Water Changes

blue2fyre

blue2fyre

Blue Fish
Oct 7, 2008
4,440
3
0
42
Wisconsin
Real Name
Ashley
When I had my 55 gallon mbuna tank I did 50% weekly water changes based on the nitrate readings. When I upgraded to the 80 gallon (and extra filter) I dropped that to 25% but I didn't do the nitrate test.

Anyway I have new fish going into the tank soon so I did a full parameter check while doing my weekly water change. After a week my nitrates are ONLY 10! This is with over 30 fish, most of which are mbuna. I was shocked it was so low.

Does that mean I could do water changes further apart? Do others do water changes based on nitrate readings?
I have a couple anubias growing in the tank and 1 val. Neither of which is thriving. I also have some nice algae growing, but I don't think it's enough to bring my nitrate that low.
 
I'm paranoid, so I try to do my water changes every week on the same day. If I am busy, sometimes it'll stretch out to 10-12 days, but I hate when I miss my Sunday water changes.
 
Well the val is not doing so hot. I don't think i have enough light for it. Like I said the plants are not thriving. I think the val will eventually die but for now it's holding on. Plus can 1 val really suck up that many nitrates in an 80 gallon tank?

It just seems odd that nitrates are so low in a heavily stocked very lightly planted tank. I try to keep my nitrates under 20 and it looks like that is happening without much meddling.
 
I have an 80G planted tank.
Over 600 GPH filtration. (1 canister and 1 HOB)
I do a 20% water change every 10 days and nitrate is allways 5-10
 
even though the nitrate reading may be low, you do still want to do those regular water changes to keep things like TDS (total dissolved solids) at a stable level.

you might be able to go two weeks without any concern, IMO.
 
I also do 50% WC's, usually every 8-10 days. But I also have stretched it as long as 12-13 days at times when my schedule wouldn't allow me to. On the long runs, my nitrate has never been higher than 20 in my 125 with 35 mbuna and 7 synos. I do try and vacuum the sub a bit every time too, so I'm sure that helps a bit too.
 
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