No water changes ever. Why am I not having any problems?

[severum mama]

What about the dissolved organic compounds that are building up in the system? That's why I continue to do weekly water changes (and 2-3 times weekly in my discus tank) even in heavily planted tanks, even though I have low nitrates. I was under the impression that plants would not remove the DOCs, and in time they would build up to a level high enough to cause harm to the fish. I saw a very interesting post by liv2padl once that really went into depth about these issues.

 

[Weezer]

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108172

This is his tank from about a month ago, with the stocking listed you should of had water quality issues, there isn't many plants in the tank at the time of that post, not enough to eliminate tank maintenance, i would check the water parameters again just to be sure, you have enough stock to create a good bio load, and not enough plants to take the load off...

 

[Weezer]

What about the dissolved organic compounds that are building up in the system? That's why I continue to do weekly water changes (and 2-3 times weekly in my discus tank) even in heavily planted tanks, even though I have low nitrates. I was under the impression that plants would not remove the DOCs, and in time they would build up to a level high enough to cause harm to the fish. I saw a very interesting post by liv2padl once that really went into depth about these issues.

:iagree:

 

[TitusvilleSurfr]

Oh wow that is not how I imagined it at all, something is....fishy here

 

[severum mama]

Just to clarify, I don't mean harm to the fish that is immediately observable. I mean the possibility of stunted growth, shortened lifespan (shorter than what it would be with a frequent water change schedule), and even increased susceptability to disease. In my discus tank, I've even had my nitrates bottom out to the point where I get a little cyano from time to time, but this is preferable to me than having unhealthy fish.

 

[Corax]

If that Bala is still in there, your "perfect balance" is going to be short lived. And based on the picture and stocking listed in the other thread, there is no way I'm buying that tank is self sustaining.

 

[Star_Rider]

for questions you may want to reference D Walstad's info.

there is quite a bit of documentation.

basically the idea is that you have balance with flora and fauna..the big if as I understand it is the depletion of some compounds in the soil(yes, soil)

it is a lot of information to assimilate and it goes against many std practices.

 

[Nolapete]

That's hardly "heavily planted" or "balanced." I think the low numbers are probably the result of inaccurate testing.

 

[severum mama]

To me though, it's easier to just knock out some water changes than to find that perfect balance- not that I'm saying that method is totally wrong, just that it wouldn't be the right method for me personally. In addition, the more recent pics of the OP's tank didn't look like what I would consider to be "heavily planted," and I thought that heavy planting was a requirement for Walstad's method. And I've read about this before, but I still don't see how the DOC's are kept from building up to harmful levels. I'm still a believer in the standard method- my fish love clean water and I notice changes in their behavior after water changes.

I think the low numbers are probably the result of inaccurate testing.

Great point- I'd like to know what kind of test kit the OP uses, or at least whether the kit uses liquid reagents or test strips.

 

[Weezer]

To me though, it's easier to just knock out some water changes than to find that perfect balance- not that I'm saying that method is totally wrong, just that it wouldn't be the right method for me personally. In addition, the more recent pics of the OP's tank didn't look like what I would consider to be "heavily planted," and I thought that heavy planting was a requirement for Walstad's method. And I've read about this before, but I still don't see how the DOC's are kept from building up to harmful levels. I'm still a believer in the standard method- my fish love clean water and I notice changes in their behavior after water changes.

I totally agree.....