Water changes during cycle?

Wow, now that is good to know. I really had no idea about this. I wouldn't think that it would be typical for ammonia to spike to 5 ppm during a cycle though. I could be completely wrong on that. It is something to keep in mind though for everyone cycling a tank though.

Thanks to both of you for pointing this out. ;D

 

Good read!! Im going through a cycle now (week 4) and my ammonia hit 8ppm+. Its down to .25 ppm now, but my nitrites seems be stuck, and are at 5+ppm for over 2 weeks now, nitrate at 40ppm. Ive been doing the no water change method, but at this point im going to do water change. I can understand now why the bacteria are slow growing with high nitrite levels. ALOT of people say not to do water changes. But Dr Tims AND Doctors Foster and Smith say to do water changes when curing live rock in a new tank, especially when nitrites are as high as mine. SO im going to listen to the Drs. and do a 50% WC today.

 

Here is another view and the one I have always successfully used.

http://www.waltsmith.com/media/pdfs/ROCK_curing.PDF

If ammonia poisioning was a problem then every wastewater treatment plant in the world would be in upset. The bacteria grow and multiply according to the food(ammonia) you are feeding them.

 

Thanks AZ, that makes a lot of since to me. My question is, if you bought LR from the LFS and it was already cured, then you don't need to worry about water correct? Also, on that note, it would quicken your cycle quite a bit if you add enough cured LR correct?

Edit: That is what I have always been taught. Just wanting to see if I am right or wrong. It only makes since to me though.

 

Even "cured" rock will create a mini cycle while the system adapts to the new bioload.
You should always monitor your system whenever adding anything that will upset the balance. Bacteria multiply according to the food supply and load put upon them.

 

So to get this straight, if nitrite hits 10ppm or higher, there could potentially be a log jam effect in terms of the beneficial bacteria not being able to break down the nitrite fast enough?

I think I may in fact have my aquarium in this state:

My ammonia dropped from 3ppm to close to zero two days ago. My nitrites seem to be holding steady at 12ppm right now (I know this because I double diluted my tank water and it looks like the double diluted version is at about 3ppm since my testing kit only maxes out at 5ppm). Would it be advisable to do at least 1 50% water change or should I just wait it out? There has been no ammonia in the tank now for 2 days...should I add some minimal amounts of ammonia to the mix to keep that part of the process going, similar to how a small piece of shrimp would continue to produce ammonia as it decays?

Would it necesarily be a bad idea for me to put a piece of shrimp in the tank now to introduce a constant stream of ammonia instead of constantly adding drops of ammonia after I have diluted my nitrites some by doing a water change? How bad would that smell (I could care less, but the tank is setup in an office environment).

 

Consider instead adding a pinch of dry fish food to the tank. In adding a pinch of dry fish food you do not overwhelm the existing nitrifying bacteria nor do you have to live with the small decaying shrimp.

Do this for a couple days and wait a day or two and then measure your levels again. If no detectable ammonia or nitrites by that time consider a water change and a slow stocking.

What size if your tank and how long has it been cycling?

 

My tank is a 10 gallon tank (I know this is small and to expect various fluctuations that happen much quicker than in a larger tank).

The tank was initially dosed with 2 ppm pure ammonia 9 days ago. At that point there were 10 lbs of BRS dry rock and about an inch of dead sand. The following day, I added 2 lbs of live rock, which there may have been some die off there but ammonia stayed at 2ppm. I noticed a dramatic dip in ammonia 2 days ago with nitrites on the rise, although it was too tough for me to figure out exactly how many nitrites there were because my API testing kit only went up to 5ppm and only this morning did I figure out I could dilute the water to get an accurate measurement.

So as it stands, my ammonia has been at zero (for two days now), my nitrites I am guessing have been holding at 12ppm, and my nitrate level is currently at about 60 ppm (according to the test strip)

So would you suggest I do a water change and add fish food, or don't do the water change and add fish food?

 

My suggestion is do a small water change and not add any other sources of decay.

You have added ammonia and LR with some die off. In a 10 gallon tank that should be more than sufficient.

You are going to want to stock extremely slowly. A small fish and then wait a week or so. After adding the fish continue to test, keep feedings appropriate and have SW mixed for a wc should the tank experience detectable ammonia or nitrites.

Boy this thread made something very easy sound way too complicated.

Very interesting and informative and excellent input, but way more complicated than it needs to be.

 

I agree, thank you so much for your insite. Sometimes too much information, no matter how correct it is can be not optimal.

I was only planning on putting one fish in this tank in addition to a cleanup crew but I will not drop anything in the water until conditions are safe. I have two 55 gallon freshwater tanks at home, but cycled those with a fish and have never done fishless cycling before.

I think that patience is truly tested with these types of scenarios...everyone wants a quick fix (including myself) but this is one instance where I am going to have to wait it out.

I have a fresh batch of mixed ro/di salt water ready to go for a water change but I didn't want to do it until it was necesarry. I was thinking about switching out about a third of water, unless you think that would be too big of a water change.