Water change time?

[Aceaviator182]

Hello all,

I did a water change on my biocube 29 about 2 weeks ago when it finished its initial cycle. Since then I've had a diatom bloom that lasted around 5 days and seemed to go away. The tank is now going through another diatom bloom and I am starting to see some hair algae growing. Tank perameters as of yesterday are:

Ammonia: ~.025
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
KH: 8
1.025 SG

This was the first time I've seen any ammonia since it completed its cycle. I'm not sure if it was a bad test but I will test again tonight. Coepods are everywhere and are feeding off of the diatoms on the glass and the snails have kept the LR pretty clean. Should I do a water change tonight?

Thanks

 

[scooter31707]

First of all, what type of test kit are you using. I notice you state you have 0.25 ammonia which is not good for any livestock. If you are using API, they are known to have a false reading of that color. If it was me, I would not do a water change. Honestly, I am wondering how your nirates are at 10ppm with just snails. Are you ghost feeding the tank, if so, how much are you feeding? Are you running a skimmer? For the hair algae, I suggest running GFO at half of the recommend dosage to start with.

 

[Aceaviator182]

First of all, what type of test kit are you using. I notice you state you have 0.25 ammonia which is not good for any livestock. If you are using API, they are known to have a false reading of that color. If it was me, I would not do a water change. Honestly, I am wondering how your nirates are at 10ppm with just snails. Are you ghost feeding the tank, if so, how much are you feeding? Are you running a skimmer? For the hair algae, I suggest running GFO at half of the recommend dosage to start with.

I have 5 snails and a skunk cleaner shrimp in there now. I am ghost feeding a pinch a day and yes I am using the API test kit. I am not running a skimmer yet. This is probably a stupid question but what is GFO?

Thanks for the reply

 

[Pietro75]

granulated ferric oxide. Its a chemical type filter

I have a 2 month old tank as well and I am getting a little hair on the walls. All of my readings are good so I don't want to screw anything up. I was wondering about a water change as well.

 

[Aceaviator182]

Would I be ok to clean off the glass or would it be best to just wait out the diatom bloom? Also should I keep feeding the tank daily?

 

[Pietro75]

I cleaned the walls of mine, and I'm not going to change the water. I wouldn't keep feeding the tank. Let it balance out. One thing for certain, this hobby takes time and patience.

 

[sde1500]

Keep the sides of the tank clean, no reason not to. And I wouldn't feed your tank. After the cycle not much point in doing so. You can do a water change, won't hurt, though nitrates aren't too terribly high right now either. I assume you are planning on getting fish soon? How about corals? If you are looking at corals, get test kits for alkalinity, magnesium and calcium. Make sure those are in good order, then get the corals.

 

[Aceaviator182]

Keep the sides of the tank clean, no reason not to. And I wouldn't feed your tank. After the cycle not much point in doing so. You can do a water change, won't hurt, though nitrates aren't too terribly high right now either. I assume you are planning on getting fish soon? How about corals? If you are looking at corals, get test kits for alkalinity, magnesium and calcium. Make sure those are in good order, then get the corals.

Would the cleaner shrimp still have enough to eat if I stop feeding the tank? And yes I am planning on getting fish soon. Im looking into getting a quarantine tank and start some fish in there. I would like to get some corals soon but I heard that I should wait for another 2 or 3 months to add coral. Is that true?

 

[CStrickland]

When people say to "wait out the diatoms" they just mean don't go crazy like adding chemicals and stuff. You should do regular maintenance like water changes and glass cleaning. the more of the diatoms you remove through vacuuming the sand and filtering the water, the faster they will go away on their own.

I don't think you need to wait months for coral. Just get your water in order and don't buy anything too expensive or fragile in case you do get some vigorous algae. A little food every couple days should be enough for your crew, you can watch them eat, and remove leftovers too.

 

[Aceaviator182]

When people say to "wait out the diatoms" they just mean don't go crazy like adding chemicals and stuff. You should do regular maintenance like water changes and glass cleaning. the more of the diatoms you remove through vacuuming the sand and filtering the water, the faster they will go away on their own.

I don't think you need to wait months for coral. Just get your water in order and don't buy anything too expensive or fragile in case you do get some vigorous algae. A little food every couple days should be enough for your crew, you can watch them eat, and remove leftovers too.

Thank you for the help. So weekly partial water changes would be ok?

 

[CStrickland]

Sure 10% a week or 20% every 2 weeks. I like weekly cause it's a little stabler. It also good to get some practice with the maintenance routine to be more comfortable witht he whole process. You'll probs make some mistakes the first couple times, better to not have much in the tank when you do.