water changes

Atleast 25% should be changed, but I aim for 50%. I do a thorough vacum each time and consider it nessisary of you want to keep your tank in the optimum of health.

I do 25% water changes once a week, but you should really base the timming or ammount on your nitrate levels. Find a routine that keeps them under 20ppm if possible. I vacuum all the gravel each change.

I have heard at least 25% weekly on this forum a lot. I personally strive for 40-50% weekly. I break it up into 20% a day, twice a week. Sometimes I'll do it more often because my tank is pretty well stocked. Of course, the more fish you have per gallon, the more often you need to clean.

I used to vacuum 100% of my gravel at once, but I noticed it was stressing my fish out. Mostly it was probably because I would remove all the decorations so I could get to the gravel. Now I just do one half at a time, and keep the decorations on the other half. My fish like that a LOT better, because they have some place to hide while I'm mussing up the other half. That's also why I break up cleanings into twice a week.

In the end, it's your personal preference. The cleaner you keep your aquarium, the happier and healthier your fish will be. For a while I got lazy and would only change 50% a month, and some of my fish got sick. It was minor, nobody died, but I'm still fighting the repercussions (loach with barbel infections, see "Catfish and Bottom Feeders" for my post). So if my experience is any lesson, learn it now before you make the same mistake!

sumthin fishy said:

I do 25% water changes once a week, but you should really base the timming or ammount on your nitrate levels. Find a routine that keeps them under 20ppm if possible. I vacuum all the gravel each change.

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How agressively do you both vacuum the gravel?
I mean, do you push the Python head down into the gravel and stur it or just kinda let it suck stuff off the top of the gravel, or just stir it up alittle?
I havent been vacuumming since my tank has been cycleing but now complete so I need to start vacumming.

Thanks

Jees, I sure wish email notification worked on this site! :idea2:

Yes, now that your cycle is done, you will need to vacuum pretty well. It was recommended not to during cycling because the nitrifying bacteria are aerobic (need oxygen) so needed access to the water. Now that you will be adding (more) fish, you will need to remove fish poop before it decomposes and causes pollution and increases nitrogen load. I vacuum aggressively, as in disturb the gravel all the way to the bottom of the tank because I find poop even down there. Sometimes even vacuum twice! I keep doing it as long as I keep picking up particles instead of just water.

If your filter has a bio-media (like a sponge or foam), they will repopulate the gravel after your vacuuming. Also, not all the gravel bacteria will die. Sure, some will get buried and suffocate, but if your tank is healthy and mature, it will reproduce and replace those lost in no time. E.g. you shouldn't notice any ammonia spikes.

You can go months and months without changing the water or maintaining the filter...honest. Especially if the tank is heavily planted.

Yeah go ahead and flame away. But I still speak the truth.

It would take more vacuum suction than any gravel vac I've seen to suck the bacteria out of the substrate.

25% is a minimum weekly change recommendation. I go for 50% & vacuum until the water hits the 50% mark.

As echo said though, for advanced aquarists, you can go a long time in a planted tank without water changes.

Keep in mind too, tap water adds trace minerals and elements that fish need to be as healthy as possible. Its not 100% about removing nitrate.

I change 50% of my tank's water every sunday, and do an light gravel vacuum. I just roam around with my siphon, and only lightly disturb the substrae if I see poops or food in the siphons vicinity. I think how much you vacuum and how muchwater you change depends on how many fish you have in the tank, and what kinds. for example, I probably wouldn't do as many water changes if I didn't have my BN pleco in there, because she makes a lot of waste and mess, because plecos come from faast-flowing rivers, so they're mess and waste is immedately swept away, and they don't worry about being messy. and when I had only my betta, I did a 50% only once every 2 weeks, because they make a lot less watse and mess, an adaptation to living in small, filthy, ponds, no doubt.

echoofformless said:

You can go months and months without changing the water or maintaining the filter...honest. Especially if the tank is heavily planted.

Yeah go ahead and flame away. But I still speak the truth.

Click to expand...

Experienced fishkeepers with mature tanks can do this, but a tank that has just finished cycling cannot go that long. It also takes a very, very thorough understanding of the hobby and your fish. It takes a very long time to aquire that kind of understanding....

So, this comment is nothing to flame about. But for most people, this method is not an option.

I would agree to vacuum your gravel in stages digging your hose down in the gravel repetitively until you quit getting as much debris from the section you are cleaning. The water changes depend a lot on the size of your tank and occupants.