Do I need to do water changes during cycling?

[zebradanio]

2 weeks into a fish less cycle , do I need to do water changes ?
not planning on putting any fish in for another 4 weeks , so 6 weeks in total.

 

[tim]

I would the more the merrier IMO especially if your tank is planted

 

[Martin in Holland]

for sure change water...plants...micro organism...all waste and all need fresh water

 

[Julian]

Just make sure you use dechlorinator in the water, any trace amount of chlorine will kill bacteria that has started to form.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

2 weeks into a fish less cycle , do I need to do water changes ?

Keep up the water changes, but if you are adding ammonia stop immediately, it serves no useful purpose and is actively toxic.

Have a look a this thread for more discussion <Should I fishless cycle a new planted tank? | UK Aquatic Plant Society>

Just make sure you use dechlorinator in the water, any trace amount of chlorine will kill bacteria that has started to form.

Honestly it won't, you need a really hefty dose of chlorine to do any damage. If you are worried a dechlorinator like "Amquel" or "Prime", that deals with chloramine as well, is a good idea.

Have a look at this thread <How long can you store water? | UK Aquatic Plant Society>

cheers Darrel

 

[Julian]

Honestly it won't, you need a really hefty dose of chlorine to do any damage. If you are worried a dechlorinator like "Amquel" or "Prime", that deals with chloramine as well, is a good idea.

Does that apply when doing regular water changes with a well established tank also?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Does that apply when doing regular water changes with a well established tank also?

Pretty much. If you have a planted tank and change relatively small volumes of water (up to ~20%) you don't need a de-chlorinator, even if you have chloramine as the disinfectant.This is largely because of the plants mopping up any ammonia and the residual chlorine out-gassing.

The problem with a lot of information on the WWW is that it is just the same "facts" endlessly repeated, often they started with a grain of reason, but over time they have become distorted in an internet version of "Chinese Whispers". The requirement for a de-chlorinator really comes from the USA, where they chlorinate their water much more heavily than we do, mainly because they don't have much regulation of the quality of water supplied by their water companies.

It would also be fair to say that the companies selling these products are disingenuous, at best, as to what their products contain, and their mode of action (Seachem are a "Prime" example of this).

Any de-chlorinator binds to the free chlorine ions. In a standard de-chIorinator it is sodium thiosulphate pentahydrate which is the active ingredient. The reaction is:

Na2S2O3•5H2O + Cl2 = 2 NaCl + Na2S4O6 (salt + sodium dithionate)

Chlorine will de-gas naturally fairly quickly, but chloramine is more of a potential problem due to the ammonia.
We don't know how "Prime" works, but there is a patent for "Amquel", and it would be safe to conclude it is similar <Prime | UK Aquatic Plant Society>.

There is some discussion here: <Seachem Safe | UK Aquatic Plant Society>

cheers Darrel