Too many water changes?

Nothing wrong with what you are doing as long as you do it.

The bacteria colonies in your filter will develop very small, with very little ammonia in the water, turned into very little nitrites. Those will be your (always very low) normal parameters for your system to be stable. Why could it be a problem?

I do my WC once a week, about 25%-30%. If I go on vacation 2 weeks, people will change the litter and feed the cats, but they won't touch the tanks saved for 2 feedings. I would miss one WC.

I you go on vacation 2 weeks, you'd miss 6 WCs in a row. For sure your cycle will be messed up. The convicts being indestructible would not be affected one bit, I don't know about parrots but if they are sensible to water quality, there could be your problem.

There is really no need for such a routine. I hear if you want to keep discus that is the way to go, but it is not necessary with convicts.

I once did wc twice a week for a year and then I got fed up and went a bit sloppy with maintenance for a while. Take the time to look at the tank instead of playing in it. Things are about to get interesting in there by the looks of it.
 
No direspect intended BigJohn, but totally disagree. From my own experience with my discus and other growouts...I do 50-75% water changes every other day. Every summer I leave them for a week to 10 days. No feeds, no water changes. My parameters are perfect when I return. The most I ever saw was nitrates of 60 once.

The amount of water your changing is not going to affect your bacteria colony.
 
RisiganL. said:
I don't think that your fish will ever outgrow that tank. Great job with the great care!
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But dont convicts grow to six inches and the parrots get to a chubby eight inches?
BigJohn said:
Nothing wrong with what you are doing as long as you do it.

The bacteria colonies in your filter will develop very small, with very little ammonia in the water, turned into very little nitrites. Those will be your (always very low) normal parameters for your system to be stable. Why could it be a problem?

I do my WC once a week, about 25%-30%. If I go on vacation 2 weeks, people will change the litter and feed the cats, but they won't touch the tanks saved for 2 feedings. I would miss one WC.

I you go on vacation 2 weeks, you'd miss 6 WCs in a row. For sure your cycle will be messed up. The convicts being indestructible would not be affected one bit, I don't know about parrots but if they are sensible to water quality, there could be your problem.

There is really no need for such a routine. I hear if you want to keep discus that is the way to go, but it is not necessary with convicts.

I once did wc twice a week for a year and then I got fed up and went a bit sloppy with maintenance for a while. Take the time to look at the tank instead of playing in it. Things are about to get interesting in there by the looks of it.
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I dont just like playing with my tank, i just like to spoil my pets lol.
stephcps said:
No direspect intended BigJohn, but totally disagree. From my own experience with my discus and other growouts...I do 50-75% water changes every other day. Every summer I leave them for a week to 10 days. No feeds, no water changes. My parameters are perfect when I return. The most I ever saw was nitrates of 60 once.

The amount of water your changing is not going to affect your bacteria colony.
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So its better for the aquarium?

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I agree with Stephsps. The bacterial colony size is going to adjust to how quickly the fish produce ammonia. With an adequate biofilter, you will not see any ammonia or nitrite in the tank. When a water change is performed, you are removing nitrate and some other nasties we can't test for, but you are not removing ammonia or nitrite - not if the tank is properly cycled. Therefore, doing frequent water changes in a fully cycled tank will not reduce colony size.

I will agree that these frequent water changes are probably not necessary, but they are not hurting the bacterial colony. The only time going longer between water changes will be a problem is when the frequency IS required, as in the case of overstocking. And if going a certain time without a water change will cause problems, it will do so whether you are away or at home.
 
stephcps said:
No direspect intended BigJohn, but totally disagree. From my own experience with my discus and other growouts...I do 50-75% water changes every other day. Every summer I leave them for a week to 10 days. No feeds, no water changes. My parameters are perfect when I return. The most I ever saw was nitrates of 60 once.

The amount of water your changing is not going to affect your bacteria colony.
Click to expand...

No disrespect received. How big is your tank if I may ask?

Saved from the last few months, the biggest I had was a 20 gal, so I'm still a little bit uneasy about water quality.
 
Its a sixty gallon, so some of you are saying i need to cut back on the water changes?

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I have a 90, and a 125 and had a 150 until recently.

You don't HAVE to cut back...but they are not really neccessary. That being said...I feed my juvie fish a lot...4 times a day when I am home. So, I usually do water changes for those tanks every other day....there is a lot of waste in there. What is your feeding regimen?
 
I think your water changes are fine, and your parrots will be fine in a 60.
 
Parrotcraze,

You are effectively replacing all the water in the tank weekly which is overkill.

All organic waste (uneaten food, plant waste, fish waste (poo, urine, pheromones..) all decompose into fairly harmless organic compounds. But in the process they produce ammonia --> nitrites --> nitrates. Nitrates we remove and dilute with water changes. Nitrates can be a benchmark for necessary water changes. Some think nitrates, even high nitrates are not an issue. They're wrong. High nitrates stunt growth, reduce immune systems, and shorten life spans. We want nitrates in our tanks <20ppm, but lower the better. Fresh water in nature has little/no nitrates!

Just my $.02....
Considering your stock level, extra filtration and assuming you maintain your filters and don't overfeed, you might consider doing your 10-15% changes once or twice a week.
I also think with the two filters and the power head you may have way too much water flow which can cause discomfort for many fish (especially tank raised fish). I'd remove the power head and even consider removing the small filter.
 
I'd keep the second filter, always good to have a backup. No reason not to. I doubt two hob filters on that tank causes too much flow. I usually do weekly water changes of around 75 to 80 percent changes in my 100g cichlid tank and 29 shrimp tank.

My shrimp are breeding like crazy, and my cichlids are fine. IMO people over think this stuff, If you want to do multiple changes in one week, personally I would do 35-40 percent twice a week. Or just one big one once a week. :)


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