water add and water change

I think I have at least a basic understanding of water at this point. I am not sure I am doing something wrong, but I want to make sure.

Right now I am about at the end of my cycle. But since the start of this adventure, I have had to add a lot of water to make up for normal evaporation, and at times what seems to be a higher salt content then what I want at the moment.

I haven't done any water changes, I was thinking about doing that right after I deem my cycle complete, test my water and go from there.

Does adding just normal water to make up for lost water hurt anything? I am guessing it slows down my cycle, but testing has been consistent over the past couple of weeks. When I finally get my fish in, does adding fresh water hurt the fish?

Thanks everyone.

 

Well, I wouldn't add tap water, to start the discussion. If you have been using RO/DI water, you are where you should be. RO water will also suffice. If you only have tap water, be sure to treat it to get rid of any chlorine. That''ll kill your livestock but quick. If and when you get into corals, the PO4 in tap water tends to cause problems, and that cannot be treated out (as far as I know).

At the end of your cycle, I would do a 20% water change and then go about on the water changing schedule that you have picked out for yourself. There is no wrong answer, IMO, about how often to do a water change (within reason). I haven't done a water change on any of my systems in months, but my bioloads are very light.

In terms of adding water to the system to compensate for evaporation, you are not doing any damage. The salinity will go up as evaporations occurs, as the salt is kept in solution and does not evaporate off itself. It does not seem to bother the livestock because the change has been slow. A rapid compensation to lower specific gravity, also, does not harm the fish as much as a rapid increase in SG.

Hope this helped. Enjoy the hobby. It is a good one.....

 

You always want to replace evaporated water with fresh water. Not mixed saltwater. When the water in the tank evaporates it leaves the 'salt' behind and your sg will rise. An example is my system is 72 gallons total. At full I have an sg of 1.025. A gallon of water evaporates and my sg rises to 1.030 so I replace the evaporation with straight ro/di water and my sg falls back to 1.025. If you plan on a serious reef I would recommend investing in an auto top off system so there is never a flux in your sg. I use a DIY kit from aquahub.com. Any system you go with will be a benefit and eases dealing with lost water.

Also I'm of the belief that changing water during cycling does nothing to effect your cycle. The bacteria colonize rock, sand, sponges etc. and very few free floaters are found. I did a 50% change weekly and my tank cycled in 4 weeks roughly.

 

to clarify were you adding top off water with salt?

you just want to add ro/di water for top off, don't add salt or your salinity will keep rising

 

I agree 100%.

 

The bacteria colonize the rock and substrate but changing the water reduces the available food, ie ammonia and nitrites which encourage the nitrosonomas and nitrobacter bacterias to grow and multiply rapidly. It does not export bacteria but it does their food source.

 

whats tank cycling? im very new to this. can someone please explain it to me?

 

Here this explains it. I'm feeling lazy atm. The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

Here's another good one
Reefkeeping 101 - Bogus Information - by Tom Murphy (aka WaterKeeper) - Reefkeeping.com

 

Tom and I often disagree but we get along great. Read this article on curing live rock for a differing opinion:
Walt Smith - About Live Rock and Sand

Walt Smith is the worlds largest importer of live rock by far and his system works.