Water Changes

[Luke_e]

Hey, i got this new gravel vac, and its got hude attachment at the end which is great for cleaning the gravel, but it empties the water quickly, and i usually do about 50% with this one sometimes 60%, is this too much, as if it is i'll use the old gravel vac which takes for ever to clean the gravel but takes out less water. I'd prefer to use the larger one if 50% isnt too much, as the fish dont seem stressed at all, and they have been fine all the times i've done it, just wanted to get the confirmation that its ok to do this.
Cheers.

 

[osteoporoosi]

If there is no sudden changes of water rates, 50% won't do any harm. I do 50% weekly.

 

[Luke_e]

Ok, cheers..

 

[CFC]

When doing large water changes it is important to make sure that you dont alter the chemistry of the water too drasticly (basicly make sure the water you put back in matches the water you take out in pH and hardness) and that the temperature of the water in the tank doesnt drop more than 2 degrees centigrade when you refill it. You can never do too many water changes but sudden alteration of the water values can cause fish deaths by shock.

 

[consp]

You shouldn't take out more than 60% of the water. I wouldn't do such big water changes but if your fish aren't having any problems because of it than why not

 

[Luke_e]

Cheers guys!

 

[j0rzeh]

It better not to do large water changes as this removes beneficial bacterira consume ammonia and nitrite not to mention forcing stress sicne you can't tell if the fish are destressed until its to late myself and my staff do not recomend large water changes as without using products such are nutrafin cycle and a R/O or deionizer unit.

small 10% water changes every other day are better then large water changes .... you should have to change 50% of the water if your not over feeding and have kept your tank clean from day one.

API make a good deoinizer for around 60.00 GBP and will do a 200 Ltr tank for a year as use as long as your not living in london where the water is very bad

hope this helps with your quest for better fish keeping.

 

[CFC]

Water changes do not remove benefitial bacteria as they colonise surfaces within the aquarium and are not free floating in the water column, only bad bacteria's, ammonia compounds and harmfull toxins are removed.
Many keepers of sensative species such as stingrays and discus will do 50% water changes twice a week (and sometimes more) to keep the water in pristine condition, if its good enough for them then its certainly good enough for your average community fish.

 

[Luke_e]

It better not to do large water changes as this removes beneficial bacterira consume ammonia and nitrite not to mention forcing stress sicne you can't tell if the fish are destressed until its to late myself and my staff do not recomend large water changes as without using products such are nutrafin cycle and a R/O or deionizer unit.

small 10% water changes every other day are better then large water changes .... you should have to change 50% of the water if your not over feeding and have kept your tank clean from day one.

API make a good deoinizer for around 60.00 GBP and will do a 200 Ltr tank for a year as use as long as your not living in london where the water is very bad

hope this helps with your quest for better fish keeping.

I am certainly no aquarium expert, but even i know that (bold) isnt true. CFC cleared up the part on bacteria which i dont need to re-explain, and i dont see how water changes force stress on fish, unless its done roughly and without care, and simply watching the behaviour of fish is a clear sign if they are stressed or not.

 

[Tolak]

Many discus breeders do large daily water changes. It's infrequent large water changes that can cause problems. Ph tends to change in a tank that has been more or less neglected, the water added is often a different ph from the tank. This can cause problems.

Most of my tanks get 50% to 75% weekly water changes, one gets 50% 3 times weekly. All the fish do fine with this. They are all overfiltered, some obscenely so. Most are bare bottomed tanks. Your beneficial bacteria resides in the filter media, substrate, decorations & tank walls.

I recently set up a bare bottomed 20 gallon after some auction purchases. 100% dechlored tap water, 2 new filters with some media taken from filters on other tanks. Added 3 kribs & 4 small bristlenose plecs. Not a problem. Added 4 platys less than a week later, still no problem.

The bacteria is in the media, I'm sure there is no bacteria in my tap water, you can smell the chlorine a mile away.

Tolak

 

[Notsofab]

Hey, i got this new gravel vac, and its got hude attachment at the end which is great for cleaning the gravel, but it empties the water quickly, and i usually do about 50% with this one sometimes 60%, is this too much, as if it is i'll use the old gravel vac which takes for ever to clean the gravel but takes out less water. I'd prefer to use the larger one if 50% isnt too much, as the fish dont seem stressed at all, and they have been fine all the times i've done it, just wanted to get the confirmation that its ok to do this.
Cheers.

The vac i have also empties the water pretty rapidly but it has a fairly crude attachment that fits around the hose coming from the vac which can be adjusted to slow the flow of water from the vac. Basically it just pinches the pipe closed by increasing amount thus slowing the water flow. Couldn't you make some kind of device to fit on your vac? Maybe something simple as tight elastic band around the pipe to help close it up???

 

[mike190762]

I've got an electric vac that actually returns the water back into the tank.

 

[debiasir]

i do a 50% (maybe more) change once a week without fail and find myself wanting to do one midweek as well just so the tank is clean and the water is crystal.

 

[rabbit]

Damn you guys do that much i do 15% which is about 55 litres tops a week im running a fluval 304 and a ehiem 2026 and my water stays within parameters and is crystal clear looks as if there no water in it