Are Water Changes Actually Necessary?
- Thread starter kazvorpal
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GoldLenny
Senior Member? Do I get a 5% disc.?
How about this analogy...
Doing filter maintenance, gravel vacuuming and water changes (25% PWC's) is comparable to changing the diaper on a baby, wiping them down with baby wipes and then giving them a full bath when you get home.... or would you suggest that you don't have to change your baby's diaper for weeks or months at a time either?
Doing filter maintenance, gravel vacuuming and water changes (25% PWC's) is comparable to changing the diaper on a baby, wiping them down with baby wipes and then giving them a full bath when you get home.... or would you suggest that you don't have to change your baby's diaper for weeks or months at a time either?
GoldLenny
Senior Member? Do I get a 5% disc.?
It depends on what you mean by "when needed"? (Or in my best Bill Clinton voice, "It depends on what the definition of "when needed" is")
As I explained, if you have one small fish in a 100G tank, nicely balanced planted tank, that will not need nearly as much tank maintenance... and most of the maintenance would be for the plants... as compared to a 100G tank with a couple of full grown Oscars or other fully to overstocked tank... which would need a LOT more tank maintenance.
Should we leave the answer up to Monica? Monica... are you out here baby??? Come tell me hi while Hillary is busy with the post-wedding stuff! LOL
Although I don't agree with Kaz, I don't think it's ever a bad thing to question conventional wisdom. His argument caused quite a stir, but was articulately stated and enjoyable to read.
GoldLenny
Senior Member? Do I get a 5% disc.?
So were the flat earth versus round earth debates in the old days.... but the flat earth people were wrong also. ;-) Maybe that's what happened to Kaz... he fell off the end of his flat earth. LOL
I do 50% weeklt changes and vac gravel. It sux changing 225 lt every week but its worth having my tank looking clear
Oscars r messy things
Oscars r messy thingsI was speaking with a lady who has 6 goldfish/koi ponds, a 21 year old convict cichlid who is HUGE, several saltwater tanks, and has done a degree in biology and she told me that doing a water change weekly can often deplete the "good" stuff in the water and though most of the beneficial bacteria grow on the surfaces inside the tank there is something beneficial in the water as well and that instead of doing weekly changes I should reduce it down to 30 percent monthly. It was almost a month ago now that she told me this and I have been refraining from doing the water changes just as she instructed (though I was somewhat critical at first) and to my surprise my ammonia and nitrite levels, which had been a little high despite the tank having been cycled, dropped to zero! So maybe the weekly water change schedule really is unnecessary though I do change my filter cartridge every 3-4 weeks as suggested on the package. I guess it is a matter of trial and error though all ammonia/nitrite levels should be measured frequently to prevent fish loss. However this is only my experience and I am definitely not an expert!
Que
I wish I was a fish I wish.
I don't know what you mean by your ammonia and nitrite levels being a little high but in a cycling tank they should be very low to zero.
Q
They rose for some reason and this lady that told me to reduce the water change frequency said it was probably because I was removing all of the "good stuff" by doing weekly water changes and now that I haven't done one in almost a month they have dropped again!
This lady sounds like she needs to review her textbooks. Ask her what she means by the "good stuff"...I'm interested in what her reply is...
As Q said, if your tank had previously been cycled than ammonia/nitrite should have been already unmeasurable. If you are completely changing out you filter media then I suspect that is the issue, not water changes.
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