Water Change

[pokagon55]

Just like to find out how often those you that have a mature tank change the water. Once a week? Two times a week? Once a month? How often?

Thanks for your reply.

 

[ghent_3rd]

I think all members vary, I am personally going to change approx 10% weekly when I get my new 180 litre set-up.

 

[Bloo]

I think it very much depends on the setup and stocking level and type of stock.

But i do mine once a week anything between 30 - 50%.

 

[pokagon55]

What do you think of every 4 to 6 weeks for a water change on a tank that is not over stocked and is more than 25 gals.?
Or any tank,4 to 6 weeks between water changes?

 

[Bloo]

Put it this way: how would you like to be stuck in a room with no ventilation for 4-6 weeks? No fresh air - just stale air.......

 

[pokagon55]

Well the reason I asked was because I was helping someone else in another forum and got bombed for the weekly water changes that I had recommened to do. I personly change my water every week at 20%

I just wanted to get some insight on what others thought about water changes. :

Oh and one more ?? If the water is filled with oxygen from the aggetation at the top of the water than how is it that the "air" will go stale in the tank?

 

[SamUK]

he was giving you a comparison of what it would be like for you to not get the equivalent of a water change to us. eg. if you had no fresh air!

the fishys dont have fresh water and thats what they need.


dnt kno if that made sense lol

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I do a 30-50% water change once weekly or once every 10days when i clean my filters and substrate, but it varies from tank to tank as i have 3 running at the moment and they are all stocked quite differently. I think it is generally advised though that you do at least a 20-30% water change once a week on your average tank to help prevent ph crashes/old tank syndrome and to generally help keep the tank clean, as despite a filter it will still get dirty if you don't clean it regually.

 

[cane76]

all 4 tanks every saturday takes about an hour and half

 

[Teelie]

The comparison of being locked in a room with no ventiliation for a month is absurdly stupid. You'd die in hours or less without ventilation.

Water changes are necessary but beyond that the amount and frequency can vary a lot. The larger the volume of water and better the filtration, the more you can get away with doing them less just as the smaller the volume and poorer the filtration, the more frequent they have to be done.

That doesn't account for the species of fish kept or the kind of water they're in either. The lower the pH, the less ammonia and nitrite will harm a fish for instance, though you shouldn't let a water change go so long it does occur.

Use your best judgement on how often and how much you need to do water changes. Some fish require pristine water conditions with 50% weekly while others can do just fine with a 30% every two or three weeks.

 

[morgan]

Hi, my tank is 65uk gals and I change 10% once a week. Man where I bought tank said on that size tank 10% a fortnight would be adequate. I feel happier doing a weekly change. He said if you change huge amounts you are actually adding nitrates from the tap water. I know I'll get jumped on for saying that but I'm just "sharing"! That information was based on the needs of community fish in a not overstocked tank, not specialised delicate ones.

 

[Bloo]

He said if you change huge amounts you are actually adding nitrates from the tap water. I know I'll get jumped on for saying that but I'm just "sharing"!

That's quite a good point if you have a heavily planted tank and live in an area with high nitrate in the tapwater Here in London (and many other places in the UK) we have anything close to NO3 @ 40ppm in the tapwater. But put that in a planted tank where they use the nitrates, and you have a far lower level within a few days. But each week when you change the water (with tapwater) you obviously add loads of nitrates back in again.

 

[digimac]

Just finished doing my weekly water change of about 15-20% on a UK 40 gallon tank.
Usually clean my internal filter sponges then too in the old tank water. The external filter sponges get done every two week or so.

 

[Arfie]

I do 25% weekly changes on my smaller tanks (near on 90% on my betta tank) and on the bigger tanks I am a bit more flexible, sometimes they get 25% a week, sometimes 25% a fortnight, sometimes 10% or so a week. I'm running low on dechlor, so the big ones will either not get done, or will get only 10% today, but they've been lightly fed this week and will be next week too, so I'm happy to do it. Also my bigger tank is quite heavily planted which helps water conditions.

Just use common sense, loads of fish = loads of waste = more need to change more water, more frequently. Also the quality of your filters matters too, all my tanks are over filtered (at least 2 filters in each tank), my big tank has an external that turns over the entire contents 6 or 7 times an hour and 2 internals and an air driven double sponge filter at present and only contains small community fish.

Arfie

 

[rixy]

just done my weekly water change.usually do approx 40%.i think it makes the water look crystal clear plus must be good for the fish.