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Water changes during cycling


bmwgearhead

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bmwgearhead

Hello, I am cycling my tank for the first time with live sand and live rock. Should I start my weekly water changes now or should I wait till the process is done? by the way I have a couple hitchhikers including what looks like a tiny brittlestar, should I expect them to survive?

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CarterNichols

Whether or not you start water changes depends on if you want to "soft" cycle the tank or not...

 

quick run down of what "soft" cycling is:

 

When you put LR in your aquarium it is full of life, some visible in the form of worms, corals, anemones, etc. and some so tiny it is hard to see with the naked eye. However it is close to impossible to preserve this life completely through the process of transporting the LR from the ocean to your aquarium. This die off causes harmful levels of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates to become present in the aquarium. the "cycle" is then eventually worked out by bacteria living on your LR when it converts/breaks down those harmful chemicals .. It is ideal to preserve as much of this life as possible which some manage by using a process called "soft" cycling. the steps are as follows:

 

1. You'll need a reliable testing kit (my personal choice is API saltwater master test kit) to monitor your water parameters

 

2. You'll need to test the water at least twice a day to make sure your Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate levels do not reach harmful levels. ideally you want Ammonia and Nitrites to be 0 and to keep Nitrates under 20 although 0 is ideal

 

3. when you notice your levels start to go up you will need to do large water changes to remove the harmful chemicals

 

you'll repeat this until your tank's beneficial bacteria has taken over the nitrogen cycle.

 

this method is the alternative to traditional or "hard" cycling in which you just let your tank work it's self out. Although this is more common place you are subject to lose more life this ways as the toxic chemicals in the water will not be exported as they would with "soft" cycling.

 

so to answer your question in short, if you want to preserve as much life as possible start daily water changes. If you prefer to let your tank handle the cycle then no, do not start water changes.

 

HTH

 

Carter.

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Ive just ordered my tank so will be doing the same thing very soon, could you cycle with a smaller amount of live rock (the cheaper kind), then once you've cycled splash out on some betetr stuff with more life ?.

 

Thanks

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SaltWaterNewb

Well, you can buy cheaper rock and cycle it no problem. But when you splurge and buy some better rock with more living stuff on it, when it gets to you it will also need to cycle. So unless you buy cured rock from a local source, any rock you get will need to be cycled. So it is best to buy it all at once or if you can not or do not want to do this you will have to go through two cycles. Of course you can always cycle the second batch of rock in a separate container and then add to your tank but it would still be a PITA.

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revaltion131

Another commonly accepted part of the soft cycling is running your skimmer and/or filter during the cycle to help keep the amount of the chemicals as low as possible.

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