water change during cycling

Question
Hi Dave: I got a 5 gal. hex tank with 1 male betta in it. I did not know about cycling the tank at the start to get the bacteria going. So now I am in the second week and Mr. betta seems to be doing good. My ammonia is around 2. In one of the answers to another question on this site, they said to do partial water changes during the cycling process. Is that not defeating the purpose? If you do a partial water change, you lose some of the ammonia too, which is the whole purpose of cycling. And I also would like to know how high the ammonia needs to get, before the bacteria cultivated start to bring the ammonia level down to 0?? Thanks for your time. Harry

Answer
Hi Harry:  I am glad to hear Mr. Betta is doing well. You should always do a partial water change... at least once per week...even during cycling.  Cycling refers to a process by which the tank environment comes into balance... the good opposes the bad and life is sustained.  So to answer your question... Yes do a partial water change of about 10 percent even during the cycling period. Water changes during cycling help to speed up the process. Also with smaller tanks (ten gallons and less) expect to do a 10 percent water change twice a week...however I can not stress enough that the 10 percent of the water in your tank should be acquired during your gravel vacuuming.  Clean the gravel at a minimum of once per week.  Ammonia is produced by rotting food (over feeding) and from fish waste... rotting food and fish waste tend to sink and work their way down into the gravel.  To keep the tank in good chemical balance clean the gravel.  For people who have lots of fish in a small tank expect to do water changes up to three or four times per week... Sometimes less is more...so when buying fish think about the environment they will live in, as well as how those kinds of fish behave.  The answer to your second question is a bit tricky... for two reasons... the first is that ammonia is rarely ever absent from an aquarium.  Part of this is due to the fact that fish always leave waste.  The nitrate cycle is a natural cycle that helps to keep the aquarium in balance. The other tricky part of your question comes from the fact that PH can cause ammonia to be more toxic especially when the PH is over 7.0... so to answer the question is hard to answer.  I would advise you to check the water quality before each water change.  I hope that this helps you and Mr. Beta have many happy years together... Dave