Water Change
- Thread starter smooth_9
- Start date
carrie1429
Active Member
No you shouldn't do water changes while your tank is cycling. After the cycle that is when you can start doing them and when you can add inverts to help clean up any algea blooms.
G
glazer
Guest
smooth,
time after time I have seen this question asked, "do I do a water change during cycle?"
There are two camps on this, the yes and no of course. To this day I have yet to get an answer any more specific or enlightening as to why not other than it prolongs the cycle. Well I think that is just kaka and am still waiting for a better answer.
In my opinion, patience is the utmost important dynamic of a successful reef tank. People spend big big bucks on rocks yet abuse it beyond belief, I have never understood this. In case you haven't guessed by now I am a big proponent of water changes during a cycle. Ammonia is extremely stressful and deadly to living organisms... My thoughts have always been why not try and save as much of the life, the flora and fauna on the rock as possible. The bacteria needed to cycle a tank is already present on the rock... why produce TONS more of this bacteria when it is not really needed. Changing water during a cycle in my opinion brings the tank into balance quicker. A softer less stressful cycle will save tons of life on your rock, your rock will thank you for it,hehe
Think of it this way... if you got on here and said your ammonia levels were really high and your fish were acting wierd, 99% of the people on here would tell you to start doing water changes immediately (then try to find out why you have the prob) , why is live rock any different?
BTW, when cycling... when my ammonia levels hit between .25 to .50 I change out about 50% of my water, 20 to 30% would prolly be fine but that is just my way. Never had a tank take longer than 2 weeks tops (usually less) to cycle. That's my story and I am sticking to it!
time after time I have seen this question asked, "do I do a water change during cycle?"
There are two camps on this, the yes and no of course. To this day I have yet to get an answer any more specific or enlightening as to why not other than it prolongs the cycle. Well I think that is just kaka and am still waiting for a better answer.
In my opinion, patience is the utmost important dynamic of a successful reef tank. People spend big big bucks on rocks yet abuse it beyond belief, I have never understood this. In case you haven't guessed by now I am a big proponent of water changes during a cycle. Ammonia is extremely stressful and deadly to living organisms... My thoughts have always been why not try and save as much of the life, the flora and fauna on the rock as possible. The bacteria needed to cycle a tank is already present on the rock... why produce TONS more of this bacteria when it is not really needed. Changing water during a cycle in my opinion brings the tank into balance quicker. A softer less stressful cycle will save tons of life on your rock, your rock will thank you for it,hehe
Think of it this way... if you got on here and said your ammonia levels were really high and your fish were acting wierd, 99% of the people on here would tell you to start doing water changes immediately (then try to find out why you have the prob) , why is live rock any different?
BTW, when cycling... when my ammonia levels hit between .25 to .50 I change out about 50% of my water, 20 to 30% would prolly be fine but that is just my way. Never had a tank take longer than 2 weeks tops (usually less) to cycle. That's my story and I am sticking to it!