Monthly Water Chanes???

[fishieperson321]

Monthly Water Changes???

I was reading my Petsmart sheet about aquarium care and noticed that it said that once the tank is established (which mine is) you only have to do monthly 25% water changes. Is this true? Can you give me more info on this?

 

[InvaderJim]

http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/water/waterchange.html

That should shine some light on your question.

 

[DaisyTattoo]

I do 50% every 2 weeks. I have found this to be the best for my tank. Keeps all my water levels at an acceptable level. This also helps to keep the fish healthy and free of disease. Just my .02

 

[budrecki]

50% every week on every tank regardless of nitrate levels.

 

[born2lovefish]

50% every week? That is crazy. I'm sorry, but in all my years of keeping fish I have never done that. I use to do about 20-25% changes every week on my 75 gallon when I had my stingray, but now I just relie on my wet/dry filter and other two filters. I let the Bacteria do the work, and I change a little water here and there.

 

[webcricket]

Personally, I think it will differ from tank to tank how often a change is needed all depending on the fish, water quality, tank size, substrate, feeding schedule and filtration (biological, mechanical, etc).

I do a 30% change via gravel siphon in my 20 gallon unplanted every 6 weeks or so (a little more frequently in winter due to increased evaporation, maybe a little less frequently in the summer months). And I do top off with fresh water as needed in between changes.

Now I know some people are gasping out there, but it's not as terrible as it sounds. I test the water every week - no ammonia, no nitrites, and nitrates are under 5 ppm range. My pH is stable at 7.6. GH/KH is in the 125-150 ppm range (acceptable for the fish I keep). My fish are happy and healthy and living normal domestic fish lives. I've never had any problems with ich or other diseases since I established the tank 4 years ago - and some of the danios and platy I used to cycle the tank originally are still around.

Is this schedule appropriate for all tanks? No. I think careful weekly testing of all water parameters is the best way to figure out your tanks water change schedule.

 

[budrecki]

but now I just rely on my wet/dry filter and other two filters. I let the Bacteria do the work, and I change a little water here and there.

I wonder what your nitrates are :thud:

Bacteria do not remove nitrates, which is our primary judge of water quality. There are also dissolved organic compounds that we cannot measure, and these need to be removed via water changes.

Please read this article by RTR.

http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/water/waterchange.html

 

[budrecki]

HELP! :rant2:

RTR, Roan, somebody .....

 

[Larissa]

On my 55g lightly stocked, lighty planted tank, I change 50% every two to three weeks. I really should be doing more on that tank than I am. On my 10g heavily planted, overfiltered shrimp tank, I change 50% of the water every one to two weeks. On my 5 1/2g shrimplette tank, I change 20-30% of the water every two to three days.

 

[Vyper]

If someone asks me how often I change my water I like to think I do it every week, but hey I'm human and some days water changes are the last thing you want to do after a stressful day at work, but I do regular water testing and probably in actual fact I do a water change every 3-4 weeks, and probably do about a 50% warter change along with a good gravel vac'ing, But I've read on a fairly good websiute i look at from time to time that the ideal is a bi-weekly 20% water change, But I dont think theres any right or wrong answer so long as your fish aren't constantly sick and miserable and you do regular water testing to make sure you've not got a tank full of wacky water.