Cycling Tank & 100% Water Changes

[sonicninja]

Hi everyone,
I have a 12 litre nano planted tank which I do a near 100% water change on once a week. Could this cause me to have to re-cycle my filter at all? As long as I dechlorinate the water (I use Prime for this) then I should be okay right?
I should say I don't have a test kit to check the parameters of my water.
Cheers!


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[roadmaster]

Would think 50% every other week would suffice or maybe even less than this if it is for the benefit of a few shrimps.?
If this is Dry start method for establishing a tank which has now been flooded,then I should think after a couple near 100 % water changes,, that it would help clear the water up quicker if that is the reasoning.
Can't imagine much fauna in 12 litre so feeding's would be sparse also?
So long as you don't disturb the media in the filter,all should be fine.

 

[sonicninja]

It was cycled a while ago and it's only inhabitants are a couple of nerite snails. It was originally a high tech tank which has now been taken down and made into a low tech, maybe the large water changes are no longer required.


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[Zeus.]

As long as you add prime to the water before adding the water to your tank with a few minutes to work you should be fine.
Why are you doing such big changes every time as you will be losing most of the healthy bacteria in the water. Think I would be tempted to do two 50% changes one straight after the other rather than one 100% WC

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[roadmaster]

Not much bacteria free floating about in the water.
Most of the bacteria will be found on hard surfaces like glass,wood,rock's,substrate,filter media,filter tubes.
Really no need for such water changes with such small bioload.

 

[alto]

Perhaps not but my tap has a good amount of dissolved CO2 & low tech tanks seem happy enough for large frequent water changes - or barely any water changes if I'm busy - but there's no doubt the tank sees more active growth with the large weekly wc ..... especially if you're a lazy aquarist & fertilization is linked to that large water change (ie the fresh water is just as likely to be the only nutrient source )

 

[roadmaster]

Yes, My tanks are all low tech and I have seen no harm to flora /fauna with large frequent water changes.
I have a few fishes that I feed well also.

 

[sonicninja]

Thanks everyone. Maybe I'll cut back a little and make it a 50-60% weekly change. 100% is maybe a little excessive and I'm only doing it because on a 12 litre it's easy.


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[HiNtZ]

IMO it's neither here nor there - if it was a bigger tank I would say 100% would be a waste of time, but since it's a nano.... meh. As was said, there's not much free floating bacteria in the water compared with the hard surfaces.

As long as you're treating the water prior to going in the tank (which I can't see why you wouldn't be with such a small amount), then your cycling shouldn't be affected either way with your water changes. When I cycle a tank I leave it quite dirty till it's done, always worked better for me - and quicker. But that could just be a subjective view.

 

[sparkyweasel]

If you cut down to 50%, you could get a second tank without increasing your workload,