Water Changes

[opticalblue]

Hi Guy

I want to see what peoples opinion is on the frequency of water changes are?

if I had the Eheim gravel cleaner which cleans the gravel without changing the water.

Could I change the water changes to once every 2 weeks than once a week?

Thanks

[Caryl]

How long is a piece of string?

Many factors are involved in frequency of water changes. Tank size, plants, species, stocking levels, filtration, feeding regime.

Most people do 10% weekly at least, or 20% fortnightly.

Some of us do water changes once every few months :roll:

[izone2240]

I do mine twice a week evey Wednesday and Sunday 20 % fish seam to be a lot more healthy & active not to mention the quality of the young that's my 2 cents :-P

[Godly3vil]

I do mine twice a week evey Wednesday and Sunday 20 % fish seam to be a lot more healthy & active not to mention the quality of the young that's my 2 cents :-P

+1

I have 4 tanks running and I change around 20% water twice a week aswell, it does seem to make a difference in the health and behavior of the fish.

[Caryl]

More is definitely better!

[Ira]

I do 50% weekly*.

*Ok, I mean to do it weekly and feel bad when I can't be bothered for 2-3 weeks sometimes.

[R32GOTMLK]

i do 20% daily , heavily stocked

[LYNDYLOO]

I do 50% twice a week in my heavily stocked tank, (Wednesday's and Sunday's) and 50% once a week on my smaller tanks also on a Sunday :thup:

[smidey]

i have always done 30% once a week. heavily stocked and heavily fed.

[F15hguy]

as often as you want, no negatives to doing one, lotsa positives.

I always say a minimum of 50% per fortnight. mine get one per week, plus any extra I can be bothered doing or if my guys look horny

p.s. how is the gravel vac, I always looked at those as a gadget more for the person than for practicality (though they are awesome for small pond cleanouts)

[Dr A]

Slight dredge/off topic post:

Do you guys pre-heat the new water going into a tropical fish tank?

I'm sure it probably doesn't matter for big tanks, but if you did say a 20% change on a small tank, you'd presumably cool the overall tank temperature noticeably... which in turn presumably would be stressful for your fish, and be less efficient (aka take longer/be more expensive in theory) for your tank heater to heat back up to it's desired temperature.

I'm by no means an expert and this ins't conclusive but I just measured the cold water coming out of the tap in my workshop (14 degrees Celsius) with my multimeter... that's along way off 25. I realise that temp would be subject to much fluctuation over the course of a year, but in winter it'd be worth considering right?

Wouldn't it be better to put the "new" water into a bucket and use a/another cheap low watt heater to pre-heat the water to close to the existing tank's temperature...

... or am I just being a little OTT?

[Ira]

In your case and that small a water change I wouldn't bother. You'd only drop the temp like 2 degrees. They'll be fine. I use a mixer to mix the hot and cold water from the tap. I've measured my cold at 8° over winter and usually do 50% water changes. So that would probably cool mine down to about 16°

[Dr A]

In your case and that small a water change I wouldn't bother. You'd only drop the temp like 2 degrees. They'll be fine. I use a mixer to mix the hot and cold water from the tap. I've measured my cold at 8° over winter and usually do 50% water changes. So that would probably cool mine down to about 16°

Right, my fluid mechanics /thermodynamics is a bit dodgy.

I would have assumed hot-water from the tap is a no-go (for the same reason you don't drink from a hot water tap?).

The other option would be to boil some water. That may denature it though I suppose...

[Ira]

Right, my fluid mechanics /thermodynamics is a bit dodgy.

I would have assumed hot-water from the tap is a no-go (for the same reason you don't drink from a hot water tap?).

There's no real good reason for not drinking from the hot tap. There are old wives tales about the hot water dissolving more minerals and giving you heavy metal poisoning but the amounts are harmlessly small.

The other option would be to boil some water. That may denature it though I suppose...

Denature it how? Make it less...Water? That takes roughly 3000°C Might offgas some chlorine, but otherwise you're just wasting huge amounts of electricity.

[LYNDYLOO]

Small Question??

How do you do a Gravel clean without changing the water :dunno:

[Ira]

Small Question??

How do you do a Gravel clean without changing the water :dunno:

You can get pumps that will run the water through a filter sock to collect debris. But then....Why? You can never do too many water changes unless you're brackish, marine or for whatever reason the replacement water is expensive

[LYNDYLOO]

Thanks Ira

Have to agree with you Ira, WHY would you want to do this :roll:

[alanmin4304]

Filters remove the bits of suspended solids and therefore clarify the water and gravel vacs remove the larger particles that have settled into the gravel. Filters also help to convert ammonia and nitrite to nitrate and reduce the toxicity in your tank. Water changes get to reduce everything else that you can't see, some of which may not be good for your fish.

[Sophia]

From time to time I do a water change and put a stocking over the end so the main gunk gets collected and then I put the siphoned water back in the tank. This is because I have what most people would call a nano tank and I try to keep the water changes to small amounts so as not to affect the water chemistry too much. Sometimes I just can't help myself though and I'll do a water change using fresh water.

[amb44]

That is such a great idea Sophia. I either need to upgrade my filter or do a major clean which I don't want to do for obvious reasons, like dead fish! If I used a stocking, how big of a water change could I safely do? Would 50% every couple of days be ok until the majority of the gunk is gone from the bottom? It seems like a lot I know but everytime I do a water change there is so much poop floating around afterwards that I just want to empty everything and start again as it looks so gross. Oh I should add that I am talking about a 38l tank, so I think it falls under nano too?

Thanks very much,

Amy

[Ira]

That is such a great idea Sophia. I either need to upgrade my filter or do a major clean which I don't want to do for obvious reasons, like dead fish! If I used a stocking, how big of a water change could I safely do? Would 50% every couple of days be ok until the majority of the gunk is gone from the bottom? It seems like a lot I know but everytime I do a water change there is so much poop floating around afterwards that I just want to empty everything and start again as it looks so gross. Oh I should add that I am talking about a 38l tank, so I think it falls under nano too?

Thanks very much,

Amy

If you're just straining it through a filter and pouring the water back in then you can do as big as you like since it's not really a water change. Maybe limit it to like 90% of the water removed at a time so the fish aren't flopping around on the gravel.

[SamH]

It's arguable whether or not water changes are needed in a fully cycled, heavily planted and correctly stocked aquarium.

[sup42]

I was wasn't up to date with fish keeping so ended up doing a 'fish in cycle' and even then there were too many for a controlled rate of progression through the Nitrogen Cycle.

So from what i read after the fact i did daily water testing and daily water changes based on the readings , never less that 25 % changes and sometimes 50 % two or three times a week to slow the Cycle down.

Introduction of Cycled media and trying to use plants at the outset for the welfare of the fish to counter the New Tank Syndrome...meant the Cycle took three weeks even though there was a highish Bioload and no visible signs of stressed fish.

Obviously put the Cart before the Horse but I totally agree that plants and regular Water changes can make a huge difference to the health of the tank , provided other water parameters are not fluctuating by the changes themselves.

Anyway most people here know this stuff in more detail than me, but From this experience I find it hard to back off an let the tank do it's own thing, it seems fish keeping is not so relaxing for the obsessive compulsive :slfg:

[opticalblue]

It's arguable whether or not water changes are needed in a fully cycled, heavily planted and correctly stocked aquarium.

This seems to e an interesting discussion regarding water changes filtering, but what are your guys thoughts on adding cycle every water change or is there bacteria in the filter median to not have to add cycle?

[Hamstar99]

No need. Just use basic de chlorinator. You shoudnt be effecting the bacteria when water changing and the balance is already there so no need to add more.