Too Many Water Changes?

[BigIan]

a filter wether internal or external is the IDEAL place for bacteria to grow. with plenty of oxygenated water and a constant stream of food flowing past. and as a mature bacteria colony can double in size within a few hours, provided you have a well maintained filter and a filter sutable to your tank you should have no real problems

 

[JackoUK]

Hi

Although I am new I thought i'd still try and get involved in this discussion because it's one that interests me. I have read many many books about water changes and the changes in water chemistry because of them.

I have only had my aquarium up and running for about a month to 6 weeks now and I am currently doing a 25% water change every week. I do hoover the gravel at this time and also clean any of the decorations that are covered in hair algea, of which I had a mass outbreak last week. I was wondering if by doing this I am slowing the period of initial cycling in my aquarium?

Just out of interest I tested my water last Thursday and found there to be high levels of nitrites and nitrates. I believe that this means my tank is in the second stage of the cycle, hence the ammonia being very minimal. I lost 3 Panda Corydoras last week so I assume this was down to the high toxin levels, they were only very small. But my Zebra Danios and Bristlenose Catfish seem fine.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Hi

Although I am new I thought i'd still try and get involved in this discussion because it's one that interests me. I have read many many books about water changes and the changes in water chemistry because of them.

I have only had my aquarium up and running for about a month to 6 weeks now and I am currently doing a 25% water change every week. I do hoover the gravel at this time and also clean any of the decorations that are covered in hair algea, of which I had a mass outbreak last week. I was wondering if by doing this I am slowing the period of initial cycling in my aquarium?

Just out of interest I tested my water last Thursday and found there to be high levels of nitrites and nitrates. I believe that this means my tank is in the second stage of the cycle, hence the ammonia being very minimal. I lost 3 Panda Corydoras last week so I assume this was down to the high toxin levels, they were only very small. But my Zebra Danios and Bristlenose Catfish seem fine.

panda's are very sensitive little fish and shouldn't really be added to an aquarium under 6 months old. if you have any nitrite reading you should do 20% water changes every day so you minimize the damage to your fish.

this is why people do fishless cycles

 

[nmonks]

Hi, and welcome to TFF!

Cleaning the gravel and doing a 25% water change will have zero effect on the speed at which your aquarium is maturing.

Since you have nitrite but no ammonium, it does indeed sound like you're halfway through the cycle. Panda cories aren't the toughest fish in the world, so yes, they probably did succumb to the nitrite and ammonium. Danios are an excellent choice for cycling a tank because they are relatively tolerant of ammonium and nitrite. BN cats should be fine, too, but they wouldn't be my first choice.

Algae is caused by having too few growing plants in the aquarium. If you want to nip algae in the bud, install some fast-growing plants. Vallisneria, Hydrophila, Cabomba, hornwort, whatever. If you're useless with plants, then floating species like hornwort and Salvinia can work well. There's an excellent pinned topic in the Planted Aquarium section.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Inchworm]

So why the difference? I wish i could find out!!! but logic says that, if the gravel/sand, is thoroughly, cleaned on a regular basis, any bacteria will be removed! so if the gravel/sand, is cleaned only sparingly, doing only the top 1/4 inch, and leaving the rest of the bottom undisturbed, this will allow bacteria colony's, to establish.
Could it be that it depends on you cleaning regime, as to the amount of bacteria your gravel/sand holds.

That's not true. Cleaning the gravel with a vacuum only removes the dirt from around the bacteria. It does nothing to hurt the beneficial bacteria that are clinging to the surfaces.

If you only clean the top layer of gravel, the remaining bacteria underneath might not necessarily be beneficial. The reason that good bacteria only grow to a certain depth is largely because the water doesn't circulate through the gravel as well as it does in the filter or the other surfaces, so food and oxygen could not get to them if they went deeper.

A tank can recover lost bacteria in a very short period of time. People regularly clone tanks by removing part of their filter media and replacing it with new. This could not be done without damage to the fish in the first tank if the beneficial bacteria did not reproduce so fast. If a tank is healthy, this kind of "mini-cycle" is nothing to worry about.

 

[karin15]

a filter wether internal or external is the IDEAL place for bacteria to grow. with plenty of oxygenated water and a constant stream of food flowing past. and as a mature bacteria colony can double in size within a few hours, provided you have a well maintained filter and a filter sutable to your tank you should have no real problems

mmk... what that other guy said scared me for a sec

 

[JackoUK]

Thanks guys for the replies.

My Nitrite levels are dropping. I have started small daily water changes and testing each evening. As for the Panda Corydoras, I was given incorrect advice from my local aquarium telling me these would be ideal fish for a newish tank. I've since read, and been told by yourselves that, infact Panda Corydoras are one of the less hardy of the Corydoras family.

Thanks again.

 

[karin15]

Thanks guys for the replies.

My Nitrite levels are dropping. I have started small daily water changes and testing each evening. As for the Panda Corydoras, I was given incorrect advice from my local aquarium telling me these would be ideal fish for a newish tank. I've since read, and been told by yourselves that, infact Panda Corydoras are one of the less hardy of the Corydoras family.

Thanks again.

yeah, but one of the hardiest is albino corrys, they can be kepted with gold fish and have a high tolerance for nitrates and amonia, however there barbels shrink in high nitrite tanks so I wouldnt put any kind of catfish or fish that uses wiskers to find food to cycle a tank.