water changes?

Question

When cycling my tank(w/ fish) do I change the water @ all? or leave it all the way until it is fully cycled.

Answer 1

Yes, you should change your water. While your tank is cycling, ammonia and nitrite will build up in the tank and these can be toxic to your fish. There's no set timing and amount for water changes, since how much of these chemicals will be present will depend partly on the number and size of your fish, the size of the tank, how much you feed, and how much and often you do the water changes.

If you use a test kit, it's a little easier to tell when they should be done because the fish will start to be stressed at levels above 0.5ppm, so the changes should be done when your test start showing you're lose to that amount.

You can also do 25% each week, 10-20% twice a week, etc. Just watch between changes for signs of ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning. These will generally include the fish gasping at the top of the tank, sitting on the bottom (generally inactive), loss of appetite, gills turning purple or brown (they should be red-pink), or red streaks appearing through the body and fins. If you see these, do a water change.

Answer 2

You should at leasts do a 20 to 25 percent water change.

WT

Answer 3

You should do small partial water changes every other day. It helps keep ammonia and nitrates under control.