How Many Times Should I Do A Water Change?

[sam9953]

my question is that how many times should i do a water change if i want to keep my black molly fry healthy and keep their growth rate steady.

Right now i am trying to make my black molly pregnant and i want to know that what will be the suggested amount of water change for that and what will be the suggested water change amount once i get a few fry? I have a 15 Gallon tank.

 

[OldMan47]

Mollies do not get stimulated to breed by water changes the way some cichlids or cories do. They are always best kept in good clean water and are healthier in that situation.
Fry do grow better if they get frequent water changes. It is not how many times you do a water change but more how regularly you do a water change. If you did a change every few days for the first few months, you would be promoting more rapid growth than the typical every week or two pattern that so many of us get into.

 

[fishyfeet]

I used to do 10% daily and feed fry 4 times a day, this promotes a health grow rate and keep the water quality good, its ok if youve a small tank, di

 

[sam9953]

well i am planning to do around 15% of the water change daily and i will be feeding my fish pellets and crushed flakes 6 times a day. will that be fine?

 

[fishyfeet]

well i am planning to do around 15% of the water change daily and i will be feeding my fish pellets and crushed flakes 6 times a day. will that be fine?

sounds brill, should have some very nice fish

 

[sam9953]

thanks fishyfeet

 

[5teady_2012]

well i am planning to do around 15% of the water change daily and i will be feeding my fish pellets and crushed flakes 6 times a day. will that be fine?

A daily water change aint really needed, once a week of 30% will be fine unless you have ammonia or nitrite problems, but if your filter is matured and can handle the amount of waste produced, you prob wont have ammonia or nitrite probs.

For fry, good quality food, and waterchanges regulary helps growth, but still only every 3 days or so required, to many water changes can become stressful to weaker fish.

My tank is not close to being stocked and i do a waterchange on it once every 2 weeks and m fish are in top condition, its all about the filter being mature enough to deal with the waste that counts.

 

[sam9953]

So 15% water changes for ever 2 days will that be fine and right now i am using a liquid filter. is that fine? but the problem with the filter is that it produces to much of movement in my aquarium and the water moves so much that i think it stresses out my fishes. So do you have any suggestions for the type of filter?

 

[OldMan47]

The liquid ferts are fine but I tend to mix my own from powdered matter. I then use "liquid fertilizers" because I have mixed the chemicals with water. The premixed liquids are just too dear for my liking.
Every other day water changes will be fine for good fry growth. There is some evidence, not well documented but accepted but breeders like me, that the fish excrete a substance, call it a hormone if you wish, that reduces the growth rate of other fish. By doing frequent and large enough water changes you remove this chemical cue to slow growth rate and end up with better growth of fry. Another explanation that I have seen is that the frequent feeding that you do to improve growth leads to pollution of the water in the tank and that the frequent water changes remove the contaminant build resulting from all that feeding. I have no idea which theory is right, but know from experience that frequent water changes result in better fry growth.

 

[sam9953]

well i had read a theory by another person in another fish forum that when these fries are born then they excrete such hormones which reduce the growth of them so when we do frequent changes then we are removing these unwanted hormones.

Now about my filter. The problem is that when i had fries last time then my liquid filter was causing trouble to them because it gives out too much of air and my fishes face lots of trouble in swimming so i don't understand if its a good idea or not for me to keep the liquid filter or should i shift to some other filter.

 

[OldMan47]

I'm not sure that I understand what you mean by a liquid filter. All filters are designed to move the water through them.
If you have a filter that produces a lot of bubbles, try shutting off the air tube to the filter. I have some filters that came with a short piece of tubing which makes bubbles come from the filter outlet by using an eductor to pull atmospheric air into the filter outlet. It is not a good idea to stop filtering the water or to switch filters to an uncycled one. If your filter uses air to move the water through it, as some do, there is no option to shut off the air because that would be like shutting off the filter completely.

 

[sam9953]

I'm not sure that I understand what you mean by a liquid filter. All filters are designed to move the water through them.
If you have a filter that produces a lot of bubbles, try shutting off the air tube to the filter. I have some filters that came with a short piece of tubing which makes bubbles come from the filter outlet by using an eductor to pull atmospheric air into the filter outlet. It is not a good idea to stop filtering the water or to switch filters to an uncycled one. If your filter uses air to move the water through it, as some do, there is no option to shut off the air because that would be like shutting off the filter completely.

Ok now i have got a new sponge filter.

 

[OldMan47]

A sponge filter running on a bubbler needs to have the air running all the time or the biofiltration bacteria will gradually die off. It is possible to connect one to a power head instead of running an air stone on it. That will be quieter than using the air and will prevent fry being affected by bubbles but it will mean even stronger filter flows than the air provides.

 

[sam9953]

A sponge filter running on a bubbler needs to have the air running all the time or the biofiltration bacteria will gradually die off. It is possible to connect one to a power head instead of running an air stone on it. That will be quieter than using the air and will prevent fry being affected by bubbles but it will mean even stronger filter flows than the air provides.

Ok now as i have got a sponge filter on your advice i have also switched on the air stone and now with the filter being on the air bubble are also flowing out continuously. I hope that is fine?

 

[OldMan47]

Continuous bubbles are not a problem for most fish. The bubbles are needed to move water through the filter and also stir the water in the tank well by moving through the water.