water change or no water change?

Question
Hello,

ok, since my water is cloudy and my water has a bit of foul oder, i have to do a 10 to 20% water change every other day. well i am a bit confused; reason, i am always told that you should not change your water during cycling unless my ammonia and nitrite levels are at its peak and considered dangerous to fish. I also heard that when the water is cloudy, it is a normal thing. It means the bacteria is blooming for the ammonia and nitrite, to make it into nitrate.

so question is, since my ammonia and nitrite is not that high, should i still do a water change every other day? regardless if my tank a bit of odor and/or cloudy. would it slow down the rate of the cycling? I am sorry, i am just told so much different answers that i really don't know what to do.

also, my water evaporate at a constant high rate; i believe its 1/2 a gallon every week and 1/2. I have no choice, bc my house is hot. my tank water is at 78 for the oscars, but still evaporates.

so question is, is it safe to just add a bit of water during the cycling process?

also, since i am doing a water change, i have to move around A LOT of buckets =( is their anyway that i can fill up the tank w/o harming the oscars? like just do a 20% water change, then pour the water in the tank w/ a hose then and the aqua safe and aquarium salt?


ha ha, ok but the most important question is if i should do a 10 to 20% water change regardless of the odor and cloudiness. my nitrite and ammonia levels are not that high. will it interrupt my cycling of the biological filter? ammonia-nitrite- then nitrate.  or should i just do a small about, like 10%

keep in ming, my tank is about 2 weeks old, and i use aquarium salt and i also use the product "cycle" its bacteria in a bottle i think

Answer
William,
why are you using aquarium salt?
oscars are south american cichlids that live in soft acidic water.
Adding salts is not necessary nor recomended for these type fish.
At this point it is imparative to lower the toxic levels, the only way to do that is to water change. The solution to pollution is dilution....and that is what we are trying to do here.
Once that is achieved you cut back the water changes and allow the system to finish the nitrogen cycle.
You can do 10% twice a day as well if that would be easier.
essentially adding in "new" water is like feeding the bacteria cloud, however once the bio-filter becomes established it will grow to consume the cloud.
it is a dynamic process dependant on the amount of raw material (waste-ammonia-nitrite-nitrate) in the system at any given time.
As the load increases the biofilter increases, as the load lessens the biofilter shrinks due to lack of food for lack of a better term.
So, do the changes, delete the salt and watch the feeding and leave nothing laying around on the bottom, if you have food on the substrate you are feeding too much.
If you have additional questions, just ask