Tank Looking After Itself

[lee8040]

am i correct in thinking that if you set the tank up correctly with the right fish etc then you shouldnt have to clean it out much?

 

[jarcher1390]

nope minerals need to be replaced by water changes and also there shall be a certain percentage ammonia in the water which would needed to be taken out.
still need to do a 25% water change every week

 

[vinylman]

If by 'clean it out' you mean do regular water changes, then they are vital to keep your fish healthy and dilute any build up of nitrates and other toxins. If you leave the tank without doing water changes, the fish already in there may slowly get used to the toxins and high nitrates, but if you add any new fish, you will quite likely do them serious damage, especially if they came from a regularly maintained tank. Fish definitely benefit from regular water changes. It's the best and cheapest way of keeping your fish healthy, IMO.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If by 'clean it out' you mean do regular water changes, then they are vital to keep your fish healthy and dilute any build up of nitrates and other toxins. If you leave the tank without doing water changes, the fish already in there may slowly get used to the toxins and high nitrates, but if you add any new fish, you will quite likely do them serious damage, especially if they came from a regularly maintained tank. Fish definitely benefit from regular water changes. It's the best and cheapest way of keeping your fish healthy, IMO.

I couldn't agree more

 

[Tacklebury]

Although a balance can and i personally feel it should be sort.

I have a balance between plenty of plants, 600 ltr filtration for a 240 ltr tank, and a good balance of ground, middle and top feeders.

This means my levels stay at the absolute min all the time. Every week or so i top the water up and every month or 6 weeks i do a water change. I don't need to do the water change as my levels are low, but i do them to clean the substrate out.

I disagree that a weekly water change is needed. If you are not nover stocked, real plants will keep the nitrogen cycle just where it needs to be.

Simon

 

[shang hi]

nope minerals need to be replaced by water changes and also there shall be a certain percentage ammonia in the water which would needed to be taken out.
still need to do a 25% water change every week

ammonia in the water? you should not have this is you have a tank cycled for your tank load.

Although a balance can and i personally feel it should be sort.

I have a balance between plenty of plants, 600 ltr filtration for a 240 ltr tank, and a good balance of ground, middle and top feeders.

This means my levels stay at the absolute min all the time. Every week or so i top the water up and every month or 6 weeks i do a water change. I don't need to do the water change as my levels are low, but i do them to clean the substrate out.

I disagree that a weekly water change is needed. If you are not nover stocked, real plants will keep the nitrogen cycle just where it needs to be.

Simon

nitrogen? do you mean nitrate (think you were on auto pilot when you typed that bit )
anywho, toping up the tank water to re-fill evaporated water will mean a build up of metals in your tank that dont evaporate. overstocked or not you cant stop that from happening.
And a tank with regular 25% water changes (weekly) is generly going to be a healthyer tank and less likley to become deseased.
i do 25-30% weekly water changes and its not that hard, maby 15 mins of work a week and a hour every month to scrub out the filter pads in old tank water and replace them if needed, and rince the media in old tank water.

 

[Davo86]

nitrogen? do you mean nitrate (think you were on auto pilot when you typed that bit )

No he means Nitrogen cycle, google it,

and if you have a well planted tank, have good filtration and are lightly stocked then there is no need to do do a weekly water change

toping up the tank water to re-fill evaporated water will mean a build up of metals in your tank that dont evaporate

hmm so how is topping up with water different than changing the water? provided a dechlorinator is used their isn't a problem and besides, the amount you would replace in terms of evaporated water isn't exactly going to be enough to cause any real damage to the fish

 

[shang hi]

nitrogen? do you mean nitrate (think you were on auto pilot when you typed that bit )

No he means Nitrogen cycle, google it,

oops, my bad...
well i learnt something new today
thanks for corecting my davo

shang hi

 

[shroob]

Only if you have it heavily planted with very light stocking, then I could think it might work. However I wouldn't risk it, for the sake of less than 1 hour a week you could make sure your fish had clean water.

Topping off with water is different to a water change, as it doesnt remove the nasties, they are still there in the water. Some tanks can evapourate quite alot, so if no regular water changes occur it could build up.

