Mega Cleanage

[Wanda hornsey]

Ok so I have a 130+ gallon tank and we do water changes, roughly 20%, every sunday (in fact slipped a day cos it was mothers day but just changed 37 gallons!!!!!) yep thats a lot of treated water back in the tank, we have a lot of fish and also a lot of filteration but in my view my fish seem to thrive on it I dont have any problems with algy or stuff in my tank (other than bl@@dy snails) I would say 20% weekly is not doing mine any harm and seems to be doing them good...follow your gut instinct

 

[Jules H-T]

@ Wanda, Don't worry too much about the snails, with clown loaches in there it shouldn't be long before it's not a problem any more. I actually add snails for food. I suspect your clowns will try to eat your apple snails too when they grow a little, if they haven't already.

 

[andywg]

The size of the water change depends on the stocking. My big tank is easily at 2" per gallon and, therefore, I would not like to leave it to once per month as the most regular, particuliarly when one considers how bigger fish tend to excrete more waste.

 

[fish mad]

Ok so I have a 130+ gallon tank and we do water changes, roughly 20%, every sunday (in fact slipped a day cos it was mothers day but just changed 37 gallons!!!!!) yep thats a lot of treated water back in the tank, we have a lot of fish and also a lot of filteration but in my view my fish seem to thrive on it I dont have any problems with algy or stuff in my tank (other than bl@@dy snails) I would say 20% weekly is not doing mine any harm and seems to be doing them good...follow your gut instinct

I agree with you Wanda . I do 20% weekly and sometimes more if i think they need it.My red tailed shark was looking sorry for himself the other day , gave a 20% water change now hes right as rain lol . Go on gut instinct.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Behemoth

Water changes should be done often enough and big enough to keep the nitrate level down as low as possible. Since the end result of the beneficial bacteria converting waste products (ammonia) to nitrite and then to nitrate, is an elevated nitrate level, the amount of fish you have will effect the amount it rises. Also, since in some areas the tap water is not nitrate free, it will also be a factor to consider.

If you preserve the beneficial bacteria growing in your filter, there should be little harm in doing a gravel change or cleaning. But, unless your gravel is stained with algae or otherwise very unsightly, it's probably an unnecessary chore.

The most beneficial bacteria reside in the filter media, but the second most live in the top 1/2" to 1" of gravel. The worst that would happen if you were to remove it would be that you would have to do extra water changes to see your fish through a small mini-cycle, but that's not as bad as it sounds either.

Given regular water changes and bottom vacuumings, a tank can go for years without taking it apart and redoing it.