I Hold My Hands Up In Shame........

[smokeyjo]

I don't do weekly changes, more like 10-14 days.

yeah thats what my maintenance regime usually is and they have a day a week when they dont get fed usually a wednesday

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Don't get too hung on missing the odd water change(3-4weeks), as long as your not keeping discus,GBR's etc life does through things in our way and it wont do any long term to the fish once in a blue moon.

 

[J4G3D]

How could that be?

My pump action 1 sprang a leak that i couldnt fix. Bought an electric one off ebay took a few days to come, didnt work. Sent it back took a few days for them to receive then they sent me a replacement. Worked but not very good, would of taken an hour to remove 5% of water. Returned it got a refund. Bought one where you move it up and down for it to suck the water up, spent a good part of 30 mins eagily trying to get it to work without success. Finally found the pump one again i originally had and it works. Plus ontop of all that i have 2 business;s to run. 7 days a week 12 hours a day...

My goodness, J4G3D, for that much trouble and expense, you might as well gone first class and bought a Python. It was one of the best investments I've ever made. Check this out:
http/www.pythonproducts.com/aqprod.html

I was hunting for one of these. It seemed all UK suppliers had either sold out or no longer stock them. I really REALLY could do with one of these. Theres another brand that does the same thing forgot the name now but it seems there all in the USA.

Where did you get yours from please?

 

[CezzaXV]

Sorry but that's just not good enough either give the hobby up or clean it out at least 1 a month. Once a week would be better.

sorry mate but some people do have busy lives looking after kids and working etc so that means if we dont get time to do a water change for a few weeks that means we should give up the hobby?

i think thats a bit unfair if u asked me

tbh, if someone said they had a busy schedule so they didn't have time to walk their dog for a few weeks, there'd be outrage. Society seems to think it's okay to not care for fish though.

I'm overstocked, so I change my water twice a week.

I dont get how a siphon can not work. All you need is a plastic tube.

 

[Aqua Tom]

I do a 50% water change every week.

Tom



ps I have 2 small children, a dog, a cat & a naggy wife to look after as well & I manage it quite easily.

 

[Frazzledazzle]

Why is everyone kicking off over this?

It's a water change, i do mine once a month and i'm fine. To compare it to walking the dog is rubbish, if your water is good and the filter/air pump are running, how is that comparable to exercising a dog?

Unless you're over-stocked (which you shouldn't be if you're such a responsible owner), have messy fish or a poor filter, water changes don't need to be frequent. Personal preference i guess.

'Give up the hobby' #93### wept.

 

[Frazzledazzle]

Why is everyone kicking off over this?

It's a water change, i do mine once a month and i'm fine. To compare it to walking the dog is rubbish, if your water is good and the filter/air pump are running, how is that comparable to exercising a dog?

Unless you're over-stocked (which you shouldn't be if you're such a responsible owner), have messy fish or a poor filter, water changes don't need to be frequent. Personal preference i guess.

'Give up the hobby' #93### wept.

 

[smokeyjo]

Sorry but that's just not good enough either give the hobby up or clean it out at least 1 a month. Once a week would be better.

sorry mate but some people do have busy lives looking after kids and working etc so that means if we dont get time to do a water change for a few weeks that means we should give up the hobby?

i think thats a bit unfair if u asked me

tbh, if someone said they had a busy schedule so they didn't have time to walk their dog for a few weeks, there'd be outrage. Society seems to think it's okay to not care for fish though.

I'm overstocked, so I change my water twice a week.

I dont get how a siphon can not work. All you need is a plastic tube.

I do a 50% water change every week.

Tom



ps I have 2 small children, a dog, a cat & a naggy wife to look after as well & I manage it quite easily.

so doing a water change is the same as walking the dog? Wrong mate. All your fish aint guna suddenly die if u miss a water change how do u think carp and lake fish survive? They don't have some1 come along and take out half the water and put some nice clean water in do they? No they adapt to the conditions they are in exactly the same way as any fish would so I think ur talking complete rubbish mate and u need to get off your high horse and help people instead of giving them grief that's why we are on this forum aint it?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

A responsible owner can overstock without any problems as long as the care of the fish and water is upheld. Im staying out of the dog vs fish argument but i will say a month is too long for the reasons of the nitrates will be high even in a planted (for most people) the hormaones the fish give off while growing will be building up and the nutrients in the water column will be depleted in that time (assuming you dont dose with ferts).

 

[StandbySetting]

Once every 2 or 3 months for me, I top evaporation regularly though.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

so doing a water change is the same as walking the dog? Wrong mate. All your fish aint guna suddenly die if u miss a water change how do u think carp and lake fish survive? They don't have some1 come along and take out half the water and put some nice clean water in do they?

I'm not getting into the fish/dog debate either, but you do realize that lakes have a constant inflow and outflow of water, and that you can't compare naturally occurring waterways to a home aquarium. Apples and oranges...



SBS, aren't yours heavily planted? Again, I think that's a totally different comparison.


I think the OP's tank is fairly lightly stocked and so water changes can be spaced much further apart, safely.

 

[smokeyjo]

so doing a water change is the same as walking the dog? Wrong mate. All your fish aint guna suddenly die if u miss a water change how do u think carp and lake fish survive? They don't have some1 come along and take out half the water and put some nice clean water in do they?

I'm not getting into the fish/dog debate either, but you do realize that lakes have a constant inflow and outflow of water, and that you can't compare naturally occurring waterways to a home aquarium. Apples and oranges...



SBS, aren't yours heavily planted? Again, I think that's a totally different comparison.


I think the OP's tank is fairly lightly stocked and so water changes can be spaced much further apart, safely.

Not all lakes have in and out flows. I don't paticarlly care what u think about how often I do my water changes if I was doing it wrong I would of had deaths by now wouldn't I?

 

[soybean]

Play nice everybody. Whatever your method, if it works for you, fine. Not really worth bickering over.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

so doing a water change is the same as walking the dog? Wrong mate. All your fish aint guna suddenly die if u miss a water change how do u think carp and lake fish survive? They don't have some1 come along and take out half the water and put some nice clean water in do they?

I'm not getting into the fish/dog debate either, but you do realize that lakes have a constant inflow and outflow of water, and that you can't compare naturally occurring waterways to a home aquarium. Apples and oranges...



SBS, aren't yours heavily planted? Again, I think that's a totally different comparison.


I think the OP's tank is fairly lightly stocked and so water changes can be spaced much further apart, safely.

Not all lakes have in and out flows. I don't paticarlly care what u think about how often I do my water changes if I was doing it wrong I would of had deaths by now wouldn't I?

Not necessarily, in any tank not just your the fish could be subject to ill health and long term damage without us knowing before they pass leaving us to think they were fine

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Not all lakes have in and out flows. I don't paticarlly care what u think about how often I do my water changes if I was doing it wrong I would of had deaths by now wouldn't I?

I wasn't attacking you, nor your practice, just pointing out that the comparison you used was not a fair one. Endorheic lakes (those without outflows) turn salty, as a result of the constant inflow of minerals from runoff. But you're right, fish in closed systems like that do adapt, up to a point. Then there is the Dead Sea.


I wasn't trying to start a fight with you, that's not my goal here.