Tank cycle question
- Thread starter Wisconsinbadger
- Start date
Unless ammonia gets dangerously high for the existing fish, like 2 ppm then it's worthwhile. But if they start around 1 and then start dropping then the cycle is working and diluting the ammonia with a water change only slows the process down.
Although I usually do not do water changes during a cycle, I have before to no ill effects, I just redose Ammonia to 2-3 ppm. In this case (fish in) I would definitely do water changes.
Update Ammonia is down to .50ppm this morning and nitrite is at least .25ppm looks like next step is starting.
Looks we have Nitrate folks! 5.00 ppm. So basically now I need to wait for the ammonia and nitrite to get to 0 and then my tank will be cycled?
Yep,that will mean you have both colonies stabilized to break the ammonia into nitrite and the nitrite to nitrates. Then just keep an eye on nitrates and do water charges to reduce nitrates. And when you add fish you'll have a spike in first ammonia then nitrite again then nitrate as these colonies expand to accommodate the increased bioload.
Okay, so water changes actually have no negative impact with fish-in cycling actually. Diluting the ammonia does not slow the process down, it is only if it reaches zero and stays at zero. However, this does not happen with fish-in cycling, as ammonia is constantly produced by the fish. There is no issues whatsoever with doing water changes while fish-in cycling.
Well i must apologize and admit i may have been wrong. That's the advice my lfs gave me and they're pretty reliable,and what i remember from years ago when i kept several tanks. But after some research it seems most sources agree with azedenkae these days.
Update this morning ammonia .50ppm so down a bit and then nitrite was at 0. Nitrate at between 5-10pm.
