Can I Do A Water Change If I Am Still In The Process Of Doing My Initial Cycling?

Display Tank: 55 Gallon
Type: Fresh Water
PH: 7.6
PH (hi): 7.6
Ammonia (NH3/NH4+): .25
Nitrite (NO2-): 0
Nitrate (NO3-): 5 ppm
Phosphate (PO3-4): 0
Copper (CU): 0
GH: (20 drops)
KH: (7 drops)
TDS: 430 ppm
EC: 914 ppm
Temperature: 75.6
Stock: 6 small goldfish, 2 Glo Daniels
Filter: Cannister (75 gallon rated) Bio balls and ceramic only.
Bubbler: 2 fine, 2 ornamental.
Additives: Fluval Cycle Concentrated Biological Booster
Start date: 1-1-2018.

 

You can, but your numbers look good to me. Just remember to always treat new water for cloramines (Prime) before adding to tank. Many people treat after and wonder why the cycle takes so long, especially for larger % changes.

 

HI there.

What are you using for your dechlorinator? If you are using Seachem Prime, I would wait on the water change. Just add a full tank dose of Prime. It will detoxify the ammonia.

If you aren’t using Prime, you can do a water change. It is unusual to have ammonia and nitrates both. It could indicate a stocking issue. I would do a 30% water change and recheck your parameters in 24 hours.

What is the name & model of your canister?

You do have stocking issues if you want to discuss them. What kind of goldfish do you have?

 

HI there.

What are you using for your dechlorinator? If you are using Seachem Prime, I would wait on the water change. Just add a full tank dose of Prime. It will detoxify the ammonia.

If you aren’t using Prime, you can do a water change. It is unusual to have ammonia and nitrates both. It could indicate a stocking issue. I would do a 30% water change and recheck your parameters in 24 hours.

What is the name & model of your canister?

You do have stocking issues if you want to discuss them. What kind of goldfish do you have?

Yuppers...I forgot to mention that yes, I am using Seachem Prime conditioner and that the water is a 70/30 mix of RO water / Tap. The cannister is a Aqueon Quietflow. My general plan is to buy a mix of fish that include Neon Tetras, Roseline Shark, Gourami Fish, Siamese Algae Eater, and maybe a Madagascar Lace Plant. I have 3 options for the inflow? of water with the Aqueon, I'm just using the water fall one for now. Oh...and maybe adding a mystery snail or two, and some amano or ghost shrimp...I think that should do it. Oh...and maybe a red plant of some sort. Well, that's my wish list for now.

The water still looks a bit cloudy, maybe a UV water filter would help? Oh...I also added a Wonder Stone, which I put in the water fall portion of the Aqueon Cannister inflow? This is already going into week 2, does cycling for this tank really take a long time? Oh yeah...that's coral and driftwood, which I had soaking in RO water separately for a few days to leach out the tannins.

 

I've read uv can slow the bacteria growth. Cloudy is good, usually indicates bacterial growth. Water temp can affect cycle time too. Not sure if you can bump up a few degrees based on your fish..

 

Cloudy is probably due to a bacteria bloom. A water change would make it worse. Don’t use a UV light. It will inhibit bacteria growth. You don’t want that at all.

The bloom should go away in just a couple of days.

If you aren’t using bottled bacteria it will take 6-8 weeks to cycle your tank. The wonderstone isn’t a bottled bacteria, so it won’t work the same. You could start adding either Seachem Stability or API QuickStart daily and your cycle will complete in about 14 days.

Are you just using the goldfish to cycle the tank? Because they aren’t appropriate for the long term in a tank your size. They need a pond. That is more of what I was talking about. Not to mention they are cool water fish, and danios are warm water. There is about a 10 degree difference in recommended temps.

If you are keeping the danios they should be in a school of 6 or more, also.

 

HI Guys, thanks for all the info and support. I am nearing completion of two weeks into my cycling and you were right. The cloudiness has subsided and while it's not pristine crystal clear, it is much clearer. I started with the idea of these feeder goldfish, .14 cents each, as just a helper to cycling my tank, but somehow I've grown attached to them and have now rethought my stocking strategy. I lost one of the glofish danios, literally, I can't find him anywhere and am now left with 6 goldfish and 1 danio. Maybe in 4 more weeks, I'll be able to start thinking about adding some charcoal media and some fish, all awhile keeping on testing with my API master test kit. Thanks again every0ne! Fishlore Rocks!

 

55 gallons is way too small for 6 goldfish. If they were feeder fish, then they are most likely comet goldfish. They get over a foot long when fully grown, and need to be kept in ponds. They are not appropriate for an in home tank. So I don’t think that would be a good idea.

Carbon is optional in tanks. It isn’t necessary. There are much more efficient filter media out there. Carbon is used primarily for removing meds or smells from the tank. It only lasts 4 weeks and then needs to be replaced. I personally don’t use carbon at all.

 

You know, it's funny that you mentioned that. My wife suggested over the weekend that we should build a pond in our backyard. To think that I started with a 5 dollar aquarium that I was going to hatch some praying mantis from the fair to this in just a year! hehehe. Thanks for the links, I'm going to go watch them now and try to figure out what is going to be best for our tank. Guess I'm going back with my original idea of Neon Tetras, Roseline Shark, Gourami Fish, Siamese Algae Eater, and maybe a Madagascar Lace Plant is back on schedule. My nitrites are now purple...yea!

 

AllieSten , wow, just when I thought I had a good understanding about cycling...anarobic and aerobic nitrifying bacteria! Who would have thought that nitrate could be dealt with! I went ahead and bought a pound to start off with of the biohome ultimate but I am concerned about having to treat my water with medications after installing the bacteria balls, any thoughts or suggestions?

 

AllieSten , wow, just when I thought I had a good understanding about cycling...anarobic and aerobic nitrifying bacteria! Who would have thought that nitrate could be dealt with! I went ahead and bought a pound to start off with of the biohome ultimate but I am concerned about having to treat my water with medications after installing the bacteria balls, any thoughts or suggestions?

I use ceramic rings, and haven’t noticed the whole anaerobic nitrate effect at all. But my current set up is only a few months old. Maybe in a couple more months I will notice it lol

In my canister I have 3 different sponges, filter floss, tons of ceramic media (5lbs), and then crushed coral for my pH. Lots and lots of media. My cycle is very much intact. Lol

If you are using media that absorbs, like Seachem Matrix, Purigen, Nitrazorb or carbon, it will absorb the meds. It will need to be removed from the filter before adding any medications. The other biomedia doesn’t need to be removed at all. Meds may affect bacteria population though. So you will need to monitor your parameters for a few days after using antibiotics, especially, to be sure your cycle is intact. Otherwise there isn’t any need to remove your media.

I don’t use biohome media because it is too expensive. If it was cheaper, I would use it.

Here is another great video. I have this canister, but it does apply to most canister set ups.