water changes during cycle?

[lazuruskfp]

Hello again all,
current parameters:
PH: 7.8
calcium: 350
alk: 9.8
ammonia: 1.5
nitrite: 2
nitrate: 10-30
Just curious if its safe to do a water change to boost ph levels during a tanks cycle? :notsure:
I had previously been topping the tank off with just RO/DI water and my ph dropped as a result

.... so I got a rubbermaid container and mixed up some saltwater and aged it 36 hours. If I use this mix (same temp) will I ruin my cycle or is it safe to do like 10-20% change over a few days to boost the ph?
I really want to avoid using any buffers right now and I'm hoping that this solution is viable and won't kill off all the beneficial bacteria I'm striving to spawn at this point.
Thanks in advance

 

[dogstar]

Water changes will not kill the bacteria..... IMO the toxic levels should not be allowed to get above 1.0 so as to limit the amount of other life on the rocks from dieing....your new water should have good levels and if not then buffers might be needed.

 

[1journeyman]

Dogstar hit the nail squarely...
Get your Ammonia below 1ppm immediately.... currently everything in your live rock is being poisoned by such a high ammonia content.

 

[lazuruskfp]

so i've started the hourly water changes 10% each... until ammonia is under 1.0...
my follow up question is how much damage did i do?...
I'm on day 3 since I added LR/LS... day 1 i had an ammonia spike of 2 by the end of the day... by day 2 i had an ammonia spike way up between 2-4... and then today I'm at 1.5 again...
did I royally screw this up?... honestly every book I read didn't mention frequent water changes during the cycle which is why I came here to ask when I noticed these spikes and ph drops.
It dosn't smell rancid or anything... and I didn't see much stuff falling off or rotting on the rocks surface.
thanks again

 

[sepulatian]

Your still ok. The rock wasn't exposed to real high ammonia for too long of time.

 

[1journeyman]

Hmm... get "A Conscientious Marine Aquarist". Either that or Fenner's book with Calfo specifically addresses how to cure live rock. Can't remember which book.
You killed some stuff, but it will come back. Many people never do a water change during the cycle (some think it prolongs the cycle, others think there is no need, others like you just don't know).
You're a step ahead of a lot of folks. Your pods and critters will thank you.

 

[oceanists]

yeah I never did WC during my cycle .... pods are extremely hardy , you probably didnt hurt anything