100% water changes??

[Malt_Vinegar]

Will it de-cycle my tank?

or will the gravel/filter keep it in check?

 

[Dragonslair]

The question is why?

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

The question is why?

my gravek is very dirty, i have been trying to clean it by syphoning, but its not working, so i thought stirring up all the water, then removing it all would get rid of a huge amount of waste

 

[babsrocks]

Well I'm not sure if it will have to re-cycle, however my mother does this. She had no clue she was supposed to do 20% water changes. She has had good results doing it this way. So I told her if it works and doesn't seem to harm the fish, then keep doing it the way she does it. Her fish don't look stressed or any other signs of harm.
I still wouldn't recomend it. But if it's something you've done all along and it works.......

 

[CFC]

It probably wont harm the fish but to be honest there is just no reason fo it. To get the gravel clean just use the gravel vac and syphon the gravel every other day removing about 10% of the water each time, after a couple of weeks the gravel will be spotless.

 

[maaudiosubs]

it shouldnt completely recycle but it might hurt if u are to close to overcrowding your tank then they have alt of bacteria to make up for.

 

[jams.alaskan]

Hi Malt - I'd go with CFC on this one.

ALASKA

 

[xxshatteredsoul]

Well this is what I am currently doing at the moment. I am siphoning out the gravel then putting clean water in then siphon again and clean water and repeat i did this like 3 times and now the tank is very clean i mean there is still stuff in it but that is fine. I dunno a suggestion I guess

 

[Inchworm]

Hi xxshatteredsoul

You are doing the right thing, but you don't have to do it all at once. But remember that it didn't get that dirty overnight, so once you get it clean, keep up the regular vacuuming each time you do a water change. This should be once a week, or so.

It's always better to keep to some kind of regular routine because it is less stressful for the fish. They will love you for giving them a clean and healthy place to live.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I did the total change, used a bit of the old water i removed before i stirred everything up, cleaned all the plants, real and fake, cleaned the rock i have in there, and re arranged everything. (de-chlorinated all the water)

Apart from the loads of bubbles all seems to be well, fish are back in, and temperature is good

Im happy with the results. I have bought a gravel cleaner to make sure i dont have to do this again. Still, looks nice and clean now

 

[Captain Canuck]

I was getting frustrated with just how much stuff was in my gravel even after weekly vacuumings, so I recently changed my betta and cory tank to a sand base. Everything I read made it sound better than having stuff fall through the gravel, there are a few betta bites sitting on the bottom now, but the corys do a great job of cleaning it up. I guess I will see how I like the sand when I try my first vacuuming of it.
On the plus side, the corys love the sand over the old coloured gravel.

 

[xxshatteredsoul]

Hi xxshatteredsoul

You are doing the right thing, but you don't have to do it all at once. But remember that it didn't get that dirty overnight, so once you get it clean, keep up the regular vacuuming each time you do a water change. This should be once a week, or so.

It's always better to keep to some kind of regular routine because it is less stressful for the fish. They will love you for giving them a clean and healthy place to live.

Thanks for the tip !

 

[big_fresh]

I did the total change, used a bit of the old water i removed before i stirred everything up, cleaned all the plants, real and fake, cleaned the rock i have in there, and re arranged everything. (de-chlorinated all the water)

It depends how many fish you have and if your current biofilter is adequate but cleaning everyhting in one go can possibly create a minicycle!

Remember that good bacteria live on all surfaces of your tank and if you do a huge spring clean on your tank you may wipe out the good bacteria in your tank!

Just remember that regardless of how much you clean your tank, the minute you stop cleaning, the fish will poop. (Actually...regardless of what you do they poop) so just take it easy and clean regularly.

 

[Opcn]

You can but it will hurt the fish. they will be shocked by the params on the new water. as far as the biological filtering goes so long as thereis water on the gravel you will be fine. and you can do 100% water changes safely but only if you do them quite frequently like keep a 32 gallon garbage can (for every ten gallons) full of water then dump your old water every day and add 10 gallons of water from the can then top off the can with tap water and dechlorinate and let sit till the next day that way the water params onl change by 31.4% from change to change and your city water swings more than that. be sure to add 10 gallons to each can thought. Now dont those 10% changes sound so easy just be glad that you aren't an arowana keeper.

Opcn

 

[CFC]

just be glad that you aren't an arowana keeper.

Why?