Cycling and water changes

[madly99]

Hi all,

I'm a victim of conflicting information again. Should I do a water change during cycling or not? In the general aquarium stickie on Ammonia, it says that water changes during the cycle will slow the cycle down and are not a great line of defense against ammonia. My ammonia only hit 0.50 ppm which I guess isn't super dangerous, but then the tank hit 86 degrees that same day (I've since kept the fan on it) and I thought it might help make the fish a little happier to reduce some of the ammonia and reoxygenate the water with a 20% water change. Am I just making more work for myself?

Also, I don't understand why this would slow the cycle down. So long as you are getting some ammonia readings, doesn't that mean you have more "food" than the present bacteria can consume and wouldn't that still encourage growth?

[sergo]

ok so your fishy cycling: water changes are necessary for fish health as ammonia is very toxic to fish and a water change reduces it. but at the same time there is not enough to support the growing bioculture so it takes a lot longer to get a stable bioculture. this why we say that fishless cycling is the best way to go, it's safer for the fish, faster, and you don't have to do frequent large water changes.

[Sasquatch]

The more ammonia (and later nitrites) there is in the water the faster the bacteria grow, so doing water changes does slow thing down somewhat.

But if you've got fish in there, the fishes health is the first priority, so do water changes. The level at which it's safe for the fish will depend on pH, the more acidic, the better (within reason of course!:ezpi_wink1: ).

Also, if the temperature is high (no air conditioning?), you might consider getting yourself and air pump. This will diffuse bubbles in the water and keep the O2 level high, especially important for the fish since ammonia and nitrites affect breathing.

Best of luck and welcome the the aquarium hobby.