 

[jayjay]

I disagree that a weekly water change is needed. If you are not nover stocked, real plants will keep the nitrogen cycle just where it needs to be.

But what about all the other organic compounds you do not test for? How do you they are fine? Water changes also remove anything that reached the tank through the atmosphere: smoke, aerosol sprays etc. which can build up if the water isn't changed.

hmm so how is topping up with water different than changing the water? provided a dechlorinator is used their isn't a problem and besides, the amount you would replace in terms of evaporated water isn't exactly going to be enough to cause any real damage to the fish

Well compounds will build up in a tank, when water evaporates the compounds become more concentrated in less water etc. Due to the compounds not evaporating themselves. By just topping up water you are not removing anything, just adding even more compounds in the water, the water from your tap isn't pure water. Dechlorinator also won't remove everything in your tap water, which is fine in low concentrations, but would build up eventually.

 

[eschaton]

Having a heavily-planted, lightly-stocked tank, people have gone years without doing water changes, so it can be done. Remember that metabolites are themselves organic compounds, and will break down through chemical reactions or by absorption by growing plants in time. It's probably best to top off with RO/DI water and/or distilled water though, as it stops the concentration of minerals over time. Regardless, you're still going to need to clean out your filter from time to time, though a good cannister filter like an eheim can go for six months without a cleaning. If you put nothing in the tank but some shrimp, snails, and a few Otos, you could probably get away with not feeding the tank at all.

So yes, it's possible. I've heard of it being done in freshwater, marine, and brackish (mangroves are apparently the best at nutrient export). There are probably hundreds of more times it fails. Proceed with caution.

 

[Tacklebury]

Well for me i don't do weekly changes.

Of course i change the water, maybe every 4 weeks i'll clean the filter, when i do the filter i take a 15ltr bucket of water out so i can flush the filters with tank water.

In the last year i've lost 2 fish to unknown reasons. Don't get me wrong i've lost about 15 fish, mostly down to my ex ruby shark, but my fish don't die from poor water. I used to keep fish 7 yrs ago, my tank then got water chnages 3 times in 2 years once it was established, honest.

I will never argue that weekly changes are a bad thing, they are not. But my Ammo, Nitrite & Nitrate levels are always very very low, so why do i need to disturbe the fish and drain out 25% of my perfectly healthy, bacteria ridden (good stuff!) water!!!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Thanks for the replies.

 

[shroob]

There is very little 'good bacteria' in water, its mainly on the surfaces of your substrate/filter media.
For people not doing water changes for months, dreadfully even years in some cases I think this is possible due to 'Old tank syndrome'.

 

[KraKen]

This may be a dumb question, but what's "old tank syndrome"?

 

[jarcher1390]

nope minerals need to be replaced by water changes and also there shall be a certain percentage ammonia in the water which would needed to be taken out.
still need to do a 25% water change every week

ammonia in the water? you should not have this is you have a tank cycled for your tank load.

Although a balance can and i personally feel it should be sort.

I have a balance between plenty of plants, 600 ltr filtration for a 240 ltr tank, and a good balance of ground, middle and top feeders.

This means my levels stay at the absolute min all the time. Every week or so i top the water up and every month or 6 weeks i do a water change. I don't need to do the water change as my levels are low, but i do them to clean the substrate out.

I disagree that a weekly water change is needed. If you are not nover stocked, real plants will keep the nitrogen cycle just where it needs to be.

Simon

nitrogen? do you mean nitrate (think you were on auto pilot when you typed that bit )
anywho, toping up the tank water to re-fill evaporated water will mean a build up of metals in your tank that dont evaporate. overstocked or not you cant stop that from happening.
And a tank with regular 25% water changes (weekly) is generly going to be a healthyer tank and less likley to become deseased.
i do 25-30% weekly water changes and its not that hard, maby 15 mins of work a week and a hour every month to scrub out the filter pads in old tank water and replace them if needed, and rince the media in old tank water.

Silly me i did mean nitrates i think while i type and sometime my mind wonders off and i keep typing