Are Water Changes A Good Idea?

[fishbaby]

As recently posted i have found 0.5 ammoina in my tap water and 50 nitrates. so i asked my lfs this question but couldnt seem to give a staright answer! so here it is?

If im adding tapwater with ammoina already in it is the reading in my tank true - my test results show a reading of 0.5 which is what my tap water is. i no eventually my tank will bring it down to 0.

also i would like to no peoples views on wheather water changes daily are doin more harm then good? should i do it every other day and 20% or more?

 

[s007]

Well from what ive read first off all complain to your water supplyer regarding that ammonia in your watter dont sream just ask what they have to say about that, yes eventually your tank will bring it down to 0 but its not good to have it on the first place as you really trying to get rid of it... less struggle for your tank and for you. Anyway why do a daily water change when really once a week is more then enough for mature tank? Some people even do every 2 depending on the fish stock and water tests.

Serg

 

[fishbaby]

only one of my tanks is mature. it had 2 filters in it and since i have taken one of the filters out to seed the new tank my levels have all gone up. thought that buy doing water changes i would be helping unitll somone suggested that i test tap water.
my new tank has been running for a week with a new filter in and a matured filter in and 5 small guppies. levels are exactly the same.
sholud i not be doing so many water changes?

 

[Truck]

Well from what ive read first off all complain to your water supplyer regarding that ammonia in your watter dont sream just ask what they have to say about that, yes eventually your tank will bring it down to 0 but its not good to have it on the first place as you really trying to get rid of it... less struggle for your tank and for you. Anyway why do a daily water change when really once a week is more then enough for mature tank? Some people even do every 2 depending on the fish stock and water tests.

Serg

ammonia is normal in tap water, yet your nitrates are on the UK legal limit.

do a water change when your nitrates reach 40 ppm and add fast growing plants to combat the high nitrate problem, but water changes should still be done even if nitrates arent high, so trace elements can be refreshed

 

[OldMan47]

The plants will help control ammonia too. Plants think that ammonia is ice cream, they will eat it up. On the other hand, dead plants will make your ammonia and nitrate problems worse. Don't use plants unless you are ready to care for them properly.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree with OM47 and truck about plants possibly being a big help to your difficult conditions if you can get them to grow and can care for the properly.

To me, having that much ammonia and nitrate in the tap water would have to be looked at differently depending on 3 states one might have the tank in. If you were fishless cycling, the .5 ammonia would just raise the ammonia you were adding a bit and you could account for it when taking measurements. If the tank were already cycled, then the standard things would come into play: You would still need to do water changes due to the dozens of other trace things we don't measure (a weekly water change removes the excess of various things we don't want to build up and it adds a number of "hardness nutrients" that are often important for both plants and fish.) But because of the high 0.50ppm ammonia level, smaller and more frequent water changes are going to be more important so that each addition is more diluted, to be safer for the fish, for the short period before the biofilter (and plants to a small extent) bring the ammonia level down to normal. Thirdly, the state of being in a fish-in cycle: This strikes me as the worst. I see why plants are being mentioned. You've not got enough nitrifying bacteria yet to quickly bring down the excess ammonia and yet you've got fish in there being exposed and having their gills damaged. I guess plants might be the best direction, or some alternate plan to get the fish into a fully cycled situation while using mature media to speed the cycling of the new tank.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rdd1952]

I agree with the above and the only thing I will add is that as long as you use a dechlorinator like Prime, Ammo-Lock or Stress Coat Plus (make sure it has the "+" sign) that not onl dechlorinates but also locks and detoxifies ammonia, then you will be fine. It will still show a positive reading on your test which measures total ammonia (toxic ammonia plus non-toxic ammonium) but all of it will be non-toxic ammonium)

 

[waterdrop]

Ah, good point RDD. I had used the old Stress Coat for years but in the recent year on this forum switched to Seachem Prime and think its a very, very good product. Definately will help in this situation. Tolak has pointed out that water authorities sometimes over-chlorinate and that dosing conditioners like Prime at 1.5x or even 2x during the cycling period is not a bad idea as the excess is harmless to fish. On the other hand, going above 2x is not a good idea I think as Hovanek has mentioned that too much excess conditioner may slow the growth of the beneficial bacteria we are trying to grow during cycling.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[fishbaby]

But because of the high 0.50ppm ammonia level,
its 0.5

"Thirdly, the state of being in a fish-in cycle: This strikes me as the worst.you've not got enough nitrifying bacteria yet to quickly bring down the excess ammonia and yet you've got fish in there being exposed and having their gills damaged."

I havent put them in to a raw tank and waited for it to cycle,if you read my first post there is a matured filter in there and have been watching closely at all the levels,with advise and help from others on this forum and my lfs (which have been going for many years and spealise in tropical and marine fish) and have been trying to seed my new tank (which i also no that the bacteria would of died if no fish were added to keep it going) i would never knowinly put my fish in dangerous water and have done nothing but research on internet got a loads of books from the libary and asked lots of questions along the way mainly on this forum.i was just looking for a little guidence and reasurance.i am sorry if i have taken your comments the wrong way but that is how it came across.

 

[rdd1952]

But because of the high 0.50ppm ammonia level,
its 0.5

That level is high but if you use one of the dechlorinators that detoxifies ammonia, then it will basically be the same as if the ammonia weren't there. It won't harm the fish and the bacteria will be able to process it.

 

[waterdrop]

But because of the high 0.50ppm ammonia level,
its 0.5

"Thirdly, the state of being in a fish-in cycle: This strikes me as the worst.you've not got enough nitrifying bacteria yet to quickly bring down the excess ammonia and yet you've got fish in there being exposed and having their gills damaged."

I havent put them in to a raw tank and waited for it to cycle,if you read my first post there is a matured filter in there and have been watching closely at all the levels,with advise and help from others on this forum and my lfs (which have been going for many years and spealise in tropical and marine fish) and have been trying to seed my new tank (which i also no that the bacteria would of died if no fish were added to keep it going) i would never knowinly put my fish in dangerous water and have done nothing but research on internet got a loads of books from the libary and asked lots of questions along the way mainly on this forum.i was just looking for a little guidence and reasurance.i am sorry if i have taken your comments the wrong way but that is how it came across.

Oh no, you just misunderstood my communication, my word choices were probably bad. I simply meant the worst of the 3 things I was describing. "The worst" was not directed at you at all, lol, I think you're doing a great job! I was just down in the details of thinking about the .5 coming from the tap water and how it would affect you in these three situations, and thinking of trying to do fish-in cycling with the .5 amm as the worst of the 3. If anything, I'm just commiserating with you.

Its good that you're watching levels, I always think that moving over a matured filter still bears watching, which it sounds like you're doing well.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[fishbaby]

ok i will get myself some i think. i actually went to buy some yesterday and he told me to stick with what i was using as it wouldnt help much?? have been using something safe but cant be bothered to go and look at brand all the way downstairs!! lol!! ( was more expensive so kind of trusted him in that) but many more peolpe are for it so gonna try it!
thanks!!


waterdrop:
ooops sorry! my fault took it the wrong way!
just like to say thanks to everyone whos helped and posted!