Partial Water Changes Durring New Tank Cycle

[AugNYC]

Hello friends/happy holidays...
I've started a new 5g eclipse for my crayfish approx 3wks ago. The ammonia level has peaked.
So hear are two questions... Should I be doing any partial water changes (& vaccuming)?
How long should it take for a 5g to cycle?

Thank you in advance for any responses & advice........Augie

 

[leighton_87]

The only real reason to do a partial change during a fishless cycle is if you end up with way too much ammonia or nitrite as this can result in the wrong type of bacteria growing. Anything above 5ppm is probably too much.

Other than that no need to do a water change until its cycled when I would do a complete change (as much as possible) to get rid of all the nitrate built up.

How long will it take? Who knows? Generally 4-6 weeks but seen quicker and slower. The only real way to speed it up is to use nature media from another cycled tank.

 

[phoenixgsd]

is your crayfish in the cycling tank or is the tank cycling ready for a crayfish?

 

[AugNYC]

I,m sure this sounds bad but I'll reveal anyway...This cray was originally in a 10g cycled cray community tank.I lost power(and heat) last winter & this guy was the only one to survive. I started a new 5g tank. Included media from the cycled tank ect. That tank refused to cycle after over 3 months.
Not only that, but I discovered what looked like "very tiny white worms" imbeded in the gravel. Since this cray appears to be
uneffected by the whole ordeal,I decided to start a completely new tank for him (including new gravel ect.)
Sooo... thats where i'm at now. If this tank refuses to cycle I'm willing to do massive water changes every day.
Any advice (not insults) are welcome. Augie

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Yep...start those daily water changes, or until Ammonia reaches and stays at '0'. Crayfish can become quite big, boisterous, messy things...you may need to look into getting a bigger tank.

Terry.