Water changes... anything I'm missing as to the reasons?

[Prometheus]

I was going to do my weekly water change this weekend...

However, I just tested my tank water...

0 ammonia, 0 nitrites no suprises there... but my Nitrates are at 5ppm (normally they read 20ppm - 40), but I did get the new and improved super-dooper 2 bottle test kit that reads more accurately than my old test kit, from 0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160ppm)...

My last water change was on Thanksgiving day, I did about 20 gallons (out of my 55)...

pH is where it's always at...

Should I do a water change this week? My fish look as happy as ever, everything is going 'swimmingly'... what do you think?

 

[Slappy*McFish]

Yes...do the water change.

Water changes are exactly why your water is doing so well right now.

 

[aquariumfishguy]

Weekly water changes aren't nessessary for all aquariums, but if under 15 gallons I would recommend such. My aquariums get water changes every 2 weeks with nitrates around 5-10. Tell me again, why are weekly water changes nessessary?

(Above comment was directed at aquariums which are somewhat large)

 

[JSchmidt]

Tow possibilities: some nitrate tests use a different scale than others (nitrate vs. nitrate-nitrogen). You may have a test that uses a different scale, or the new test may just be more accurate...

On water changing... I believe that any arbitrary rule for changing X percentage of water over a certain period of time is a bit silly. You should really be basing water changes on the level of pollution building up in a tank, and nitrate is a handy measure of that. Keeping nitrates below a certain level (e.g., 40 ppm or 20 ppm) is a much more systematic way to determine when changes are needed. (This doesn't work so well in a heavily planted tank, however.)

I'm a firm believer in the dictum that you cannot change water too much or too frequently, as long as you're sensitive to matching the new water to tank conditions for fish that are picky about that sort of thing.

Jim

 

[Prometheus]

Originally posted by JSchmidt
Tow possibilities: some nitrate tests use a different scale than others (nitrate vs. nitrate-nitrogen). You may have a test that uses a different scale, or the new test may just be more accurate...
Jim

You are correct, my new test tests for actual nitrate not nitrate-nitrogen...

I'm going to do 15 gallons just for the heck of it anyway, I have a deep gravel bed and I want to make sure it gets atleast a cursory vacumming to ensure my nitrates stay low.

Thanks guys (and gals)

 

[erico56]

depending too much on those test kits

Frequent partial water chaning on regular basis means free of medication and those scientific tests which so often goes other ways than they claim.Just do a partial water changing as often as possible to get rid of those stupid money and time spending.Fish will love it,just because of there you are taking care of them.We put them in that small confined world of so called aquarium for the sake of personal pleasure,so maybe even the daily partial water changing shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Cearbhaill]

I do it weekly mainly in order to establish a firm routine- that way if I do happen to have to miss a scheduled change it isn't a big problem to skip a week. My routines for each day of the week are fairly well established- work on some days, garden on others, family days, and then I can play with the fish every Thursday.
If I did it every two weeks and missed one I'd think the consequences would be much worse.

But then I'm a creature of habit- it's a "groove"- not a "rut"!

 

[TKOS]

I'm with the idea of doing water changes as often as possible. Sometimes I just miss a change and that way I never feel bad about it. I often do 5-10% changes every other day in my 10 gallon tank to keep phosphates and nitrates low (algae problems).

However, I also agree that much bigger tanks can easily last much longer (depending on fish load) than a smaller tank.

 

[OrionGirl]

A couple of things not mentioned that are very important:

Water changes keep your water stable. Anytime fish are in the tank, they are depleting the alkalinity of the tank. Or rather, the biological process of dealing with fish waste creates acid, which uses up the water's buffering ability. If the buffer is not maintained, pH crashes will happen in most tanks, with disastrous results. Water changes replenish this, keeping the pH, GH and KH within 'normal' parameters.

Nitrates and other nitrogen wastes are not the only things in the tank being diluted with water changes. Nitrogen wastes are just easiest to test for, meaning they can be considered indicators for those other wastes. Of course, in some tanks, nitrates is meaningless, so testing to determine water quality becomes diffficult. At that point, setting up a schedule and sticking to it unless you see problems (meaning you need to do more water changes) is a good idea.