What Should I Be Doing!

[plecostomus-mad]

sorry to the admin, i want this topic to be read by many, so ive posted it here too as well as the new to the hobby section

Ok so im confused!

alot of people on this forum are VERY helpful, and thank you in advance to those who have helped me so far.

now, my dad says that water changes are going to stress and maybe even kill my fish. my local lfs says a similar thing, but mainly that anything over a 25% water change is unnecessary as it causes too much stress. one person on this forum thinks i may have OCD or wanted me to read the link so i dont become obsessive.......and i can kinda see where he is coming from. but i dont think its a bad thing to '' love '' your fish so much as you want to care for them, give them the best quality of life by making sure the water conditions and quality are as they should be.

so where does this lead me to? confusion!

my dad, as an example, bought a 6ft tank years ago, filled it with water, dechlorinated it and stuck fish in there. now these fish had no problems as such. occasional white spot, few died after 2 years but mainly all was well.
he probably changed 40% of the water every 4-6 months.this i would say was not often enough but you cant teach an old dog new tricks.

im really confused at the moment. not enough to give up on the idea that i could and will look after fish, but more so to the advise im receiving. i will admit, when im advised to change 75%-90% of the water, i did think,huh?? but thought they should know best and went with it. im not saying this advise was bad or not founded.

so at what point does this hobby get too serious? i was always a believer that aquariums stocked with fish that you like are calming and helps with stress? all i have learnt so far is that its bloody stressful and im constantly worried about my fish because im getting mixed advise. if the ammonia is too high i might kill them etc etc, if i change the water too much i might kill them.

is there anyone in the forum with an honors in fish keeping?

i want to hear everyones view on this. im not trying to upset or offend anyone with what i have said.......and i am very grateful for ALL the help i have already received.

im just very stuck in what i should be doing!!!!!!!!

 

[meguro]

If the tank is moderately stocked and has been running for 1 or more months, 25% weekly change is fine.

 

[Amberleaf]

I rarely have to change the water in my 10-gallon. ^^; Water changes are nice, and usually beneficial, but I just usually do a (granted, it's a 50%) water change, oh, maybe every month.... or sooooo. ^^;

Oh, and I hear you on the "bloody stressful" thing. ^^; However, at night, if I leave the tank hood's light on and I'm about to fall asleep, I stare at the tank, while leaning my head against the rail of my bunk bed (I sleep in the top bunk ), and, believe me, now, *that* is a peaceful thing to watch! ^^; I fell asleep looking at my fish tank a little while ago.... My Mom's all like, "Oh, you fell asleep while watching your fish," in the morning, and I'm like, "Oh, really?" And she's like, "Yeah, you were SO cute just lying there, sleeping, facing towards the fish tank...." ^^;

 

[plecostomus-mad]

I rarely have to change the water in my 10-gallon. ^^; Water changes are nice, and usually beneficial, but I just usually do a (granted, it's a 50%) water change, oh, maybe every month.... or sooooo. ^^;

Oh, and I hear you on the "bloody stressful" thing. ^^; However, at night, if I leave the tank hood's light on and I'm about to fall asleep, I stare at the tank, while leaning my head against the rail of my bunk bed (I sleep in the top bunk ), and, believe me, now, *that* is a peaceful thing to watch! ^^; I fell asleep looking at my fish tank a little while ago.... My Mom's all like, "Oh, you fell asleep while watching your fish," in the morning, and I'm like, "Oh, really?" And she's like, "Yeah, you were SO cute just lying there, sleeping, facing towards the fish tank...." ^^;

its hard to relax when im constantly worried about whether or not im doing the right thing for my fish. i however, have come to the conclusion that i am doing whats best so atlast, i can relax and enjoy my fish. i cant wait to get my clown pleco's

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yes, large water changes are okay.

plecostomus-mad, make sure you announce that you are also in a fish-in cycle, which makes a big difference with water changes. I have already replied to this same question in your other thread, so I will not say much here.

Trust me, rest assured, large water changes during a fish-in cycle, or when ever needed, is okay for your fish.

-FHM

 

[plecostomus-mad]

Yes, large water changes are okay.

plecostomus-mad, make sure you announce that you are also in a fish-in cycle, which makes a big difference with water changes. I have already replied to this same question in your other thread, so I will not say much here.


-FHM

thanks for the reminder, i seem to forget that detail and it is quite important.

 

[MrPurplePickle]

There is no definitive answer that can be given. Technically, they are all correct in their advice, to a degree, and all wrong, to a degree.
The hobby has changed over the years, new ideas, new techniques.

my dad, as an example, bought a 6ft tank years ago, filled it with water, dechlorinated it and stuck fish in there. now these fish had no problems as such. occasional white spot, few died after 2 years but mainly all was well.

Perhaps, they could of lived for 4 years with more regular water changes.

To use an analogy, 'Should you, or should you not smack a child'. (If they touch your tank yes for sure )
Depending on who you ask, you will get different answers
Older generations will be more inclined to say, 'yep. didn't hurt me as a child' that's how it was back then.
Newer generations have a different approach and are probably more inclined to say no.

