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steve620
Guest
I'm letting my new tank get established. I just did a test after a week and everything is good but the Nitrite. Should I do a water change? Also with no fish in the tank should I still do a water change?
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eric b 125
Guest
how high are they? i never did water changes during a cycle, but my ammonia never went that high so neither did my nitrites and nitrate.
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steve620
Guest
My Nitrite level is between 0 and 0.25
I was told it must be at 0
I was told it must be at 0
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by steve620 http:///forum/thread/387343/water-change#post_3407520
My Nitrite level is between 0 and 0.25
I was told it must be at 0
Nitrite is deadly to fish as is ammonia, nitrAte is harmless. Do an emergancy water change....A properly cycled tank should have 0 for a nitrites reading.
Originally Posted by steve620 http:///forum/thread/387343/water-change#post_3407520
My Nitrite level is between 0 and 0.25
I was told it must be at 0
Nitrite is deadly to fish as is ammonia, nitrAte is harmless. Do an emergancy water change....A properly cycled tank should have 0 for a nitrites reading.
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steve620
Guest
How much of a water change should I do? And is this normal I never had fish in there yet?
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by steve620 http:///forum/thread/387343/water-change#post_3407536
How much of a water change should I do? And is this normal I never had fish in there yet?
LOL...Sweety...I thought you had fish...the first cycle before you add fish is all that is happening...don't do a thing all is well! Below is a cycle explained so you know what is going on...
First you add a chunk of raw shrimp, and as soon as you see the ammonia spike, you remove the shrimp and wait...the ammonia will be eaten by good bacteria and they poop nitrites, then nitrites climb (spike)....then some more other good bacteria show up and they eat nitrites so that will then go to 0...and they poop nitrates...that is a complete cycle..then do a 20% water change and wait another week or two...then retest for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates....if you still have nitrates, but no nitrites or ammonia, do another 20% water change and you can add your first fish.
If after the wait time all are at 0, don't bother with a water change...add a fish, just 1 fish. Only add one fish at a time or two small fish like clowns. The extra fish will start another cycle (the tank cycles over and over again as you add critters) so you need to give your tank time to re-balance after each new critter.
Originally Posted by steve620 http:///forum/thread/387343/water-change#post_3407536
How much of a water change should I do? And is this normal I never had fish in there yet?
LOL...Sweety...I thought you had fish...the first cycle before you add fish is all that is happening...don't do a thing all is well! Below is a cycle explained so you know what is going on...
First you add a chunk of raw shrimp, and as soon as you see the ammonia spike, you remove the shrimp and wait...the ammonia will be eaten by good bacteria and they poop nitrites, then nitrites climb (spike)....then some more other good bacteria show up and they eat nitrites so that will then go to 0...and they poop nitrates...that is a complete cycle..then do a 20% water change and wait another week or two...then retest for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates....if you still have nitrates, but no nitrites or ammonia, do another 20% water change and you can add your first fish.
If after the wait time all are at 0, don't bother with a water change...add a fish, just 1 fish. Only add one fish at a time or two small fish like clowns. The extra fish will start another cycle (the tank cycles over and over again as you add critters) so you need to give your tank time to re-balance after each new critter.
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steve620
Guest
Is it ok to put live rock in the tank now?
teresaq
Active Member
What is in the tank??? you should have added your live rock to start your cycle. You can also use dry rock like marco rock and it will not effect anything.
do a few searches on starting a tank, there are several threads on this subject.
Before fish, you should have sand ( live or dry), rock,( Live or Dry ) and salt water. Add a dead shrimp for a few days, and let your tank cycle.
do a few searches on starting a tank, there are several threads on this subject.
Before fish, you should have sand ( live or dry), rock,( Live or Dry ) and salt water. Add a dead shrimp for a few days, and let your tank cycle.
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steve620
Guest
Just the sand on the bottom.
teresaq
Active Member
This is a good thread to get you on the right track.lol
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/116184/saltwater-aquariums-101-the-cycle
There is a lot a reading, but in the long run its worth it..
How about some pics, we love pictures.
What size tank is it??
What equipment are you running.
Add your rock, before anything else. Either dry rock (google Marco rock) or live rock, They sell it here, or a little of both for lots of varity.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/116184/saltwater-aquariums-101-the-cycle
There is a lot a reading, but in the long run its worth it..
How about some pics, we love pictures.
What size tank is it??
What equipment are you running.
