Water Changing

[fishlover223]

When and how much water should i change in my 10 gallon tank with 6 neon tetras, two mollies, 4 ghost shrimp and a platy?

 

[bigcheed]

20% works for me. i have a 10 gallon betta tank.

 

[ncguppy830]

id say about 25 percent a week,but if you can tell us what your filtration is, that would help. 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I hate to be the one to say it, but mollies aren't really a suitable fish for a 10 gallon tank.
 
 
 
That said, I follow this schedule (loosely as life gets in the way at times):
 
Weekly: 25%
Monthly: 50%
Semi-annual: 75%
 
Each water change should include a gravel/substrate vac and an algae cleanup (if needed).
Also, each month you want to rinse your filter media in old tank water.

 

[draxis]

I hate to be the one to say it, but mollies aren't really a suitable fish for a 10 gallon tank.
 

 
 
I actually agree.  First few tanks were 10G and every time I added a molly, poof, they died.  I did the salt mixture / brackish recommendations from molly forums or other... didn't matter.  They eventually got to a point where they either died or got every other fish sick.  I would say 30G +

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Mollies and Platties need a tank that is at least 90cm, if not bigger, they have no place in a 10g. They are active fish and reach a good size (~8/5cm SL respectiely).
 
My tanks get ~50% weekly water changes as standard, partly because my tap water comes with ~40ppm nitrate like a lot of the UK south coast.
 
Water quality drops quicker in small tanks, because there is less water to dilute toxins.

 

[snazy]

Mollies and Platties need a tank that is at least 90cm, if not bigger, they have no place in a 10g. They are active fish and reach a good size (~8/5cm SL respectiely).
 

 
He, he. Just to add platies can reach 7.5 cm because mine are about this size when adults, especially the females and they are quite chunky too. They can't live in a 10G long term.
 
You won't go wrong with doing 50% weekly water changes but whether its needed really depends on each individual tank.
 
 But if you want to check what's best for your own tank/bioload, investing in a TDS meter(about 20 quid) may help. These are electronic devices that test the conductivity(also come with a temperature measure which is handy) and they take 2 seconds to test as they are digital.  When water quality starts getting worse, the TDS will rise because the meter will react to dissolved solids like nitrates and many others but unfortunately not all, however it's enough to see what's going on.  Test your tap water, compared to tank water, then do as many water changes are needed/or as big as needed weekly to keep the TDS at a certain level close to your tap water(the tank water will always be naturally slightly higher by 10-20-ish ppm or so)
And forget about all other tests like nitrate, etc..
The TDS meter is also very handy when introducing new fish by testing the water they came in compared to your own tank water. If there's a great difference, you need to drip acclimate until they equalize in order to avoid TDS shock, also known as Ph shock but that's not the right term.

 

[Ch4rlie]

 

Mollies and Platties need a tank that is at least 90cm, if not bigger, they have no place in a 10g. They are active fish and reach a good size (~8/5cm SL respectiely).
 

 
He, he. Just to add platies can reach 7.5 cm because mine are about this size when adults, especially the females and they are quite chunky too. They can't live in a 10G long term.
 
You won't go wrong with doing 50% weekly water changes but whether its needed really depends on each individual tank.
 
 But if you want to check what's best for your own tank/bioload, investing in a TDS meter(about 20 quid) may help. These are electronic devices that test the conductivity(also come with a temperature measure which is handy) and they take 2 seconds to test as they are digital.  When water quality starts getting worse, the TDS will rise because the meter will react to dissolved solids like nitrates and many others but unfortunately not all, however it's enough to see what's going on.  Test your tap water, compared to tank water, then do as many water changes are needed/or as big as needed weekly to keep the TDS at a certain level close to your tap water(the tank water will always be naturally slightly higher by 10-20-ish ppm or so)
And forget about all other tests like nitrate, etc..
The TDS meter is also very handy when introducing new fish by testing the water they came in compared to your own tank water. If there's a great difference, you need to drip acclimate until they equalize in order to avoid TDS shock, also known as Ph shock but that's not the right term.
 

 
Thats a great tip. I'd quite happily invest in one of those TDS meters if they are really helpful, you say about £20 but am looking at eBay and there are lots of different models and types starting from £6.99, can you possibly give a bit more info on which is a decent one to use.
 
Thank and sorry to jump in this thread but had to ask as I was wondering about the same thing about water changes as well. I am a newbie!

 

[snazy]

can you possibly give a bit more info on which is a decent one to use.
 

 
I've got this one below and I have no complaints. It tests TDS and temperature(quite accurate), is good for tropical tanks(as it tests on lower scale of dissolved solids unlike what one can have in marines). It switches off itself

and can be digitally calibrated(via the push buttons). It also has automatic temperature compensation. That's needed because TDS at different temps have different reading(conductivity related) and there's no way one can accurately compare two different water sources if temps are different, and if your TDS meter does not compensate for that.  Mine is about 1 year old and works great.
 
However, I am sure there are probably even better ones around, just that I haven't looked since.
 
http/www.tdsmeter.com/products/ap1.html

 

[Ch4rlie]

Excellent stuff! i will look around based on your info and link. Probably will end up with the same model as your as is proven to be decent.
 
Thanks very much for that, snazy 

 

[snazy]

You can also get the electrical conductivity versions instead. It's the same thing but instead of showing you TDS in ppm it shows electrical conductivity in µS (micro-Siemens) so it's all about getting used of one or the other value.
 
http/www.tdsmeter.com/products/ap2.html

 

[Ch4rlie]

Think I'd prefer ppm as am now used to ppm from using API test kits which measures in ppm. Thanks very much for the suggestion though.
 
Much appreciated 

 

[snazy]

Think I'd prefer ppm as am now used to ppm from using API test kits which measures in ppm. Thanks very much for the suggestion though.
 
Much appreciated 

 
The only reason I suggested is because online when researching fish I often see the values of their water mentioned in micro-Siemens rather than ppm(TDS). One can convert them to find the relevent value is and I haven't had an issue using the TDS one, lower numbers to look at at least
 
These are also very useful to determine whether you can keep particular fish in your tap water(it roughly determines whether the water is hard/soft, etc. There are useful online guides to help you find out based on reading. For example my tap water is about 265ppm and it's hard), also to monitor water quality in sensitive species tanks where a certain meter value is required and one uses RO water and mineral powders to reach the conductivity/TDS needed for the species.
Also, if you add something to the tank like stones leaching calcium/metals, etc.. the tester will react to it(including fertlizers for example) and TDS will rise. As long as you know what it is from and its safe its fine, but at least the TDS reading will tell you what's happening or if something is happening without your input/knowledge.  And of course many fish won't appreciate the water becoming harder due to calcium or similar stuff if they aren't hard water species. Once you research a bit what TDS and conductivity is in water, you'll get a clear picture for the many important purposes the meter has when it comes to fish health.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Wow, that actually really good information for me to use, like you I have hard water (232.7ppm) and would like to keep an eye on the water parameters to try keep at good levels for fish health.
 
i have found online conductivity calculators/convertors that converts ppm TDS to micro-siemens and vice versa so therefore whichever one I choose. I won't have too much trouble converting to whichever if needed.
 
Extremely useful information 

 
Thanks