Water Change

[brendac]

My son just picked up my 125g tonight... Its Beautiful and Im very happy with it. I would like to know once it starts its cycle I dont do any water changes until its done... Right?? Then after its done I just do one water change per week... Right?? and how many gallons would I remove out of a 125g per week? Thanks in advance! Oh and when I go to clean the filter I clean it change carbon and all... but dont over do it... Right?? and same goes for the protein skimmer... Dont over do the mechanical stuff

 

[dirtywater]

 

[dirtywater]

I've told to change about 20 gallons out every two weeks, removing cycled water and replacing with new water

 

[saltfan]

If your just cycling water by itself, no water changes, if your cycling tank with LR in it, thats a different story. Only thing you want to overdue is the skimmer, get a bigger one than you actually need, its the best thing on your tank. As for the filter, you'll only need it until your Live Rock matures some, then you can even ditch that. You want at least 12x the turn over rate of water in the tank. Get yourself a huge return pump or 2 good sized ones, or a bunch of Power Heads to stick in the tank for your water movement. If you are going to use a filter, clean the pads at least once per week minimum.