Water Change At End Of Cycle

[farmerhoggers]

hi all.
 
I am nearing the end of my cycle however once complete i will be maintenance feeding for up to two weeks. my question is do i do a water change at the end of the maintenance feed before adding fish, at the end of the cycle as per the directions or both?

 

[ShinySideUp]

Twenty four hours before adding your fish, change your water down to the substrate, i.e. a 90% - 100% water change, you want to get rid of any stray ammonia. Add all your fish the next day and that will keep your filter up and running.

 

[Ch4rlie]

As SunnySideUp already said, 24 hours before adding new stocking do a large 90 to 100% water change, this resets all water parameters to or very near zero. This will not harm filter media or bacteria, do remember to replace water with dechlored water, obvious yes but a mistake easily made.
 
Basically the main purpose of doing large water changes before adding stocking is to reduce the high level of nitrate.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

There should be no such thing as stray ammonia in a cycled tank.
 
There is no need to change the water down to the gravel. 50%-75% is more than enough in most cases
 
There are multiple reasons for doing the big water change as Ch4rlie noted. It pretty much serves the same process as your regular weekly maint. routine. The difference is that during a cycle water changes have been minimal or absent over that 5 - 6 week period. The odds of the pH shifting some during cycling are pretty good as well as using up the KH. All of this is corrected by the big water change. This is also a chance to get the temperature returned to a level right for the fish if you have raised to to speed the cycle.
 
Yes you should do a big water change (50%) again before the fish go in. I suggest you add a snack dose every 2-3 days until you add the fish.