LFS told me not to do a water change on my new setup for 60-90 days. I have a new 150 gallon tank and am new to the hobby. My nitrates are at 20 consistently with a red sea kit. LFS measures them at 0-5. I have two fish in the tank, scarlet cleaner shrimp, and fire shrimp. Also my cleanup crew is small as of now, with 3 starfish, and a mix of snails totaling 24. Only four of which are turbo snails. Is this no water changes for a while idea good advice? If so, should I be worrying about the nitrate levels???
No water changes on new setup for 90 days?
- Thread starter Brosiv474
- Start date
gone fishin
New member
Well let me ask, Is your tank cycled?
FraggledRock
New member
what seems to have happened is your tank cycled. nitrates were the end result and there was no nitrate removal. which means your cycle has long been over, and needs to be started again and you waited for no reason.
if your ammonia is 0 and nitrites are 0. you need to restart the cycle to make sure.
but adding anything now is too late after the cycle start and you will stress whatever fish you put in there when ammonia picks up again...
unless the fish and stuff have been there a while and you just need to do a water change that is LONNGGGG over due
remember LFS are like car dealers. They know half of what they think they know and all of what they think they shouldn't know. point is, never trust an LFS unless you KNOW they KNOW. other than that they are inexperienced hobbyists guessing and selling stuff...
usually i go by if they aren't asking me questions. and just offering to sell stuff, they DON'T KNOW... they should be asking you more questions then you are them.
if your ammonia is 0 and nitrites are 0. you need to restart the cycle to make sure.
but adding anything now is too late after the cycle start and you will stress whatever fish you put in there when ammonia picks up again...
unless the fish and stuff have been there a while and you just need to do a water change that is LONNGGGG over due
remember LFS are like car dealers. They know half of what they think they know and all of what they think they shouldn't know. point is, never trust an LFS unless you KNOW they KNOW. other than that they are inexperienced hobbyists guessing and selling stuff...
usually i go by if they aren't asking me questions. and just offering to sell stuff, they DON'T KNOW... they should be asking you more questions then you are them.
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FraggledRock
New member
but at this point do small changes over a period of a couple days. like 10 gallons a day for a week or so.
15 gallons is 10% weekly, but you have massive nitrates. thats bad for inverts and corals.
so do 10 a day for a week. and you will see maybe half those nitrates. then do 15% a week. every week.
15 gallons is 10% weekly, but you have massive nitrates. thats bad for inverts and corals.
so do 10 a day for a week. and you will see maybe half those nitrates. then do 15% a week. every week.
FraggledRock
New member
^ how come you're suggesting restarting a cycle when he has nitrates already? Plus fish are already in there. Just want to understand your logic.
i realized after he already had them in there.
unless he recenty put them in, then he is cycling with fish and snails.
jbvdhp
Active member
LOL you know what's funny? Your post became double the length after I posted my question to you, so obviously you were editing it. LOL and I tried to edit my post too hahahaha
gone fishin
New member
The reason I asked about the cycle is the join date. Many folks listen to the LFS and start a tank up the same day.
FraggledRock
New member
lol yea i was like OH SNAP i gotta edit that or ill look stupid LOL
FraggledRock
New member
thats what I was thinking
jbvdhp
Active member
My thoughts too. I was like... Im not a nOOb, but what if there was a reason for that, and oh snap! He edited his post. Hahaha
FraggledRock
New member
no harm no foul. i am glad someone is paying attention to my lack of attention =P
gone fishin
New member
When was the tank set up?
If your tank is cycled then I personally would do a 10% water change per week. Not wait 90 days.
If your tank is cycled then I personally would do a 10% water change per week. Not wait 90 days.
And from everything I jave been told, by both lfs and forums says my tank has cycled. With that being said, my live rock was sitting in my bathroom in a shallow container for about 6 to 8 weeks with a pump. When I put the tank together after the 6-8 weeks there was signs of a cycle. Tested the waters and got zeros for trites, tratws and ammonia. Kh was 10 and ph was 8.0. Again, the world seems to think the rock cycled in the container and that I would not see a cycle in my tank. After hearing that so many times I mover forward with the tank. And the nitrates did not show up until I added the shrimp and began feeding them.
Because I am so new to this, forgive my ignorance"¦ Is 20 nitrates really considered "massive"? From the research I have done, it seems as though tons of people have this type of nitrate reading. Many are saying its not a big deal at all. Is there a benefit do doing water changes in the first 90 days as a pose to not doing them? Sorry for all the questions, there is just so much info out there, much of which is very contradicting.
gone fishin
New member
If you have just fish then 20ppm of nitrates is not bad but inverts are more sensitive to nitrates.
Like I posted before I would do 10% weekly WC's. This will help out exporting some of the nitrates while at the same time replenish some trace elements.
Out of curiosity what was the LFS reasoning for not doing the WC for 60-90 days.
Like I posted before I would do 10% weekly WC's. This will help out exporting some of the nitrates while at the same time replenish some trace elements.
Out of curiosity what was the LFS reasoning for not doing the WC for 60-90 days.
They said to allow it to stabilize, and said that will help long term
gone fishin
New member
Personally I don't buy that.
Also, did you see the post I made at 5:58 pm? I didn't quote your response, and am new to using forums so I don't know how that works.
