Water changes during a cycle?

[AquaVitamins]

Hey, I am about the 25th day though my cycling period. And i wanted to know,

The more the merrier, in terms of water changes? If was to do a water change everyday in the cycling period would that disrupt anything?

[jim r]

Do you have any fish in the tank?

[AquaVitamins]

Do you have any fish in the tank?

Yea i do, 3 Platys and 2 baby Guppies.

[whetu]

For the sake of the fish, it's good to do a water change every time the ammonia level in the water starts to build up. Ammonia burns their gills and skin so it's a very nasty substance to be swimming around in! The lower you can keep the ammonia, the better for the fish.

As for the effect on your cycle, most of the beneficial bacteria will be building up on your filter media so changing the water isn't going to have a drastic effect. Removing some of the ammonia from the water may slow your cycle down a little, but personally I think the welfare of your fish should come first.

IMO, water changes during the cylce are a very good thing.

[AquaVitamins]

For the sake of the fish, it's good to do a water change every time the ammonia level in the water starts to build up. Ammonia burns their gills and skin so it's a very nasty substance to be swimming around in! The lower you can keep the ammonia, the better for the fish.

As for the effect on your cycle, most of the beneficial bacteria will be building up on your filter media so changing the water isn't going to have a drastic effect. Removing some of the ammonia from the water may slow your cycle down a little, but personally I think the welfare of your fish should come first.

IMO, water changes during the cylce are a very good thing.

Cool thank you

[Morcs]

I do a 10% water change every other day, and run full tests (and record results) on the in between days. Adding in some bacterial product like API's stress zyme helps things along - I cycled a 130L in just under 3 weeks. Though just to be meticulous I monitored it for the fourth week to make sure everything was stable.

[Ianab]

I agree with Whetu. the worst thing that water changes will do is slow down the cycle process, by removing too much ammonia. This wont harm the fish at all.

Cycling with fish is a balancing act, you want enough ammonia to start some cycle, but not so much that it harms your fish.

So if in doubt, change some water, the tank will still cycle in it's own good time.

Ian