I have my tank running for about two weeks now. I have no amonia or no nitrities anymore. They went by the curbside very fast in my 90..but i consistently have about 10mm on my nitrates. I did a 25 percent water change yesterday and i still have nitrates...some peopel say dont touch the water as the nitrates will go down..correct me if im wrong but nitrates are the product of the nitrogen cycle and thus dont go down under normal circumstance. There are so many people on here who say dont do a water change it will go down..and of course this is true to an extent. only when the live rock builds up enough anerobic bacteria to denitrify the Nitrates which can take many months to years.. But since theres alot of people who do say not to touch it and the nitrates will go down..what is the process on which this will work.... still not sure which is the correct answer. What is the truth on the matter.
2 change or not 2 change
- Thread starter hredder
- Start date
RiverOtter
New member
I do water changes. Folks that never do water changes are looking forwards to a crash at some point in the future.
i already did 25 gallons out of 90 and the tank is about 2 weeks old. it cycled pretty fast. yes i realize it can take months for a tank to truly build up all the nitrifying bacteria and not to go to fast. but some peole in the LFS are saying dont do water chages and the nitrates will go down???? that confuses me..the only way to take nitrates out is to do water changes or I am missing something???
RiverOtter
New member
If you have a mature deep sand bed or a ruge/w macro algae, that can remove nitrates. At just 2 weeks old I would guess yours is not ready for this yet. If you have no coral you could just wait and see.
dwd5813
New member
what i noticed on my tank that i've just gotten through the initial algae bloom with is that nitrate came down drastically as algae grew freely. i credit that growth with way more reduction than any bacteria in the rock. we'll see how it goes from here since most of the algae has either been eaten by cuc or removed manually now.
90 gallon tank 90lbs of live rock 100lbs of live sand 2 chromis 3 mexican turbo snails 12 blue legged hermit crabs tank is 2 weeks old..cycled during first 4 days..llive rock was cured before in tank amonioa spiked, then disappeared, the nitrites then disappear..now the nitrates wont go down.even after 30 gallon i still have 10ppm
RiverOtter
New member
It cycled in 4 days! I used water/sand LR all out of a 2 year old tank and still had a cycle of 3 to 4 weeks.
How are you testing the water? Test strips or color reaction? I think I would get my water tested at the LFS just to make sure.
How are you testing the water? Test strips or color reaction? I think I would get my water tested at the LFS just to make sure.
i did i have it tested at two different LFS..i dont use strips ever!!! I have alot of live rock and its very porous and cured. now dont get me wrong..when i say its cycled it cycled but its not ready to just dump in lots of fish cuz im sure i will still have mini cycles if i go to fast...everything is zero accept the nitrates which are abotu 10ppm and even after partial water changes wont go down
