This is my first time ever cycling a fish tank so im still learning and slightly confused, no fish in this tank yet, week 1 cycling here are my parameters – very high nitrite and nitrate. Do i need to do a water change to lower the nitrites? Or just let the cycle do its thing?
https://i.redd.it/788trcue593g1.jpeg
Posted by Potential-Noise-8317
7 Comments
10gal, no heater waiting for it in the mail, sponge filter, 1 week into cycling, no fish, around 76F, heavily planted tank, adding amonia by sprinkling fish food every other day
I would definitely do a water change! I don’t want to give the wrong advice but in my personal experience I’ve added nutrifin cycle to introduce beneficial bacteria into my tank to help the cycle get further along (while still doing water changes).
No. Let the bacteria convert the nitrites into nitrate. This is an important step to let be.
No need to do a water change if there are no fish in the tank. Just keep waiting for ammonia and nitrite to go to zero.
You will need to do a water change once it’s cycled to lower nitrates, but for now you should leave it be.
I’d probably do a partial water change, maybe 10 to 20% just to make sure the nitrites aren’t going over 2 ppm. Much over that can actually stall your cycle, but it’s probably fine.
No water change yet. Wait until there’s no nitrites and see where the nitrates fall. If its at 40ppm or higher then do a 50% water change. Just dont disturb the soil/gravel/sand that you have. The water change will also lower your pH, which is good try to keep it around 7.0ph, at 8.0 is around danger level, even if it stays stable.