Water Changes

fishlover88

fishlover88

AC Members
Jun 26, 2006
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Hey all,

I was just curious as to how much water you remove from your tanks when you do water changes?????

Ive heard all sorts of different things as to a correct amount, and that there is no correct amount as long as the water perameters are similar.....so i was just curious
 
With a tank that is stocked so highly like yours, I would AT LEAST be doing 50% per week. That's what I do to my tanks...see sig.
 
oh yeah, i do at least 50% once a week, and i clean the gravel every two...yeah i know my tank is over stocked, but the fish are still pretty small for the types, and im looking at enlarging the tank in the next 6 months to a year to a 75 or larger.... but i was just curious to see what every one else did
 
I second what jodimartin said.

Personally, I aim for 50% per week, but no less than 25% on the occasion that I don't do 50% with a thorough gravel siphoning. My tanks are moderatly stocked to just barely over stocked (1-2 more fish than I should have).
 
i have a mildly overstocked 29 gal that i do 50% on twice a week, if not more. sometimes if they're having issues i'll do 50% maybe 4 times a week. it's a lot of work, but my fishies are worth it. i siphon the gravel at least every few days (1/2 of the tank each time, so my fishies still have half the tank to hide amongst the decorations on).

in my vastly understocked 10 gal (only 2 tiny dwarf puffers) i still change 50% every week. it's densely planted, so i just skim the surface of the gravel so as not the disturb the roots.
 
your tank is overstocked, and your balas are the main problem. get rid of the balas, the CAE, and a few others, and you will be good to go. and you should change 50% of your water twice a week in that tank untill you cut back on the fish population.
 
I would agree on getting rid og those balas. They aren't making a significant mess but will be a problem fish and truely need something huge to swim in (like over 100 gallons).

Anyway a lot depends on the stocking level in your tank. If you don't run a tank with live plants keeping track of the nitrate levels is useful. Anything above 20 ppm should trigger a water change. With a planted tank that gets tricky, you can look at things like water hardness. All the extra acidic action in the tank can eat up a buffer fats and cause crashes in pH and kh which is a big problem. Those are the numbers i look at and have figured in my lightly stocked heavily planted softwater tanks that a min of 30% is needed to keep things stable.


If you don't have a python look into getting one.
 
TKOS said:
If you don't have a python look into getting one.
Click to expand...
absolutely. when i had a 55 i would use 33 gal trash cans to do water changes and it was a pain. the Python makes frequent water changes much easier, although i can't say it's exactly "fun" :p:
 
How does one go about using trash cans for water changes? Would the water not go stagnant from sitting in the can for too long? Certainly you weren't trying to lift the can with that much water in it? (that's approx 260 lbs)
 
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