Are You Giving Your Fish Enough Credit?

[Ludwig Venter]

I've spent all day giving all of my tanks a double water change, & I know I will not loose any because of it.....

I syphon out the water of tanks (no filtering.... just strong aeration).... then when almost empty,.... I turn on the tap and (whilst still emptying) I refill the tanks at slightly faster rate than syphoning.....

When almost full, I remove the filling hose, and then only replace it when the tank is almost empty again... thus giving each tank a double water change....

I know (from the forum) that this is not recommended, But I've been doing it for (almost 40 years).... and I do not loose fish because of this..... Maybe it's just that water conditions (from the tap) are different in SA..... I dunno....

I repeat (from what I've heard on this forum).... That it is not recommended, so do not do it, but my fish seem happier after every water change.... Fish are hardier than they are given credit for?

 

[saltynay]

What fish do you keep? How regularly do you do this?

 

[Ludwig Venter]

What fish do you keep? How regularly do you do this?

Saltynay... I'm talking 40 years here, so it applies to every fish I have kept in the past (almost) 40 years.... Genuinely never been a consideration in my vocabulary.... (I do this even in my inside "showtank" where (amoungst others) I keep Discus and neons.....

 

[star4]

You water maybe different to the uk, I know sometimes the water out of the tap where I am can sometimes smell quite stong of chlorine.

 

[Inchworm]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us, LV.

There seem to be so many different tricks that long time fishkeepers can share. It's great to hear about them. While they might not work for everyone, in every situation, it does broaden the possibilities to know someone else can do it.

Lots of fresh, clean water always does fish good. I'd be afraid to try your method where I live though. We have a lot of chlorine in the water and I have to watch that the declorinator is adequate.

 

[cheesy feet]

I do water changes without and dechlor, always have done...But I know some people would go skitz, and have done, when you say you don't.
If my tap water smelt of it I would though...
I know my texas cichlid wanted constant water changes, as did my discus You could see how it brightened my texas cichlids colour and triggered more active behaviour.
Sounds like a great system

 

[saltynay]

Saltynay... I'm talking 40 years here, so it applies to every fish I have kept in the past (almost) 40 years.... Genuinely never been a consideration in my vocabulary.... (I do this even in my inside "showtank" where (amoungst others) I keep Discus and neons.....

Whoops been a long day in the hot sun here brain is a little frazzled. I know that ADF's can have 100% water changes regularly but you need to do double doses of dechlor and non-fancy goldfish can have 100% change without issue.

 

[AdAndrews]

I repeat (from what I've heard on this forum).... That it is not recommended, so do not do it, but my fish seem happier after every water change.... Fish are hardier than they are given credit for?

but i think most of the people on the forum just hear what other people are saying and pass on that info regardless if they have tried it themself and could prove either right or wrong, i, like you want to find my own way of doing things, so i will give this a go, nothing to loose(well apart from my lovely fish)

thanks ludwig

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I repeat (from what I've heard on this forum).... That it is not recommended, so do not do it, but my fish seem happier after every water change.... Fish are hardier than they are given credit for?

but i think most of the people on the forum just hear what other people are saying and pass on that info regardless if they have tried it themself and could prove either right or wrong, i, like you want to find my own way of doing things, so i will give this a go, nothing to loose(well apart from my lovely fish)

thanks ludwig

I repeat!!!!!!.... it works for me, BUT, it is not recommended!!!!!

 

[markandhisfish]

well i cant really say ive got anything to add to the dechlor topic but i deffinately agree with you ludwig that fish are hardier thane we credit them with being. example.... ive got a golden nugget plec ( supposedly a delicate fish ) . during a routine waterchange/sand clean i took out 1 of the artificial mangrove roots out to wash it out. took it to the bath washed it thru with the shower several times then left it there while i went to see to the sand. after about 10 mins i realised i couldnt see the plec anywhere so i went and checked the root in the bath and lo and behold there it was. i returned it to the tank and it still thrives today.

 

[ALW]

Fish are hardier than they are given credit for?

Totally Agreed

 

[saltynay]

I have had 2 guppy fry survive going through an interpet pf1 filter and arriving in the other tank that means passing through a plastic grate, silicone valve, packed sponges, impellor, 40cm of pipe with intense current, not being eaten by anything in the other tank for 2 weeks now.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I have had 2 guppy fry survive going through an interpet pf1 filter and arriving in the other tank that means passing through a plastic grate, silicone valve, packed sponges, impellor, 40cm of pipe with intense current, not being eaten by anything in the other tank for 2 weeks now.

And just to add.... My one tank cracked the other night, so below water level, I put some silicon sealer on my finger and sealed the crack(under water) with no ill effect to the fish.....

 

[snowflake311]

I have done something like this for my 10 gal hospital tank. I would drainthe water down to about only 4". Then I would add the tap water at the same rate as the siphon. It worked for me helped my fish get better. But I do not do this for my big tanks.

 

[OldMan47]

A few years ago I took your method to an extreme Ludwig. I had gone on vacation for 2 weeks and left a neighbor to feed my fish. When I got home and opened the front door, I could smell the fish food rotting in the tanks. I mostly emptied the tanks and dragged them outdoors to clean them thinking everything in them was dead. I used the garden hose to forcefully clean the tank gravel with the tank tilted up so that very little water could accumulate. Then I grabbed handfuls of the gravel and left the water running so that I could clean the tank's glass. Finally I flushed the gravel again to dirt that I had washed off the tank's glass. It was quite late in the evening before I was done cleaning so I just left the tanks leaned against the side of the house and went to bed. A few days later it occurred to me that the tanks had not been set up again so I went outside and brought them in. I filled the tanks in the house and waited for the dust from the gravel to settle for a few hours. When I started to examine my cleaning job I noticed a guppy swimming happily about in the tank. It had been poisoned with far too much food, had several volume changes of chlorinated cold water flushed through the tank, sat outside in widely varying temperatures for most of a week with no food provided and finally had a fresh tank fill of chlorinated water to swim in. In those days I always aged my tank change water because I didn't want to spend money on dechlorinator, so I had been setting the tank up inside to allow it to degas.
I must agree that the fish are tougher than we usually think.