Water Change While Cycling?

[rk4435]

I have a 90 gallon that is in the process of cycling. I need to do a water change on the smaller established tanks that will be moved in to the 90 gallon.

Will it do any good to drain water from the 90 and add water from the established tanks? The amount drained / added would only be a few gallons.

 

[j_b_]

My understanding is; very little (if any)</em> of the bacteria we desire for cycling is suspended in the water column, rather they inhabit the "live" rock, sand and other objects in our systems.

However, what is in that water is dissolved organic materials (DOMs) and by introducing that water into your new system, it can provide a food source to feed the bacteria which may already be present in your new system, whereby growing the colony.

So, in answer to your question...based on my understandings, yes, it could help a little bit to transfer water from your established system. If you are transferring the "live" rock from the smaller systems, that of course would be even better.

 

[rdnelson]

J.B.;887688 wrote: My understanding is; very little (if any)</em> of the bacteria we desire for cycling is suspended in the water column, rather they inhabit the "live" rock, sand and other objects in our systems.

However, what is in that water is dissolved organic materials (DOMs) and by introducing that water into your new system, it can provide a food source to feed the bacteria which may already be present in your new system, whereby growing the colony.

So, in answer to your question...based on my understandings, yes, it could help a little bit to transfer water from your established system. If you are transferring the "live" rock from the smaller systems, that of course would be even better.

While I agree with this completely I would add one thing. Some of what you are bringing from the old tank is what you are trying to get rid of by doing a water change. Why dirty up a new system with stuff you want to discard from an old system?




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[picoreefguy]

i wouldnt worry about the water its not doing enough to help the new system to make it worth the hassel. you can go to walmart or a hardware store get some pure ammonia and put a capfull in the tank to speed up the process

 

[rdnelson]

Picoreefguy;888516 wrote: i wouldnt worry about the water its not doing enough to help the new system to make it worth the hassel. you can go to walmart or a hardware store get some pure ammonia and put a capfull in the tank to speed up the process

Agree. However a capful would be way overboard. A couple drops will raise it to about 4ppm which will kick start things.


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[picoreefguy]

ahh i didnt realise it would raise it that much i didnt test until a couple weeks after i started the tank to see if it was ready yet.

 

[rdnelson]

Picoreefguy;888526 wrote: ahh i didnt realise it would raise it that much i didnt test until a couple weeks after i started the tank to see if it was ready yet.

I used 1/2 cap on my 35 and it was off the chart. LOL. Next time I will go with a couple drops, test and keep adding until I hi around 4 ppm.


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[rk4435]

I'm going after ammonia today. I still have no ammonia and my wife is ready to sacrifice Chromis.

 

[rdnelson]

rk4435;888554 wrote: I'm going after ammonia today. I still have no ammonia and my wife is ready to sacrifice Chromis.

Two words of caution. If you use ammonia get the Ace Janitorial Strength. It is pure. But, if you added live rock you may not see a cycle. The ammonia will be consumed creating nitrite which in turn will be consumed creating nitrate. Have your nitrates gone up any?




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[rk4435]

I could not find pure ammonia at Home Depot so I abandoned that plan. I actually have not checked nitrates because no ammonia has been present on my every other day checks. I checked for nitrite last night and none was present. I will check all today.

 

[rdnelson]

Is there an Ace Hardware close by? They have pure ammonia.


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[ringo®]

Before you add ammonia, is anything living in this tank currently?

 

[rdnelson]

Ringo®;888670 wrote: Before you add ammonia, is anything living in this tank currently?

If he keeps spending money on it he will be. LOL



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[ringo®]

rdnelson99;888677 wrote: If he keeps spending money on it he will be. LOL



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Quick and witty retort......2 bonus points for Rich!

 

[eagle9252]

??

what size is the other tank? if your upgrading you can move almost everything and should not see a cycle. but if you are adding another tank then depending on size you might need to cycle.

when i started a 25g cube i used sand and LR and WC water from the 120. i let it run for a week and then added fish . i never had a cycle and the week allowed the new tank to get its slim coating per say. i did use stability for 7 days as directed for new tanks. thats all i did and never had any problems.

 

[jdavid]

eagle9252;888712 wrote: ??

what size is the other tank? if your upgrading you can move almost everything and should not see a cycle. but if you are adding another tank then depending on size you might need to cycle.

when i started a 25g cube i used sand and LR and WC water from the 120. i let it run for a week and then added fish . i never had a cycle and the week allowed the new tank to get its slim coating per say. i did use stability for 7 days as directed for new tanks. thats all i did and never had any problems.

55 to 29 downgrade, used well established LR. New sand, new water. Waited a week. Lost a firefish

 

[rk4435]

RdNelson wins, I'm spending a night in the tank before moving to the couch. I took a sample in to the local lfs and they verified my readings of no ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. The owner said that I would not see a cycle because of the way I started the tank. He suggested that I start moving the less sensative items from the 29 and 36 gallon tanks. I chose to move a couple of his chromis instead. We'll see how it goes.

 

[eagle9252]

with only LR depending on the amount i would have not tried it. the biofilter was not established yet.

people say used water has no benefit but the things you are removing from one tank is what you are trying to put in the other tank. why add pure ammonia and or a raw shrimp?

when i did my wc i sucked the very top of the sand off so it would be the cleanest i put about 5 to 10# in the dt and another 20 to 30 in the sump. all of this came from the 120 and all of the water from the wc. so in reality the only thing new was the tank and sump shell and the pipes. i used not lights for the first 2 weeks other than ambient room lights. and it was very low flow and also went through a chiller.