water changes
- Thread starter Nicole29
- Start date
Quite honnestly this is bad advice to a new fishkeeper. Not to flame at all, but it's like telling a 14 year old when they first get thier licence it's ok to go 180 mph on the freeway. Like was said, this is for experiencesd fishkeepers, also, hormones that cause stunded growth are not removed by plantsechoofformless said:
while your information is not wrong, it is not a good idea to be teaching to the newbies.
echoofformless
Peat Advocate & Defender Of Snails
sumthin fishy said:Quite honnestly this is bad advice to a new fishkeeper. Not to flame at all, but it's like telling a 14 year old when they first get thier licence it's ok to go 180 mph on the freeway. Like was said, this is for experiencesd fishkeepers, also, hormones that cause stunded growth are not removed by plants
Absolutely true. I suppose I should have worded that post a little bit better, adding all of the facts that have been subsequently stated by others regarding when it's okay and not okay to allow long intervals between changes.
I think I forgot how many newbies are reading these posts - I'm often just addressing other more advanced keepers. Good that you guys are here to keep my mind straight!
None will and that's why echoofformless and CathyLover are totally incorrect in advising something like that to anyone, experienced or not.rbishop said:
No one should go months without a water change regardless of whether there are plants in the tank or it is bare as all get out. I could give a rat's posterior as to what a certain person advocates in her book(s).
IMO both of them need to read up on Old Tank Syndrome:
http://aquafacts.net/wiki/index.php/Old_Tank_Syndrome
Roan
I never stated that I don't do waterchanges. I perform waterchanges at least every 5-10 days minimum and I do know what Old Tank Syndrome is, thank you very much! I run 500gph of filtration of my 29 gallon and 99% of the time keep my nitrates below 15-20 ppm. I never stated that plants soak up DOC's. So, please don't jump to conclusions
I used to think that having a large tank (125 gallons) and lots of filtration meant that I didn't need to do water changes as frequently (every 4-6 weeks or so). Since I have been doing them more frequently (every 7-14 days) the fish seem much happier and healthier. I agree with the comment that water changes are not just for getting rid of nitrogen compounds but also to replace minerals, etc. Keeping the nitrate under 20 ppm really seems to help the fish so testing for this may help guide you as well.
I hadn't done a WC on my 55 gal in 3 weeks. Ive been testing and im still under 20 ppm Im gunna do one today anyways, not going to mess with seeing how long I can go (thats not why I didn't do them, Ive just been busy) But that is the benifit of having a really lighly stocked tank.
Im gunna do one today anyways, not going to mess with seeing how long I can go (thats not why I didn't do them, Ive just been busy) But that is the benifit of having a really lighly stocked tank.