cycling tank
- Thread starter silentm
- Start date
ktsdad
Member
It is not really a cut and dry answer to your question about when to do water changes.
You really don't want to do water changes until your ammonia and nitrIte have spiked and then back to zero.
You need the ammonia in your water to force your bio-filtration to deal with it which will get it down to zero. At this point your nitrIte will spike and that will force your bio-filtration to deal with that also. This is when your nitrAte will spike and that is when you want to start water changes.
But on the other hand you don't want your ammonia to get to high because it will start killing some of the hitchhikers that came on your live rock.
I would do a 25% water change if your ammonia starts getting above .50, then keep an eye on it and repeat as necessary. Of course you need to always use RO/DI water to mix your salt with for your water changes and that needs to be mixing for at least 24 hours before you use it!
Be patient, sometimes this can take a few weeks to finish. Don't try to hurry it by adding any bottles of snake oil that your LFS may try to sell you!
You really don't want to do water changes until your ammonia and nitrIte have spiked and then back to zero.
You need the ammonia in your water to force your bio-filtration to deal with it which will get it down to zero. At this point your nitrIte will spike and that will force your bio-filtration to deal with that also. This is when your nitrAte will spike and that is when you want to start water changes.
But on the other hand you don't want your ammonia to get to high because it will start killing some of the hitchhikers that came on your live rock.
I would do a 25% water change if your ammonia starts getting above .50, then keep an eye on it and repeat as necessary. Of course you need to always use RO/DI water to mix your salt with for your water changes and that needs to be mixing for at least 24 hours before you use it!
Be patient, sometimes this can take a few weeks to finish. Don't try to hurry it by adding any bottles of snake oil that your LFS may try to sell you!