Can someone explain water changes?

[Paintballer99]

Hey,
I've been searching through aquariacentral,(as some of you know) and I can't seem to find much on water changes. I know they have to be done, but when? and how much water should be removed? Any other tips will be great!

Thanks!
PAint.

[Sunshinessmile]

water changes depend on lot of things... for me its time involved I have 3 tanks so I do my water changes once a week on saturday for the 55 and some times every day on my smaller tanks(i know its not necessary the gunk bugs me). my 55g gets 10 gallons+what ever evaporated, the 10g amount comes from how much water is sucked out to get my gravel clean. for my smaller tanks its just as much as it takes to remove the gunk from the bottom of the tank.

another this is how your stocked... if you keep a tank full of goldfish or other know poop machines you may want to change your water more frequently...

[lateinningmagic]

I have a set mark where I drain to on my 20g tank. It's roughly 25%. I do WC once a week unless I've added a fish or am dealing with disease. Pretty much the same for my 10g tank.

[f|sH gUy]

Once a week for my 55g tank. For my planted 10g only if there is something wrong with the water because the plants take most of the bad stuff out.

[ksane]

The easiest way to do it and explain it:
Get an API liquid test tub kit. Test your water every few days at 1st (after the tank is cycled) and when the nitrates get to 20 ppm, do a 50% water change. After a few wks you won't have to test so often because you'll know about how long you can go before the water needs changed. It all depends on how many fish are in the tank, how much you feed, etc, etc.

[67chevelle]

:iagree: 50%,once a week,is a good routine to have no matter the stocking, or whether or not you have plants.Fresh,clean water is always good for the fish and the plants.

[jpappy789]

For moderately stocked tanks, 20-30% per week should be enough. However the more the better.

Posted on mobile.aquariacentral.com

[mikeb210]

It depends on the tank. My planted tank gets a 50% weekly WC but I dose fertilizers. My 125 African tank gets a 20% weekly just to keep up, but they could probably get by with less. It really depends on the tank. What setup are you running?

[Paintballer99]

Well, as of now I'm not running anything,(still getting info) but thanks for all your help guys!

[Oscars]

Ask the residents of the tank- they like minimal changes. WC involving lower percentage of replenishment done more frequently is better than WCs with higher percentage done farther apart.

[bushwhacker]

50% once a week keeps my tanks like chrystal.... speakin of which i need to get off here and get mine started

[Riiz]

Most of my tanks get 50% especially the ones with EI dosing (planted tanks). The colony tanks get 25% at a minimum, the tanks with more wood, get maybe 50%, cause they look like tea water very quickly.

But think of Water Changes as such, they're the cheapest water filtration on the planet, remove and dilute pollutants and for some species of fish, it is the difference towards healthy fish.

[bayareafarmer]

Depending on the poop/ or debris on your tank bottom. Get it all out or as much as possible.

Now if you dont have a poop or debris problem to vacuum out- then a 10% Water change once a week will be fine.

I also am assuming you have a good filter gph rate. Thats important on keeping your water and fish at their optimum

[andyjs]

Ask the residents of the tank- they like minimal changes. WC involving lower percentage of replenishment done more frequently is better than WCs with higher percentage done farther apart.
I agree. If you have somewhat sensitive fish, it's better to do frequent, small water changes because they cause smaller swings in the water parameters. With my big, messy tank, the fish are all pretty big and hardy, so they get around a 60-70% change once a week cause I know they can take it and they are dirty fish. With my baby lungfish that I'm more concerned about, I do about a 15-20% change every 2-4 days or so.

Also, Paintballer, great job figuring things out first and starting off right like a lot of us probably wish we did. I don't even want to think about how many fish I killed as a kid figuring things out on my own...

[jbradt]

Congrats on doing your research first! I had to put in some agreement with a couple of points.

1. too many variables to set up a maintenance schedule before hand. let the water tests guide you, as well as the stock load in the tank.

2. smaller changes more frequently can make maintenance less overwhelming (especially for big tanks) and are probably a bit better for the fish as they cause less movement in parameters.

[ct-death]

First, there is no such thing as too much ;)

Second, remember that the test kits cannot test for everything, and even though one's water might "test" okay (ie. nitrItes, NitrAtes, gH, etc.) routine water changes weekly keep up on general health and purge the tank of many undessirables such as hormones, partriculates, various trace chemicals and so on, known collectively as TDS (Total Dissolved Solids).