Add your rock, before anything else. Either dry rock (google Marco rock) or live rock, They sell it here, or a little of both for lots of varity.
scott t
Active Member
I am going through the cycle with my tank been set up 2 weeks so far and things are going good. You should never put the sand in before you put rock in the tank, you should place the rock on the bottom of the tank, then add the sand after. This is so that sand sifting critters can not get under the rock and create a rock slide.
florida joe
Well-Known Member
My own 2 cents (but what the hell do I know).First you may never see zero nitrates nor do you really need to. As far as your tank cycling organic matter, once you establish the bacteria for the conversion from ammonia to nitrates you do not start your cycle over every time you add to your bio load. What you are doing is adding more food for the colonies of bacteria to continue to expand. In setting up a new tank I would not do water changes to lower my nitrates. We are looking to have a complete bio filtration system. That complete system needs the growth of anaerobic bacteria to process the nitrates to nitrogen gas. We can only grow that bacteria if we supply it with food (nitrates) so we are defeating the purposes of trying to achieve a complete bio filtration system by doing frequent water changes to lover nitrates
sepulatian
Moderator
The ammonia and nitrite will be at zero after the tank has fully cycled. You did it a bit out of order, but that is quite alright. It is never too late : ) Buy your live rock. You can move the sand back and forth to get the rock to sit right on the glass. It is very true that if rocks sits on top of the sand then you are more likely to get a rock slide. You don't want that, being that the walls are glass. The kind of rock that you get will make a big difference on the cycle. You can order rock online that you will need to cure first, or start the cycle over again in the tank, or you can get established rock from a store. If you do that, buy some base rock first. There is no point in wasting the expensive live rock by packing the sand in around it. Base rock is cheap and will become "live" in time anyway.
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/387343/water-change#post_3407586
My own 2 cents (but what the hell do I know).First you may never see zero nitrates nor do you really need to. As far as your tank cycling organic matter, once you establish the bacteria for the conversion from ammonia to nitrates you do not start your cycle over every time you add to your bio load. What you are doing is adding more food for the colonies of bacteria to continue to expand. In setting up a new tank I would not do water changes to lower my nitrates. We are looking to have a complete bio filtration system. That complete system needs the growth of anaerobic bacteria to process the nitrates to nitrogen gas. We can only grow that bacteria if we supply it with food (nitrates) so we are defeating the purposes of trying to achieve a complete bio filtration system by doing frequent water changes to lover nitrates
...I never had a perfect Bio-system where I could count on nitrates turning to nitrogen gas enough to keep SPS coral (what I call the perfect system). The only way I ever got rid of enough nitrates were with water changes. I didn't mean to imply that we start the cycle again everytime we add a critter...but the system does need time to build more good bacteria to handle the load and it takes a few weeks, just like when we did the first cycle, it wasn't instant..it took weeks to accomplish. I see so many beginners add a full stock of fish within days or just a couple of weeks, I want them to add fish slow, one at a time.
So far, I do manage the seahorse tank with 0 nitrates because of macroalgae that I harvest almost constantly.
So you don't recommend a water change after the cycle is done??? I know a fish really wouldn't care, but what if the goal is to keep corals?
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/387343/water-change#post_3407586
My own 2 cents (but what the hell do I know).First you may never see zero nitrates nor do you really need to. As far as your tank cycling organic matter, once you establish the bacteria for the conversion from ammonia to nitrates you do not start your cycle over every time you add to your bio load. What you are doing is adding more food for the colonies of bacteria to continue to expand. In setting up a new tank I would not do water changes to lower my nitrates. We are looking to have a complete bio filtration system. That complete system needs the growth of anaerobic bacteria to process the nitrates to nitrogen gas. We can only grow that bacteria if we supply it with food (nitrates) so we are defeating the purposes of trying to achieve a complete bio filtration system by doing frequent water changes to lover nitrates
So far, I do manage the seahorse tank with 0 nitrates because of macroalgae that I harvest almost constantly.
So you don't recommend a water change after the cycle is done??? I know a fish really wouldn't care, but what if the goal is to keep corals?
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eric b 125
Guest
I've heard that rock (live or base) that is exposed to high levels of Ammonia during the cycle are more prone to hair algae down the road. I'm not sure of the validity of this, but thought I would throw it out there. This information came from a member on here that I consider to be (and it seems other members think of as) a good source of reliable information.
