Monthly Water Chanes???

This is pitiful. I can't believe how many people keep fish and think that no (or very little) water changes is all that's needed. There's no excuse, and if it is so much of a hassle, give your fish away and put a rubber duck in your tank.
 
fishieperson321 said:
Do I have to clean the gravel each week or can I just do a water change and clean the gravel when it is dirty?

The answer is YES and YES. There is no question that if you have fish your gravel IS dirty every week -- at least -- even if it does not LOOK dirty.

That is why changing water with something like a python is good because you can do both at the same time.
 
pat123123 said:
Seriously, I change my 10 gallon tank by using a 1 quart (that's one-quarter a gallon) cottage cheese container to bail the water out, unless I'm doing a gravel cleaning. It takes just a few minutes. Even if I were hauling it to the bathroom one gallon at a time it would not take more than ten minutes.
This is why I thought that I didn't have to vacuum it every week.
 
Man FP321, you want some cheese with that?

Whiny :troll:

KIDDING :joke: Before this gets out of hand.

Listen, two VERY IMPORTANT things to keep in mind on this.

The previous poster is right, fishtank water should absolutely NOT be introduced into natural creeks or streams, that is as bad or worse than releasing non-native fish, as the water contains pollutants, and any parasite larvae or disease in your tank. Non-native fish are usually only a problem if they begin breeding, whereas disease and parasites become a problem in native populations immediately.

I would not at all reccommend dumping fish tank water in any SINK, TOILET, or DRAIN. For one reason: snails. IF you are POSITIVE you don't have snails, go ahead and risk it. If you DO have snails, you will essentially colonize them into your drains, resulting in THE WORST SMELL EVER (think concentrated low tide) permeating your house. My friend did this (and he had a garbage disposal they were feeding in so it was even worse!) and we needed multiple gallons of bleach and pressurized flushing to get the basta#ds out.

A word to the wise!
 
graphicdesign_r said:
If you DO have snails, you will essentially colonize them into your drains, resulting in THE WORST SMELL EVER (think concentrated low tide) permeating your house. My friend did this (and he had a garbage disposal they were feeding in so it was even worse!) and we needed multiple gallons of bleach and pressurized flushing to get the basta#ds out.

A word to the wise!
good to know! I would not have guessed it would be a problem, but it makes perfect sense. I dont' ever plan on having snails, but it makes me sure to clean any live plants I get extra well ;)
 
Sounds like you should water your lawn with it. :sim:

I just dump mine out the window onto my back patio...
 
Thank goodness you finally worked out a way to do water changes. Reading this thread was exhausting !

Sometimes it just takes a little bit of lateral thinking to come up with a solution - I really like the idea of a container with wheels, I even have one (filled with books) but it never occured to me to use it for water changes. It'd save me mopping up after every water change.

I am glad I managed to keep reading to find out the end of this saga !
 
AquariaCentral.com