Tank maintanance

nano55

nano55

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May 14, 2007
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How often do you all clean your fish tanks, and how much of a percentage of water do you change when you do your water changes? I was talking to a guy from the lfs and we were talking about tank maintanance. I told him I change about 70% of the water once a month and he told me that was way to much. He suggested about a third of the tank when doing a water change, as any more, you are getting rid of some of the helpful bacteria. The reason I was changing so much was because I was having issues with algae; having to scrape and scrub everything in the tank which made the water even dirtier. So, I will start this week only changing a 1/3 of the tank and see what happens. Maybe more frequent cleanings and water changes with less percentage of water changed are in order?
 
I do weekly water changes, 40-50%. If I'm feeling froggy & have extra time, I'll fit in a second smaller 15-20% water change in between.

The majority of beneficial bacteria grow on surfaces, not in the water column. 75% is fine, but personally I can't stand going longer than 1.5-2 weeks without a water change.
 
I WC about 30-40% a week as well.
 
I tend to do a 20-30% change once a week in established tanks and two or three times a week in cycling tanks.
 
What's best for each tank varies considerably. Much of this depends on you and how you have a tank stocked. If it's heavily stocked, with no plants, and you tend to overfeed.... you'll need to change a lot more water, more often than you would for an understocked, heavily planted tank with little to no food waste buildup.

The other point to keep in mind is that frequent changes for a lesser amount of water keeps the tank more stable and consistent for your fish/livestock. While drastic changes are disruptive and places your stock under highly stressful conditions.

For the most part on established tanks, I change however much water it takes to get the substrate clean. The longer it goes unchanged/uncleaned, the more water needs to be swapped out for fresh.

The best way to gauge this most accurately so you don't have to wonder about it is simply to buy a liquid drop type test kit and pay attention to the test results you get. If your tank is fully cycled, it will take a certain amount of time for the nitrate level to build up toward 40 ppm..... and that's what you base your tank maintenance practices on.

How long does it tank your tank to reach 40 ppm for nitrate? That's the longest you should go in between water changes.

How much water changed does it require to lower your nitrates down to zero or just a slight trace amount? That's how much water you need to change every time.

Answering those two questions over the course of time will give you the timing and volume you need for your partial water changes. Then on top of this, you'll only need to do spot checks using the test kit to find out if something needs to be adjusted.
 
I perform WC every 7-10 days and vac substrate until it no longer produces visable waste materials. Usually this involves 50% WC of my 36gal bowfront
 
It depends on the tank.

I've had tanks that I changed 95% of the water on at least weekly due to bioload and the need for very clean water (such as fry grow out tanks). Most of my current tanks I change about 50% every week or two.

Most fish should be able to handle 75% water changes assuming you don't let your parameters get all out of whack by letting waste build up too much (for instance if you go months without changing water and let your nitrates rise extremely high, then 75% water change could change the environment drastically and may stress your fish), and assuming your tapwater parameters are always about the same. The guy at your fish store was wrong to make a generalized statement about water change percentages since it depends on a lot of factors, such as water chemistry and fish species.
There are people with juvenile discus, for instance, that change out nearly 100% of the water frequently (at least weekly), to keep water quality immaculate and prevent stunting. They do make sure the water going into the tank has about the same chemistry as the water coming out, as to not cause osmotic stress to their fish.

As far as biological bacteria, they are not floating around in your water column, they are attached to the surfaces of the tank and your filter media. You need not worry about removing them with water changes.
 
A Discus breeder I know changes in excess of 100% of the water in his fry growout tanks daily. On a 10 gal tank he changes about a gallon after each of the 5 feedings and does a 75% change on top of that. While doing work in his fishroom I watched a tankful of little slivers that were just beginning to eat bbs grow into fish the size of a half dollar in a month. There is no such thing as changing too much water.
 
i change around 50-60% a week on my goldie tank, and around 10-20% a fortnight on my heavily planted community tank. as said, it all depends on stocking, plants, feeding etc.
 
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