does water change once a year!

Well I'm glad someone got something out of all of this. Simple fact of the matter is that some tanks may require weekly water changes and others may only require monthly water changes dependant on the specifics of the tank.
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very true. if you have 5 neon tetras in a 29 gallon, you prob only need monthly water changes:D an 8 inch oscar fed lots of feeders in the same tank would need hourly water changes:eek:

I would be curious to find out how "hard water" and "soft water" effect various toxins etc etc in aquariums.
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Generally, water with a high Kh has a high pH as well, which , simply put, increases the toxicity of ammonia.
 
Lets not put it simply. Higher pH water will maintain more ammonia, while lower pH water more easily gives up an ion to convert toxic ammonia into non-toxic ammonium. However, there is a critical point for the bacteria--if the pH drops too much, the bacteria that consume ammonia are inhibited, if not killed off entirely. This is Old Tank Syndrome (doesn't have to be an old tank, though)--the low pH and KH leads to a tank that won't support the bacteria, and water changes, with small introductions of buffer temporarily raise the pH, leading to the conversion of ammonium into toxic ammonia--leading to die offs. Part of the reason the myth that water changes are bad remains active.
 
leading to the conversion of ammonium into toxic ammonia--leading to die offs. Part of the reason the myth that water changes are bad remains active.
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Good point. I never thought of that. Also, in a tank that's been only topped off for a year with no water changed, TDS are going to be VERY high. The aquarist gets motivated and cleans the tank all up, doing a huge water change, maybe even 80%, and all the fish die because the ph skyrockets and tds plummet, wreaking havoc with the fish's osmotic processes which have been slowly adapted to the high tds water. Fish get stressed, fish get sick, fish die. That's more if you don't do water changes for a long time then do one big one though.
 
Interesting convo, guys. I want to add that the hobby must attract people who like science; each aquarium is an experiment. It seems like there is a lot of debate in the forum and in magazines about this kind of thing you have been talking about. Does anyone know of any aquarist academic journals? Also, to mambarb, WOW! A three-inch 7 year-old cory. I was wondering how big/old they could get as mine have been growing. Cheers!
 
Originally posted by MamaBarb Even now, all that scientific stuff makes my head hurt!
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You're telling me... :thud:

I was lost a long time ago, but I will confess I haven't read the thread in entirety. I appreciate the scientific points, because sometimes that is the only way to correct mistakes...
 
Originally posted by JoeB
Interesting convo, guys. I want to add that the hobby must attract people who like science; each aquarium is an experiment. It seems like there is a lot of debate in the forum and in magazines about this kind of thing you have been talking about. Does anyone know of any aquarist academic journals? Also, to mambarb, WOW! A three-inch 7 year-old cory. I was wondering how big/old they could get as mine have been growing. Cheers!
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I don't know of any journals except for maybe something the fish farmers association (I don't think that's the real name. lol) puts out. You're in Florida so you might be able to take some aquaculture courses at your local college.
 
Does anyone know of any aquarist academic journals?
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I don't now of any journals, But I'm sure there are some. There are an abundace of scientific articles out there, Tom's Place also has a science forum for the more in depth aspects of the hobby, as well as an archive chock full of some really good information. Science is one of my favorite aspects of this hobby.
Dave
 
Aquarium Frontiers made a stab at being a scientific journal (although still without advance peer review), but did not survive. Peer-reviewed journals are expensive processes, there is no support in a hobby for such, and certainly no sources for funding for such in the world of science.
 
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