Water Changing Frequency

[superemone]

I have a 12g nano cube with only CUC right now. Tank has been cycled for over 1 month. My nitrate is consistently 5 ppm. I would like to lower it with regular water changes. Is twice to three times a week too much? Is there such a thing as changing water too often?

 

Thanks

[lakshwadeep]

Don't worry so much about 5 ppm nitrates in a 1 month tank because it's not going to be a threat. Denitrification, the natural process of nitrate reduction, takes much longer than nitrification (the "cycle" where ammonia is converted to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate) to establish. Many tanks have ~5 ppm nitrates or slightly higher for 6 months or longer. Here's a good article on the subject:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

 

Usually water changes should not have a negative impact; in the wild, ocean currents are creating virtually 100% continuous water changes. The main thing to look out for is keeping your water change water the same as the tank water in terms of salinity, temperature, etc. to avoid stressing livestock. This is a useful water change article:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php

[Dasani]

Just start doing 20% weekly (about 2.5g for a 12g tank) and they should eventually go away.

[Nano sapiens]

As mentioned 5 ppm of Nitrate is not something to worry about, but keep an eye on it as the tank matures. Small tanks can develop chronic high Nitrate fairly quickly (8-12 months) even with regular water changes due to detritus buildup in the sand bed and sump (assuming you have a sand bed and a sump). A bit of detritus vacuuming every few weeks will usually bring it back down to a more 'acceptable' level.

[bird]

I have been doing a couple quarts a day, sometime every other day or 3 and it seems to be working great.

Have yet to do a large water change. Everything seems to stay more stable day to day. Just keeping mix on hand now all the time.