Water Changes

[laurasmithuk]

hi all, am cycling my tank at mo, do i need to do water changes to keep levels down?

i am cycling a 45 litre tank with 4 platties.

 

[Fat Boy]

I'd say keep doing the changes but not to much, it's a tough one because the more your keep changing the longer the cycle will take. Keep an eye on the fish, if they come to the surface gasping for air you know a change is needed, also the clarity of the water is a good tell tell sign.

In such a small tank I'd go with small regular changes, say 2 or 3 times a day of 3 liters or so, rather than 1 big one of 10 or 15 litres.

 

[@ombomb]

You've been on this forum since July last year and you're STILL cycling with fish....

 

[timmie2]

You should keep the ammonia less than .25 ppm and the nitrite at less than 1.0 ppm. The water changes won't slow down the cycle that much, and it's so much better for the fish.

 

[Bignose]

The last poster is right about wanting to keep the levels down. Water changes will be needed to keep the pollution to safe concentrations.

Water changes do not hurt the cycle because the bacteria colony will grow until the rate of ammonia and nitrite production is equal to the rate of ammonia and nitrite consumption. So long as there is more ammonia being made by the platies (or being added to the tank via fishless cycling) than is being consumed by the bacteria, the bacterial colony will grow. Eventually, the colony will grow large enough that it processes the ammonia at the same rate the fish produce it.

 

[Iron Man]

I'd agree with that. I'm no expert but folks who've kept wild discus used to do daily 100% water changes and it never killed their biological filters. If that doesn't kill what's already established, I don't know how water changes can kill or slow down a cycle, but it will save fishy lives!

 

[laurasmithuk]

obviously im not cycling same tank with fish. i have got a second tank!