Beneficial Bacteria die off from 75-90% daily WCs

[ssevasta]

If someone has been doing 75-90% daily water changes for a long period of time and then goes on vacation for a week is there going to be an ammonia spike? I've heard people say that doing high % water changes can create a situation where the tank never completes a cycle due to there being insufficient ammonia to establish the Bb colonies. This got me wondering what would happen if someone were to take a vacation or develop an illness that prevented them from continuing with their daily maintenance schedule. Is this what is referred to as a mini cycle?

[Phillydubs]

A mini cycle occurs when you remove the beneficial bacteria or cause it to die in some way. I.e. Rinsing it in Tap and killing it as opposed to tank water.

Eventually when doing daily water changes the tank will cycle. It never doesn't cycle. Unless that person plans to go away or gets sick say a week in or something like that.

Many folks here will cycle the tank w discus in it doing big daily or twice daily wc until the filter catches up. But as far as I know, eventually the filter will eastablish itself.

[Poppa Ryno]

I do daily 70-90% WC's and have not experienced any issue with ammonia spikes in my tanks. nor mini cycles, blooms etc....

[LizStreithorst]

Just don't squeeze your filters out before you leave and don't have anyone feed while you gone. If the Discus are adults you will be fine.

[DJW]

If you have no ammonia just before your regular daily WC, then changing water wouldn't reduce the ammonia, and it means the biofilter is capable of removing the ammonia as fast as the fish produce it.

Also when you go on vacation you normally don't feed, and since virtually all the ammonia comes from the protein in the food... the ammonia is less.

[brewmaster15]

I agree with the others here. Just want to add also that your biological filtration occurs mostly on your substrate and filter media...not the water column.The colonies there are feeding and growing day and night on the fishes wastes and excess food fed. If you do a water change of even 100% at one point and remove the waste at that time...it's going to be a momentary blip on the screen compared to the rest of the time there is an active ammonia cycle. There should be no effect on the biofilter at all. Even while doing the water change those gills are pumping out ammonia.

Hth,
AlI

[ssevasta]

You guys made some great points. I never knew that they produced ammonia through their gills though Al. I'm somewhat OCD about vacuuming out poop and leftover food whenever I see it in the tank which got me going on this train of thought. The gill ammonia production does make sense though because I've never had any issues or noticed signs of distress in my fish when I had to hold off on my daily water change schedule for whatever reason. The main reason I do such high water changes is to maintain growth rates while I feed them many times throughout the day. All of my discus tanks are barebottom so any BB I have is going to be in my sponge filters.