Water changes while cycling?

[Chronicles]

Hi guys, 1st post . Anyway I've been reading and have gotten mixed feelings about if I should be doing water changes durring the cycle, does it help or not? Currently my water looks like:
Temp: 81F
SG: 1.023
Am: 0ppm-.5ppm
Ni: Off the chart ~10ppm
Na: 30ppm
pH: 8.3

I'm setup to do a 25% water change tonight yet, but I was wondering should I or not, will it slow the cycle down or help it out? My clown is currently in a QT tank. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to RDO!

Rather to do the water change or not, I use the following heuristics:
If the life on the rock is worth more than the cost of the water change, do it.

 

[Chronicles]

How long will my nitrites stay this high? I hope they fall off soon. Also is it a good time to remove the biowheel or not? My 2 snails are still alive so I'm sure the stuff on the live rock can't be doing too bad.

 

[Len]

As you found out, you'll get varying opinions on it. The one good thing I can see from doing a water change when nitrites are sky high is that you reduce its level so more organisms might withstand it. That said, I've done it both ways and all the tanks have been successful.

 

[Len]

Nitrites may stay very high for a couple of weeks, but when it falls, it starts falling rapidly. It's a good sign when your cycle is "complete"

 

[Chronicles]

It's been high for about 2 weeks, my ammonia just dropped off 2 days ago. They were both at off the chart levels and then overnight the ammonia just dropped off. Guess I'll wait on the nitrites. If I change the water the level will go down....does it need to hit a certain point and then it falls? Or do I just need some nitrites so they bacteria keep multiplying?

 

[Yellotang]

It just needs to have nitrites to produce the right bacteria. So If you want, go ahead and change that water. I would. I will not hurt anything, in fact all it can do is help.

 

[Chronicles]

I have an eclipse hood on this thing w/ retro lights, should I go ahead and remove the biowheel or is it actualy helping? I'm waiting on the LFS to cure more LR, right now I'm at about a 3"-4" live sand bed with about .667 pounds of LR per gallon.

 

[mkirda]

I'm setup to do a 25% water change tonight yet, but I was wondering should I or not, will it slow the cycle down or help it out? My clown is currently in a QT tank. Thanks!

I'm one for curing live rock in as much water as possible.
i.e. 3 gallons or more per pound. This typically keeps the A/N/N levels at much, much lower 'peaks'.
In case you cannot do that, water changes are the next best thing.
You should always also run a big skimmer while curing LR.
It removes a lot of junk before it can break down into ammonia.

In other words, yes, change away.

Regards.
Mike Kirda

 

[Anonymous]

I'm one for curing live rock in as much water as possible.

For contrast, I usually cure LR using barely enough water to cover the rock a few inches, and do frequent water change to keep the ANNs at reasonable level. It is more efficient, and being a real cheapskate, I use the old saltwater that I saved from water change of an older tank. I realize that reuse of old saltwater is not possible for most people since it is often the very first salt tank being setup...

 

[Chronicles]

The LR in there now has been cured for 2 months, yes 2 months in my LFS tanks. I brought it home in a huge bag of water that covered it completely.