Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/3181141
ok. his tank is reading 0 on ammonia and nitrite, which means his aerobic biological filtration is working...... not trashed as you said, it is functioning fine. 90% of biological bacteria inhabits the surface of objects in whats called a bio-film. a 100% waterchange will not remove biofilm. *(a pressure washer would be hard pressed to remove bio-film). unless he lets his tank dry out all the established bacteria is still there, and active.
I would like to know how a 100% waterchange WILL cause a cycle, I have done many many 100% waterchanges over the years and not once has it caused a cycle. feel free to educate me on how changing water kill all the bacteria in a tank.
as for my Intolerance as you call it, I was telling a DIFFERENT poster that you can buy used water and that post wasnt directed at you at all. you seem to feel the need for confrontation. I do not understand why.
Usibng "grunge" and/or used water in the set up of a tank IS a common practice to seed bacteria..... (about 10% grunge water to 90% new is the most reccomended route, not 100% old water, feel free to ask anthony calfo, or bob fenner if you dont believe me) the bacteria is already there there is no added benifit from using used water in this case. this is not a new tank this is an established tank with established biofiltration.
I think you wont find any highly expirienced long time reefers reccomending a waterchange with used water, unless they are the ones selling it to you.
I really dont have the time to address all the things I disagree with in this post. I will just deal with the re-cycling...
First off, you say you've done 100% water changes in the past - "many many times" in fact - and never had a cycle??? This has me confused. I mean, I gotta wonder why you were in such a predicament that you were forced to change 100% of your water. I've never been in such a predicament, even with my 3 gallon tanks. I don't know of ANYONE that would purposely replace 100% of their water unless their tank was in SERIOUS trouble. From reading your post entitled "How to do a proper water change," you claim that a 50% water change is ideal. So I have to conclude that you've had serious trouble numerous times. And this doesn't surprise me, seeing as you recommend reefers try to stir up as much detritus as possible in to the water column when they clean their tanks. It also didn't surprise me that many experienced people had serious concerns with your advice.
Second, do a google search on "100% water change" and "new cycle" or "mini cycle." Doing this will enable you to read dozens of accounts where hobbyists have no ammonia or nitrite reading before the 100% change, and suddenly have a reading after the 100% change. Some of these people tested the new water before adding it, and IT had no amm/trites. So would you just advise these people to ignore the test results and that they are just imagining this new cycle, since according to you, it can't happen?
Third, I'd like to see the study that says 90% of reef tank's beneficial bacteria resides on the glass. And since you believe this, maybe you could explain why - in your "proper water change" post - you recommend everyone scrape their glass walls with a razor blade??? Hmmm...
There's many reasons that lead one to believe a 100% water change would/could very well lead to a cycle. I thought these up in about 30 seconds so please forgive me if I miss any of the many important reasons. They include 1) the countless negatives associated with stirring/disturbing substrate and exposing substrate to air 2) rock exposed to air, causing die-off 3) probable ph change causing stress and die-off, 4) coral exposed to air & large wc = dehydration and in many species tissue loss/shedding/necrosis 5) removing phos/carb pouches release gunk into water 6) 100% of beneficial bacteria in the water is lost 7) scraping walls to remove algae with scraper or razor removes biofilm (that one's for you reefkpr!).
In summation, I'm more inclined to believe the many online posters who have caused cycles after doing 100% water changes than I am to believe someone who uses many ill-advised husbandry practices and who has readily admitted to being forced to do numerous 100% water changes.
