Water change!

[Caper]

Hi all!

Long time since been here but I do remember you cannot post directly from other sites with acknowledging where you go the info from. Unfortunately, I did not write it down and cannot find it, yet. With that said, if I'm doing something wrong on this post, will the powers that be remove, please!

When doing a water change (25%ish), I always just estimate by sight.

When browsing the net the other night, I found a place (don't remember where :oops: ) that gave a fast way to estimate was to measure your water level and mulitiply it by, I think it was using 20% change they were using. Anyway, so for example if water level is approximately 16", multiply it by 20%...which is according to the site is approximately 3 inches. Just looking for opinions if this is a good way to get an approximate way to know????

Thanks...have a great day!

Caper

[GrahamC]

It's not crucial. I find it easier to divide into 1/4s so I just do a 25% water change using my fingers to divide the height of the water. Previously I measured it out and then marked to where I would fill it too, and where I would change the water using some tape.

[livingart]

i just do a rough estimate by eye of how much to change

it is not critical just so long as it is regularly done in first few months of a new tank

once tank is more mature i rely on the fish to tell me when to do a water change

you can be more exact by calculating what is required to be changed

but fishkeeping doesn't need to be an exact science

unless that is what floats your boat

[Caper]

Thanks all :thup:

Duh...the subject was supposed to be "water" not "what" :facepalm: I can see I will be using this thingy alot :oops:

HI LIVINGART...how are you????????

I've always just used my eye :smln: and just estimated! I was just curious if this way was any better.

Yes, I'm keeping a close eye on this tank since it was fishless since before Christmas. Prior to this because I rarely got new fish (only to replace) and things never seemed to change in years (parameters), I stopped testing and did spread out my water changes. I did keep the tanks well understocked.

Thanks,

Caper

[livingart]

i am still breathing so life is good :sage:

good to see you back here and into fish keeping again

[GrahamC]

Prior to this because I rarely got new fish (only to replace) and things never seemed to change in years (parameters), I stopped testing and did spread out my water changes. I did keep the tanks well understocked.

Thanks,

Caper

Even if understocked, a tank without plants will accumulate nitrates which will need to be removed. A heavily planted tank might get away without partial water changes for 3 months or more.

[livingart]

nitrate of even above 100 ppm have been shown to be nontoxic to many species

[Caper]

Missed something here!

So, do you think I should be testing for nitrates because I do not have real plants????

Caper

[GrahamC]

Missed something here!

So, do you think I should be testing for nitrates because I do not have real plants????

Caper

When you feed your fish protein, nitrogen accumulates in your tank. Without a lot of plants to remove the nitrates, it will accumulate in the water. Hence the availability of nitrate testing kits. On the other hand, levels of 400 ppm have in at least two species of fresh water fish been shown not to affect their life cycle, and levels of 1000 ppm may be needed to kill. Nitrates are not normally found in most natural fish environments. Furthermore anaerobic bacteria can convert nitrates back to nitrites.

Given that there is some disagreement on the long term side effects of high nitrates in the water, most people still do partial water changes to remove them.

More reading for you here http://theaquariumwiki.com/Nitrate

[Caper]

Oh fuddle, I can't find the other post...hmm, maybe I forget to select "submit" again :facepalm:

Thanks livingart...it's great to be back.

I never stopped. I still have 3 tanks up and running (a 55 gallon still NOT set up )

GrahamC, I have never gone that long without doing a water change. I just don't do them weekly like I did in the past. I have had tanks for 7 years and probably stopped testing maybe 1 to 2 years ago.

Thanks,

Caper

[GrahamC]

To give you an example, in my goldfish tank of 160L or thereabouts, I had 10 ppm of nitrate 4 days ago. Today, I have 20-40 ppm, so best case for me is increasing nitrates of 20 ppm per week.

Goldfish like to eat plants so finding enough inedible plants for the tank to lower the nitrate production is a problem.

[livingart]

just do regular water changes

[Ira]

When browsing the net the other night, I found a place (don't remember where :oops: ) that gave a fast way to estimate was to measure your water level and mulitiply it by, I think it was using 20% change they were using. Anyway, so for example if water level is approximately 16", multiply it by 20%

Ignoring gravel and decorations that would give you 1/5th, it's not really a trick or anything, it's just basic math. But it doesn't matter if it's exact. I usually go for somewhere halfish/whenever I get bored of waiting for it to drain.

[Caper]

Hi Ira!

I was just curious to get opions on this Ira. I just estimate.

How often would you do "halfish" Ira? Just curious :spop:

How are you? I've been looking at various posts...and you are still as funny as ever!

Take care...and thanks,

Caper

[Ira]

How often would you do "halfish" Ira? Just curious :spop:

Used to do it weekly. Late it's a bit less frequent than that...Or a lot less...Ok, WAAAAY less, I think I've been going more than a month between water changes. Very slack of me.