300 Litre Tank. Are Weekly Water Changes Absolutely Neccessary?

[totally tropical]

I do a 20-25% water change weekly - I have red line torpedo barbs, keyhole cichlids, clown loaches, khuli loaches and Bristlenose plecs.

My understocked tank is 300 litre - is it really neccessary to change the water every week with such a large tank.Maybe fortnightly would suffice - what do you think?

Many thanks.

 

[JustKia]

I've never been one to do an exact water change every 7 days days.
However, none of my fish were messy fish and I was running a fluval 405 on 125L tank and had a fair bit of live planting also.
Remember the water change removes micro-pollutants as well as replenishing micro-nutrients.
If you don't do water changes you run the risk of "old tank syndrome".
Maybe you could do 10% weekly with a 25-30% change once a month?

 

[Mr Spoon]

I change 25% every 4 weeks and have done for years with no problems. None of my tanks are over stocked.

 

[timmystood]

A tank of that size doesn't really need a change of that size every week. I would probably follow your own advice and go for every 2 weeks.

 

[ALW]

I change about 25%-50% every month!

 

[timmystood]

The thing is, a mature filter/tank doesn't really need to be changed because you should have no Ammonia/Nitrite and very little Nitrate.
Removal of nitrate is the main reason for doing a water change but as JustKia said, you are also replacing vital nutrients and minerals that we cannot test for.

 

[River Dog]

I think that you should do water changes every week. The single most effective way of keeping our fish healthy is water changes. Even if you are understocked, Nitrates can still build up, and as already said the trace elements are replaced, which ensures good growth and health. I change 50% of my water every five days, but I do have some rather messy Cichlids.

 

[holidayinn]

Not absolutely necessary, but your fish will love you for it!!!

 

[timmystood]

On the flip side though, the much much much bigger systems, like those found in shops and public aquariums get one, if not two, huge water changes every DAY!

 

[JoolsA2]

with a tank that size doing water change every 2 week would be fine. remember plecs are messy fish.

 

[matchstickman47]

i do a 50 percent every saturday after work ... regardeless of size of stocking...but thats OCD for ya

 

[Tolak]

Stocking determines water change amount & frequency more than anything. With the fish you mentioned, do you have a couple of each or a dozen of each? This will give folks a better idea of the bio load, waste produced, and water changes needed.

I can't recall anyone having problems from changing too much water too often, but have heard of problems countless times when the opposite occurs. This is regardless of tank size.

 

[drobbyb]

I perform 1 50% waterchange a week, whethere it's needed or not. As said, changing water does more than just getting rid of nitrates. There are hundreds of factors involved with waterchanges. You may get by with less, but why take a chance.

 

[snowflake311]

I perform 1 50% waterchange a week, whethere it's needed or not. As said, changing water does more than just getting rid of nitrates. There are hundreds of factors involved with waterchanges. You may get by with less, but why take a chance.

Me too I do weekly 50% water changes. It's like this say you have a small home and live with lots of people and never open a window you are all more Likely to get sick. So doing a water change is like opening a window to air out your home and get some much needed freshness in.

 

[shane87]

i do 10% every week and then a 20% at the end of the month on my 200litre tank just to keep nitrates in check