Do I still change the water?

[kp1917]

Hi everyone,


Day 13

I have a 20% water change ready to go. Was going to do it last night but the water was too cold so had to let it sit with a heater over night. Ammonia has been dropping a little for two days now and it was below .5 this morning. Nitrites close to 5 and nitrates at 20 or maybe a little higher, they of course have been rising for the last two days with.

With ammonia now below .5 and still droping, should I hold off on water changes or go ahead? I've been worried about ammonia so long that I don't know what is bad for NO3 and NO2.

Thanks for your help!

KP

 

[we_want_Nemo]

As far as I know, the Nitrites should be "0" also.

I would do another big water change!

Manuela

 

[jun_celis]

I would just leave it alone until ammonia and nitrite goes to zero.

 

[LJsInSC]

As long as it is below 1.00 I would leave it alone, I asked this question to Richard because I too was worried about it spiking, and he said you are defeating your cycle if you change before 1.00. My ammonia is coming down each day and I have only done one water change since Friday when I put the first shipment of rock and sand in the tank. This is day 5 for me and I am almost to zero!