Water Changes.

[Too Fast]

I have seen someone mention that they do 30% water changes weekly.

How much should you do as I have a book that says 10% per week or 20% every 2 weeks? or is this dependant on the species of fish and stocking levels?

 

[Gilli]

I have seen someone mention that they do 30% water changes weekly.

How much should you do as I have a book that says 10% per week or 20% every 2 weeks? or is this dependant on the species of fish and stocking levels?

Some fish require more water changes than others but if you have a community tank then a 25-30% water change weekly with a thorough gravel vac should keep your tank in tip top condition.

 

[Too Fast]

I'd better up it then!

 

[james_fish]

In my opinion it depends on the age of the tank, size of the tank & how much filtration.

In my planted community which is 55 gallons and is about 6 months old, I only change around 40% every 3-4 weeks.
I have a 10x turnover from the filters which sorts out the Ammonia -> Nitrites -> Nitrates and healthy plant growth which removes the Nitrates. Meaning my tank does not need to be touched.

Whereas in my Betta tank, I change once a week every week.

James.

 

[Loops]

I do 30% weekly

 

[ian]

In my opinion it depends on the age of the tank, size of the tank & how much filtration.

In my planted community which is 55 gallons and is about 6 months old, I only change around 40% every 3-4 weeks.
I have a 10x turnover from the filters which sorts out the Ammonia -> Nitrites -> Nitrates and healthy plant growth which removes the Nitrates. Meaning my tank does not need to be touched.

Whereas in my Betta tank, I change once a week every week.

James.

^^agree with James.

Personally i'm doing 2x 20% each week as i'm running pressurised C02, when using leads to build ups of organic wastage. Then you take for example llj and supercoley's tanks very low light and heavy planted, supercoley went 9 months without changing and llj is about 5 months. This is with staedy equalibrium in there tanks.

disclaimer, if your new to the hobby, 20-30% each week is good.

 

[Too Fast]

Ok, It's my 2nd tank. I upgraded after 2.5 years and in that time I was doing 10% weekly. I will double that to 20% and monitor the tank to see how it goes.

Thanks.

 

[Rafael Dilone]

Depends on the type of fish. Some fish are far more sensitive so they need far better water conditions. Also the amount of fishes you have in that tank produce a certain amount of waste so you have to do larger water changes with the more waste they produce. Such as a larger fish which produces more waste than 5 smaller fishes. So its not all about the number of fishes that determine the % of change in water but the waste load. Also consider how many gallons per hour that tank is being filtered at and the type of media that you have. A very well established tank and filter would need at least 10%. I do 20% twice a week myself but some people may not be up to doing all that work.