Should I do a water change on my cycling tank?

[jeremyTR]

It's been going since March 18th and no water changes. Would it be okay to do one or better just to let it be? I had the ammonia spike already and now I'm waiting for nitrites to drop, it's hanging around 0.50 - 1.0ppm. The nitrate sits at around 5.0ppm

[OVT]

I would leave it alone until the cycle is complete.

[wkndracer]

without critters in the tank I wait

[jeremyTR]

Originally Posted by wkndracer

without critters in the tank I wait

Definitely without critters.

Thanks guys.

[eklikewhoa]

I do water changes while cycling but I fully stock my tanks from the start.

[jeremyTR]

I wish I had fish or shrimp. I'm getting really impatient, I feel like doing a 95% water change and throwing some shrimp in there.

[Diana]

Are you keeping the ammonia up so the bacteria have something to eat? Keep it at around 3 ppm to grow the bacteria most efficiently.

[shinycard255]

Originally Posted by Diana

Are you keeping the ammonia up so the bacteria have something to eat? Keep it at around 3 ppm to grow the bacteria most efficiently.

+1 to this

Don't add anything into the tank until it the ammonia drop from 3ppm to 0ppm within a 12hr period

[jeremyTR]

the ammonia went up to 1.0 ppm

[shinycard255]

Don't add anything yet then as the ammonia can cause harm to any living creature in there. (except for pond snails, I've seen those guys THRIVE in a 3ppm environment)

How far along the cycling process are you?

[Diana]

the ammonia went up to 1.0 ppm

Are you controlling the ammonia or is there something in there adding ammonia?

Maybe you had better describe exactly how you are handling this tank.
What is your set up (tank size, filter, lights, substrate...)
Plants, other living things...
Chemicals added from the tap water parameters to fertilizers to dechlor... anything else?
What have you been doing to help the beneficial bacteria grow? Add ammonia? Add a starter culture of bacteria? A bottled product? (Which one?)

My next post is the Fishless Cycle.
Read through it. It is the best way to cycle a tank. It grows the biggest population of bacteria, and grows it faster than any other method.
The numbers have been tested by a couple of scientists who were looking for a way to cycle a tank in preparation for adding all the fish at one time, as in an African Cichlids tank.

[Diana]

Fishless Cycle
You too can boast that "No fish were harmed in the cycling of your new tank"
Cycling a tank means to grow the beneficial bacteria that will help to decompose the fish waste (especially ammonia). These bacteria need ammonia to grow. There are 3 sources of ammonia that work to do this. One is fish. Unfortunately, the process exposes the fish to ammonia , which burns their gills, and nitrite, which makes their blood unable to carry oxygen. This often kills the fish.

Another source is decomposing protein. You could cycle your tank by adding fish food or a dead fish or shellfish. You do not know how much beneficial bacteria you are growing, though.

The best source of ammonia is... Ammonia. In a bottle.

Using fish is a delicate balance of water changes to keep the toxins low (try not to hurt the fish) but keep feeding the bacteria. It can take 4 to 8 weeks to cycle a tank this way, and can cost the lives of several fish. When you are done you have grown a small bacteria population that still needs to be nurtured to increase its population. You cannot, at the end of a fish-in cycle, fully stock your tank.

The fishless/ammonia cycle takes as little as 3 weeks, and can be even faster, grows a BIG bacteria population, and does not harm fish in any way.

Both methods give you plenty of practice using your test kit.

How to cycle a tank the fishless way:

1) Make sure all equipment is working, fill with water that has all the stuff you will need for the fish you intend to keep. Dechlorinator, minerals for GH or KH adjustments, the proper salt mix, if you are creating a brackish or marine tank. The bacteria you are growing need a few minerals. Make sure the GH and KH are at least 3 German degrees of hardness.

2) Add some source of the bacteria. Used filter media from a cycled tank is best, gravel or some decorations or a few plants... even some water, though this is the poorest source of the beneficial bacteria.
Bacteria in a bottle can be a source of these bacteria, but make sure you are getting Nitrospira spp of bacteria. All other ‘bacteria in a bottle’ products have the wrong bacteria. (This step is optional. The proper bacteria will find the tank even if you make no effort to add them). Live plants may bring in these bacteria on their leaves and stems.

3) Add ammonia until the test reads 5 ppm. This is the non-sudsing, no surfactants, no-fragrance-added ammonia that is often found in a hardware store, discount stores, and sometimes in a grocery store. The concentration of ammonia may not be the same in all bottles. Try adding 5 drops per 10 gallons, then allowing the filter to circulate for about an hour, then test. If the reading isn't up to 5 ppm, add a few more drops and test again. (Example, if your test reads only 2 ppm, then add another 5 drops) Some ammonia is such a weak dilution you may need to add several ounces to get a reading.

4) Test for ammonia daily, and add enough to keep the reading at 5 ppm.

5) Several days after you start, begin testing for nitrites. When the nitrites show up, reduce the amount of ammonia you add so the test shows 3ppm. (Add only half as much ammonia as you were adding in part 4) Add this reduced amount daily from now until the tank is cycled.

If the nitrites get too high (over 5 ppm), do a water change. The bacteria growth is slowed because of the high nitrites. Reducing the level of ammonia to 3 ppm should prevent the nitrite from getting over 5 ppm.

6) Continue testing, and adding ammonia daily. The nitrates will likely show up about 2 weeks after you started. Keep monitoring, and watch for 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite and rising nitrates.

7) Once the 0 ppm ammonia and nitrites shows up it may bounce around a little bit for a day or two. Be patient. Keep adding the ammonia, keep testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
When it seems done you can challenge the system by adding more than a regular dose of ammonia, and the bacteria should be able to remove the ammonia and nitrite by the next day.
If you will not be adding fish right away continue to add the ammonia to keep the bacteria fed.

8) When you are ready to add the fish, do at least one water change, and it may take a couple of them, to reduce the nitrate to safe levels (as low as possible, certainly below 10 ppm) I have seen nitrate approaching 200 ppm by the end of this fishless cycle in a non-planted tank.

9) You can plant a tank that is being cycled this way at any point during the process. If you plant early, the plants will be well rooted, and better able to handle the disruption of the water change.
Yes, the plants will use some of the ammonia and the nitrates. They are part of the nitrogen handling system, part of the biofilter, they are working for you. Some plants do not like high ammonia, though. If a certain plant dies, remove it, and only replace it after the cycle is done.

10) The fishless cycle can also be used when you are still working out the details of lighting, plants and other things. If you change the filter, make sure you keep the old media for several weeks or a month. Most of the bacteria have been growing in this media (sponges, floss etc).

[shinycard255]

Could not have said it any better myself, Diana! +1

[houseofcards]

Originally Posted by jeremyTR

I wish I had fish or shrimp. I'm getting really impatient, I feel like doing a 95% water change and throwing some shrimp in there.

Why are you afraid to do a water change?

[wendyjo]

Originally Posted by jeremyTR

I wish I had fish or shrimp. I'm getting really impatient, I feel like doing a 95% water change and throwing some shrimp in there.

You know what's even worse than waiting for the tank to cycle? Throwing in some critters before it's done and having them die!