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Okay, I have ALOT of questions. I just did my first water change last nite on my 20gal tank (Took out 5 gals, added 5.5 (for evaporation)). It took 8 weeks to cycle, so this was the first water change after that. I have 3 platies, 2 dwarf gouramis, and like 40 baby platy frys (some almost 2 months old). So here are my questions.

1. With the water changes, and the gravel vacs, do you lose your beneficial bacteria?

2. When I purchased my tank, I was told to change the filter (TopFin 20) once a month. Do I throw out the whole cartridge or what?

3. If I do throw out the whole cartridge, do I lose my bacteria from that?

4. Can I do a water change/Gravel vac, and change the filter at the same time? or do I lose too much bacteria?

5. Since my first cycle took 8 weeks (adding NIC/Cycle the whole time), if I do have a mini cycle, will it be like 4 wks??

I know I need to do water changes and occasionally change my filter, but I am afraid to do anything for fear of another cycle. Also, the gouramis have been in the tank for a little over a week, with no change to the water parameters (amm 0.0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 40 ppms). I want to add some cories soon. SO I want to make sure the more fish I get, the better I get at the water changes.

Sorry this is so long, just dont wanna mess up. Thanks!

If you follow the directions on a top fin filter it says to replace the cartrige....which is rather odd, since yes you would lose a signifigant ammount of your bacteria and be headed right to a mini cycle.
What I do with that filter is:
~If I'm running carbon in it (dont' normally) I shake out the carbon from the filter floss pouch swish the pouch in some used tank water then refill and replace.
~If I'm not running carbon, then a few swishes in tank water.

You will lose some of your bacteria, which is why you shouldn't vac the whole tank and clean the filters all @the same time.

^_^

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Okay, Babel, so you are saying that you never really replace the filter cartridge, just the carbon (if you use it at all)? But that you wouldn't do that at the same time as a gravel vac/water change?


PS. Like the new avatar!

T'anks I thought it fit my pink.

No, you don't need (and really shouldn't) change the floss, it does wear out after a while, but can stand up to some pretty rigourous cleaning. Carbon, if used, becomes useless after a month.

Forgot to answer about the mini cycles...it really depends on what causes it. It is odd that the cycle took so long, but I've heard of other cases where Cycle was used (in a few cases used incorrectly) and it took longer than usual.

^_^
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Hi,
It sounds like you are off to a great start. The regular
water changes are your way of imitating nature. Outside,
rain fall, and occassional floods, are natures water
changes.

The simple act of changing the water will not affect the
bacterial colonies that we strive to promote. Like
Babel (by the way I like the new Avatar) suggested, I
would "swish" the filter cartridge around in old water,
and then put it back in the filter. Others rinse it off
under running tap water. Some say that the chlorine and
chloramine in the tap water will injure or kill
the bacteria in the cartridge. It honestly may not make
any difference as the bacteria in the tank will soon
take over the rinsed cartridge. To be sure, you could
test the water a day or so after cleaning, and see if
the Ammonia or nitrites are any higher depending upon
how you clean the cartridge. If it makes no difference,
then I'd opt for the running tap water.

As far as vacuuming the gravel is concerned, the way to
do that is not to do the entire tank at the same time.
Rather, you should mentally divide your tank into thirds
or quarters, and every third month, then vacuum a third
or quarter of the tank. Each week, run the vacuum lightly
over the surface to pick up any fish or food waste, but
only truly vacuum a specific portion of the tank.

That gives the section three or four months to recover
before you do the next. That way any "mini cycle" will
easily be handled by the remaining bacterial colonies.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Too much testing will drive you crazy...

Nitrifying bacteria populations have highs and lows in tank water and are constantly changing.

Your tests kits produce a wide generalization of what's going on in the world of good bacteria.

No "cycle" should take eight weeks when dosing the New Improved Cycle. The product is dosed according to directions, a few fish introduced and nature takes its course.

Try not to overclean a tank. It's true that good bacteria hang out in gravel, but they also hang out in water, on the glass and on every other item in the tank.

Some, wisely, like to add a little NIC after a tank clean. A terrific idea.

--garyroland.

I agree with garyroland. When I clean out my filter I always add Cycle into it when I am done. And my tank only took about 5 weeks to cycle. I used Cycle and the ammonia levels and nitrite levels stayed relatively low. I am running an Aquaclear 200. I like it because of the media capacity and the choice of what you can put in there. For the mini cycles I wouldnt worry about that. Doing water changes while cycling, didn't create any mini cycles for me