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Flower this is actually not true. Once we have the bacteria colonized it expands very quickly to an increase in bio load. It does not take weeks for it to be able to handle a reasonable increase. Now of course a hobbyist can in fact tax his newly formed bio filtration with the addition of new fish or more correctly with the addition of more food for his new arrivals. I would never advise adding more than two new fish at a time and even when two new fish are added I would only increase the amount of food slowly as to give the filtration a chance to catch up
Quote:
...but the system does need time to build more good bacteria to handle the load and it takes a few weeks, just like when we did the first cycle, it wasn't instant..it took weeks to accomplish.
Quote:
...but the system does need time to build more good bacteria to handle the load and it takes a few weeks, just like when we did the first cycle, it wasn't instant..it took weeks to accomplish.
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/387343/water-change#post_3408001
Flower this is actually not true. Once we have the bacteria colonized it expands very quickly to an increase in bio load. It does not take weeks for it to be able to handle a reasonable increase. Now of course a hobbyist can in fact tax his newly formed bio filtration with the addition of new fish or more correctly with the addition of more food for his new arrivals. I would never advise adding more than two new fish at a time and even when two new fish are added I would only increase the amount of food slowly as to give the filtration a chance to catch up
Well once again I learn something new....I lived under that one fish rule for over 30 years...I may add two clowns, but that was because they were so small. Yet in the end...you agree to add only one fish at a time and at the most two...so my understandings may be messed up, but our methods are the same.
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/387343/water-change#post_3408001
Flower this is actually not true. Once we have the bacteria colonized it expands very quickly to an increase in bio load. It does not take weeks for it to be able to handle a reasonable increase. Now of course a hobbyist can in fact tax his newly formed bio filtration with the addition of new fish or more correctly with the addition of more food for his new arrivals. I would never advise adding more than two new fish at a time and even when two new fish are added I would only increase the amount of food slowly as to give the filtration a chance to catch up
Well once again I learn something new....I lived under that one fish rule for over 30 years...I may add two clowns, but that was because they were so small. Yet in the end...you agree to add only one fish at a time and at the most two...so my understandings may be messed up, but our methods are the same.
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steve620
Guest
My tank went thru its cycle and is now ready for fish. I will be putting one in at first. My question is when should I do my first water change?
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by steve620 http:///t/387343/water-change#post_3409584
My tank went thru its cycle and is now ready for fish. I will be putting one in at first. My question is when should I do my first water change?
The more often you do a water change, the less water you need to do it. Over time I have done water changes from daily to monthly...it all depends on what you want to do. Right now I have a hair algae problem in the SH tank so I'm doing daily WCs...before that, I started out doing once a month. Because sea horses are so messy eaters, I was doing once a week, but it wasn't enough. Most people do it once a month, (unless there is a problem...depending on what the problem is, will dictate how much of an emergancy water change needs to be done).
Folks do it according to personal choice...on my 30g Sea horse tank
Everyday...1g to 2g
Once each week...5g
Once every two weeks...10g
Once a month...13g
On my 90g
Everyday...3g to 5g
Once a week... 15g
Once every two weeks...??? I never did it but I would do about...20g
Once a month...35g
Some people never do a water change or once a year or something (I'm not that brave) However an established tank is very different than a new one. So for the first two or three years...keep up a regular water change.
Originally Posted by steve620 http:///t/387343/water-change#post_3409584
My tank went thru its cycle and is now ready for fish. I will be putting one in at first. My question is when should I do my first water change?
The more often you do a water change, the less water you need to do it. Over time I have done water changes from daily to monthly...it all depends on what you want to do. Right now I have a hair algae problem in the SH tank so I'm doing daily WCs...before that, I started out doing once a month. Because sea horses are so messy eaters, I was doing once a week, but it wasn't enough. Most people do it once a month, (unless there is a problem...depending on what the problem is, will dictate how much of an emergancy water change needs to be done).
Folks do it according to personal choice...on my 30g Sea horse tank
Everyday...1g to 2g
Once each week...5g
Once every two weeks...10g
Once a month...13g
On my 90g
Everyday...3g to 5g
Once a week... 15g
Once every two weeks...??? I never did it but I would do about...20g
Once a month...35g
Some people never do a water change or once a year or something (I'm not that brave) However an established tank is very different than a new one. So for the first two or three years...keep up a regular water change.
shobby
Member
Just out of curiosity, if the water parameters are good, should you still change water out? I have all zeros except for .5 on the nitrates, I have changed water, changed water, and changed water, still sits at .5. So I gave up on getting a zero there, but if it is all good, why change?
Shell
Shell