I personally like to do 50+% per week with heavy gravel vacs around my plants.

Good advice posted too! :)

[Teto]

As far as i know, it is supossed to be a WC of 50% once a week, however it depends in your fish, if you have discus especialy youngster and other delicate species of cichlids you will have to change the water 25% daily. plant help the filtration of the tank, i had been using the 50% percent on my angel tank since i got it and it had worked perfectly for me, however this hobby is 25% percent science 25% luck and 50% experience u start with some guideline and then you are able to do what will work for you.

[Wycco]

I would do 90% WC twice a day... I would, if I were insane... I'm not however so I just do a 33% water chance once a week.

I'm moderately stocked and I have a lot of plants.

[SMinNC]

After the cycle.

With a nicely stocked tank. (something like 20" of tetras and corys, could be a good baseline to compare to, as nicely stocked)





when?

Sunday
or
one of them other days...Once a week.


...how much water should be removed?

30% is a good starting point.


Any other tips will be great!


Don't drink the water.

-

Get some dedicated fish supplies.

5g bucket (at least 1) hardware stores have "paint" buckets that work good.
1/2 - 1g pitchers come in handy, often.

[bradlgt21]

If you have a planted tank that you dose fertalizers in some of the routines have you dose high amounts just to make sure the plants get enough. Then to make sure it doesn't get to a toxic level you remove them with a 50% water change once a week. So I do 50% water changes once a week. I have never seen my nitrates go above 5ppm.

[Paintballer99]

Ok thanks everyone, one last thing, do i still do water changes when I'm 1st cycling the tank?

[andyjs]

Ok thanks everyone, one last thing, do i still do water changes when I'm 1st cycling the tank?
Are you doing a fishless cycle? If so, no water changes are necessary, just do 1 80-90% WC when the cycle is complete and then add fish within 24 hours (I'd do it as soon as the water temperature stabilized after the change so that the bacteria don't start to die)

If you cycle with fish (I wouldn't-it's not very humane IMO, and it's way more work), then WCs will be necessary to keep ammonia under control to avoid killing the fish

[Star_Rider]

andy is correct.. if using fishless cycle you should not have to do a water change until the tank is cycled and you are ready to add fish. if doing a fishy cycle then water changes are done to minmize the build up of toxins(ammonia, nitrite)

as you can see there is quite a bit of difference in what many consider a maint./waterchange schedule.

much really depends on the fish and how quickly they add waste to the tank.. another is the species of fish you wish to keep.

large fish that are messy should get large weekly water changes.

more sensitive fish should get large water changes but with more frequently.
remember it's not really about nitrate and nitrate removal.. there are other pollutants that can build up in a tank.
smaller water changes will remove fewer of these waste(pollutants) larger water changed remove more and dillute more.
in essence water changes are your friend.

[corrieberry]

Also thought I'd add that you can use the tank water you take out to water any plants you may have growing...reduce the waste a bit! Once you work out a WC routine you can do it really quickly and it's generally less stressful. I can do complete general maintenance on my 55G in half an hour - includes trimming plants, removing all debris from the fish and a sand stir to prevent toxic gases from building up.

[Wycco]

Any other tips will be great!

You may already know- but in case you don't...

When you do your water change- be sure to vac your gravel. (can skip around the base of live plants) but when you have fish in and they're pooping- you need a suction siphon hose to clean around the substrate.

You can get a siphon for $8 at a petstore... very necessary for the cleaning/water change process.

[JPKeenan]

Err I must have a gill thumb (like a green thumb). I do it every two weeks or so. Also if the water starts looking bad or if the evaporation level gets to a point where I say "hmm time to clean".

I don't claim to have as much knowledge as anyone else on here, I am still a newbe.

I have never tested my water so I do not go by that.

[LiveMermaid07]

"Don't drink the water."

-

LMAO! :y220e:

[Carla G]

When you do the water changes it is important to adjust the temperature of the new water to close as possible to the tank temperature and use a de-chlorinator before you put the water in the tank. Otherwise the chlorine will kill your bacteria and possible your fish.

When you vacuum the gravel, don't just skim the surface, dig down a bit to dislodge the gunk that accumulates. That gunk is excellent fertilizer, so don't waste it!