Are Water Changes Actually Necessary?

Do you change your water?

  • No

    Votes: 3 0.7%

  • Not unless conditions require it (like high nitrates)

    Votes: 60 13.8%

  • Yes, I do it on a specific timeline (daily, weekly, whatever)

    Votes: 358 82.3%

  • Undecided / Other

    Votes: 14 3.2%
  • Total voters
    435
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well if the water is able to evaporate from the tank so you have to top it up this is not a closed ecosystem now, is it?
in the earths ecosystem nothing is lost and nothing added - but in a tank you are adding minerals with water, food...
if you wanted your tank to be a closed ecosystem than you would need a very large tank with a lot of plants and not a lot of fish. it would also have to be sealed so the water couldn't evaporate (so that it returns unchanged in the form of drops that condense on the cover and lights) and that no gas could be exchanged between the outside and the tank - there should be enough plants to provide oxygen, food...
but than I don't think you would enjoy a tank like that a lot, it would just look pretty bare...
just my 2 cents...
 
so earth looks bare to you?
 
i didn't read every page, but it appears that there has been no mention of Diana Walstad. her "natural" method for tanks is worth a read for any aquarist (just google her name). she basically describes a set up of a heavily planted tank that requires little maintenance... i'm not sure on the water changes but i think she only tops off the tank or does a water change once a year. she has a book out there explaining the science behind her work.
 
u no what forget i said that.
 
And u know what the earth IS bare now i think on it. Most of the oceans are empty and much of the atmosphere is unused. Less the 10% of earth is actually used by life.
 
OK, EARTH does not only have aquatic life, but regular tanks only has fish and some inverts. and not only that, you only have small amounts of just a few species of fish.
so when you look in the river or a lake there are the same amount of fish in the water as there are in your tank?
comparing to earth - when i go in the forest I never just bump into passing deer, coyotes, wolves...they are there but not in such densities. when you go to zoos you see them, cause they are in a smaller space - the same with fish in tanks.

edit: so you see fishfriend 1 we actually agree ;)
 
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