question about water change
- Thread starter Adroit
- Start date
No, as long as you do not over do water changing too many times. Weekly is greatly recommended. So good for you Adroit
It will not affect the cycle at all, i do 2 50% pwc's a week on 2 tanks, some spices like Discus like more than that. i also gravel vac when doing changes........:idea:
Many of us change 25% - 50% every week. It best to gravel vac dead plant pieces debris/fish waste from your gravel/sand weekly also when changing the water. Your bacterial colony is mostly in your filter media. Removing the water itself will not harm the benefical bacteria as there is not much free flowing in the water. When "cleaning" filters and media never run tap water over the media to clean it. Simply take some water that you removed from your water change and take your media bags/sponges from your filter and swoosh em around to knock off any big particles or gunk that has accumulated. The sponges can be used over and over no need to replace them until they start falling apart. When refilling your tank after be sure to dechlorinate with a quality water conditioner like Prime.
Yup I change 30-50% of the water a week, and never had a mini-cycle. As others have said, the bacteria isn't located in the water, mostly it's in the filter media with some in the substrate and tank decor.
Water changes will do no harm once you start doing them regularly. If you have not been doing regular water changes, you need to work your way into them gradually. Your fish may have become accustomed to high nitrates and the pH that results from no water changes. The solids content of your water may have also gone up quite a bit by you just adding water instead of making changes. If you go out and make a large change under those circumstances the result will be lots of stressed fish.
Like I said earlier, if you have not been doing frequent water changes, take it easy at first and gradually work up to the larger amounts. You might try 10% per week for a few weeks then move up to 20% and so on. Thaty way you will improve the water quality gradually and not shock fish that have had more stagnant water conditions.
Like I said earlier, if you have not been doing frequent water changes, take it easy at first and gradually work up to the larger amounts. You might try 10% per week for a few weeks then move up to 20% and so on. Thaty way you will improve the water quality gradually and not shock fish that have had more stagnant water conditions.