# Is a pwc needed now?



## seaecho (Jan 31, 2012)

My 10 gallon has been doing a fish-in cycle for a month as of today. I went through the ammonia spikes and the nitrite spikes, and this morning my readings are ammonia 0 and nitrites .25. Nitrates are staying at 5.0 every time I check. This is what I'm wondering. Its been a week since I've done a pwc. Do I need to do one? I always read that weekly pwc's are very important. Well, if my tank isn't completely cycled, should I still do one? Or will I mess things up? I get the feeling (from what I've read on this board) that you shouldn't do a pwc on a cycling tank unless your ammonia or nitrites are at a dangerous level. Thanks!


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

you values seem fine to me.

but then I use the methods in my signature's link.

Worth at most .02


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

There's no such thing as too many PWC, unless you're trying to cycle. If you're going fishless, I wouldn't bother doing a WC, but if you have fish, when in doubt, change.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

maybe a small one since the Nitrites are up a bit. Nitrites are toxic.


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## seaecho (Jan 31, 2012)

Thank you, Holly. That's what I was wondering. I'll do an approx. 25% change tomorrow. I only have Stress Coat, and love it. But now that I have cherry shrimp in there, I hear I should no longer use it. I hate doing a PWC without Stress Coat! Does this mean I have to get Prime?


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

Why shouldn't you use stress coat?


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## Mr_Pat (Apr 13, 2010)

I would do a small WC as well.. I found when my levels started going nutty on me for a bit was typically right after adding new critters to the tank <AKA added BIO load> so things need to settle in a bit .. do a small change and wait a couple days and check levels again. Honestly I'd say your levels are pretty good aside from the small nitrate spike. do you have any plants in your tank ?


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

Agreed with mr pat, do a small water change and I think you'll be fine using stress coat, I havent read anything about it saying it was bad for rcs or inverts in general, if anybody has definetly chime in


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## whitetiger61 (Aug 2, 2011)

if it was me i would hold off on it..looks like your cycle is coming to and end..at .25 it looks like the nitrates are taking care of the nitrites..when nitrites come down to 0 and nitrates come up from 5 ppm then do the water change. water change is probably already done though as im always late getting to these posts.

Rick


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## seaecho (Jan 31, 2012)

Nope, Rick, haven't done the pwc yet. In fact, I was thinking along the same lines you were--that the tank is almost cycled, and no values are dangerously high (or even close to it) so why mess with it? Let it finish its cycle. I feel I'd be slowing the process by doing a pwc. But as you know, I'm a newbie, and wanted to check in with you guys first. I think I'll check the values again tomorrow, and just go from there.

If you Google Stress Coat, I found quite a few posts on various boards saying that Prime is safer for shrimp than Stress Coat. Some people are even saying that they lost shrimp after using Stress Coat.


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## whitetiger61 (Aug 2, 2011)

im pretty sure prime is safe for shrimp. i have used stress coat with mine but instead of giving it the dose it said to on the bottle i just did 3/4 of that dose..and shrimp seemed fine..use your on judgement on this..this is what i observed with mine and that was some time ago since i had shrimp..and if i havent welcomed you to the forum yet.. welcome..let the nitrates do their job on the nitrites do a water change and go from there..

Rick


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## seaecho (Jan 31, 2012)

Thanks everyone! My nitrites are 0 this morning--yea! The nitrates are still 5ppm, so I'll wait until they come up until I do a pwc. I'm glad you've had no trouble with Stress Coat, Rick, as I have a big bottle of it on order right now. I love that stuff! I think I read something about it lowering PH, but my PH is already right around 8, so if that was the only issue with it, I'm guessing I wouldn't have a problem even if it did lower it a bit? And thanks for the welcome!

Oh, this is kind of humorous, but not really. . . I was looking around one of my storage sheds and found an old 40 gallon rectangular tank that I've had many years, and forgotten I had. No cover, hood or lights--just the tank. I was almost drooling, thinking about how I could stock it. I even figured out I could turn my 10 gallon around sideways on one side of my desk, and put the 40 gallon lengthwise, and it would just BARELY fit. I mean, with only an inch to spare. Space was a big issue, but I think it could work, as I'll remove my beside lamp and put in a wall one. As soon as I'm done cleaning up the 40 gallon, I'll try it and see if it will fit. Humorous part though, is that I've finally gotten this 10 gallon almost cycled, and now I'll have to start all over with the 40 gallon!


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