]

i dont think the water change is an important as not adding too many fish to fast. i allways try to do a cycle with each new fish i add. basicaly one fish a month.

 

[richard rendos]

Do a weekly or biweekly check on your nitrates and do water changes according to how high they are. Keep them below 20 ppm and you should do fine. If they are not at or above 20 ppm, wait a week and measure again.

 

[bradburycf]

I don't see a point in waiting to do a water change once the cycle is complete either. Nitrates are just going to continue to increase if a water change isn't done. What is the point of that?

 

[demosthenes]

IMO, a 5% water change should be done no later than a day after the cycle is completed, and then you should check the nitrates biweekly, and do as Richard said. So, I basically said what Richard did, but I feel the 5% water change is neccesary to sort of "clean up" the system.
PS I don't understand why you would allow the water to age.

 

[ruaround]

hmmm...thats odd...I thought that nitrAte was the end of the nitrogen cycle and if there wasnt anything to produce it that it would eventually leave once converted into nitrogen.

 

[ruaround]

Originally posted by Demosthenes:
<strong>
PS I don't understand why you would allow the water to age.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Its the tank that ages. You let the bacteria grow so it can handle the bioload.