 

[Amberleaf]

D: Do I count as a child? I'm only 13, but then again, I *do* have 2 fish tanks of my own, so..... D: and OMFG a fish just jumped brb.... *is back* Hmmmmm.... I dunno who it was. *ANYWAYS*, everybody is alive and kicking, and that's what counts, right?! ^^;

STUPID FISH STOP JUMPING -- *flails arms in direction of 10-gallon* *straightens up* What? Oh, sorry. I was just yelling at my fish. ^^;

So, no right, *or* wrong, answer; huh....

 

[plecostomus-mad]

i listed this exact same topic in another part of the forum and ive come to the conclusion that i am doing what is best for my fish. mixed advice and comments seem to have a habbit of throwing me off, but with me asking questions all over the forum, im confident im doing right by my fish.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

*ANYWAYS*, everybody is alive and kicking, and that's what counts, right?! ^^;

eek! i hope you dont mean this? surely not?just because they are alive, does not mean they are happy, right? i made a bad choice from the advise i was originally given and ended up doing a fish in cycle, thats why my posts are all over the forum asking ALOT of questions to make sure my tetras are going to be happy and not be poisoned by ammonia etc.

would you drink toilet water? i expect you would live okish for a while, kinda alive and kicking right?lol can you see what im saying young sir?

 

[Wills]

my dad, as an example, bought a 6ft tank years ago, filled it with water, dechlorinated it and stuck fish in there. now these fish had no problems as such. occasional white spot, few died after 2 years but mainly all was well.
he probably changed 40% of the water every 4-6 months.this i would say was not often enough but you cant teach an old dog new tricks.

I can understand why you are confused if I set up a tank and someone said to me you need to take out 50% or more every day for x amounts of weeks then yeah I would be pretty hacked off to be fair. But the main thing you need to understand is that you need to do the water changes to keep the pollutants in the tank to a minimum and while you are in a cycle situation these are ammonia and nitrite and when the cycle is done you do it to remove nitrate.

When you are in a cycle situation with fish in the levels of ammonia and nitrite are going to be far more stressful to the fish than daily water changes. I know tons of people like your dad that have had tanks that are outside of the guidelines given on this forum (and an other note to say is that some forums have stricter and laxer rules than this one) and some of them work but a lot more of them fail and people just give up dont enjoy the hobby and go on to blame the fish. You said your dads fish were fine apart from whitespot and some died after 2 years. Now I saw someone say that with water changes they would have lived for 4 years but realistically cichlids should live anywhere between 10-25 years (depending on species). There are a lot worse tanks that you see and you just cringe at and get angry at for example we found an advert for a Fluval Edge which is about 8 gallons with 2 oscars in it! Thats a pretty dire situation, but they were alive and at the time of the sale they had been living there for about 3 months but how much longer would they "live"? Equally its been well noted around the net and in PFK that there is an increase in the amount of people that just chuck fish in I remember reading a story from an LFS worker where someone walked in bought a tank and then wanted to buy 2 oscars 3 red tail cats 2 puffers and a jack dempsey in the same day, and rightly so they were told no it wont work etc. But I can guarantee you that somewhere there will be a 3 foot tank that was bought the same day as the fish with that exact stocking and it would work for a few weeks or days do you see what im saying? It really is about the choices you make and want to make.

We consider our rules to hold the animals well being above all else but equally there are easily equal amounts of people with fish that have never picked up a book or searched on the net and simply dont care and do things by guess work and because it works for a few months or at a stretch a year its considered a success.

At the end of the day it is a choice to keep fish in the way we do, no one can make you change your water every day but its what we recommend to make sure you dont loose any fish. If you cut it down to what ever you want then its your risk, its just one of the responsibilities of fish keeping. I dont think any one here has a degree in fishkeeping but the advice that people give out here is after years of peoples combined experience and the result is pretty much a fool proof system. Ideally we would recommend that you went fishless as it is much much easier than the situation you are in now.

I know its stressful now but your cycle will end soon and it will feel such a massive achievement! I really hope this has been of some use I'm still half asleep but I just wanted to give you my 2 cents I can really understand the stress you have but it will get better. And doing it this way will ensure you are doing you are in control and you know what type of quality of life your fish have.

Just one more thing to add, maybe an easier option for you could be to take your tetras back and finish the cycle off fishless? Rather than emptying the tank daily you just add a few milliliters of pure ammonia, its a lot less stressful and less time consuming.

Hope its been of some help Wills

 

[karigupi]

I remember being where you are now & being totally confused by all the advice out there & also wanting to do the best for my fish, when I started out I didnt enjoy them as much as I thought I would. I also had a fish in cycle because of bad LFS advice & every day & night was full of tests, water changes & stressful fish watching, looking for any signs of distress.

In answer to your question, I dont think there is one definative answer, because it depends on the tank, the stocking & how mature it is.

In a fish in cycle, large water changes are often essential to keep ammonia & nitrite levels low enough to avoid damage to the fish. But once it is cycled, 10-25% once a week, or even every two weeks for me is fine. With my snakeheads, they get 20% changed every 6-8wks or even longer as they hate water changes.

In my fry tanks I do 100% water changes every couple of days, it allows me to clean the tank thoroughly & give them perfectly clean water to thrive in.

As long as your new water is treated & at the same temperature as the old water, large water changes shouldnt be a problem for your fish.

Good luck & I hope you enjoy your fish & that your cycle is quick.