Copper Pipe

Sorry. this site screws up some links with the icons so, ---> Bacteria Motility Paper

@TwoTankAmin my point was just that you can find literally anything to backup claims either way and this in a 5min search...
I'm pretty sure if I were to spend the time I could find actual papers on whichever side weather it be small or big changes...
but in this specific topic and I've been around through this before where I can say a 10% water change is more than enough
and then comes along A/B and C on how it's bad and their OTS ideas etc but for some reason my posts get flagged for cursing and name calling?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??
lets say my 45gal tank for eg...it has a 4" sump from the wall..the section where the pump sits is where the water goes down...
right now its around 8" lower (evaporation)
so the volume of this would be 7" x 4" x 9" which comes to just over 1gal
according to my chart...(my own tank)

my water change was done on 23/nov...the next one on 29/nov and a top-off on 04/dec then 16/dec another water change
my tank went 12 days without a top-off or a water change
my water changes are based on my tds and done at around 400ppm - 15% of water volume plus the top-offs of around 1-2gallons on the sump
it should take another top-off tomorrow or the day after so even if you put everything together my water changes end up being 6.75gal for water changes + 1.5gal topoffs
and sometimes it goes up to a month without a water change (i've gone almost 2 months without one)
now...I keep expensive fish like zebra plecos in this very tank between other fish as this is a community planted tank...
should I follow the whole 50% water changes and risk losing fish because someone suggested it to me?
or just keep doing what I do that I know works?
---> I've had oto's and neon tetras breed in this tank

at the end of the day we have to ask ourselves why do we do water changes?
pretty much to get rid of fish poop...leftovers
so if I have an imaginary toilet to fill up with my fish poop...will it always be full every week?
fish just like us don't eat the same every time or poop the same everyday
so who made this 1 week rule of x% water change? I understand it's an easy step to follow and not everyone is going to be changing water based on a ppm value like me
because one...being realistic it costs money...it's not monetary feasible for a person with lots of tanks
and two...some people want their tanks crystal clear so they figure..let's just do 20% weekly and it should be the sweet spot
a ppm based water change works with a 100% precision whether I'm overstocked or not because once it reaches that value...its water change time
be it 5 days or 20 days
but then again you will never see a study done on how much water exactly should I exchange on an aquarium and based on what
because to put it simply...research costs money and nobody's paying for that
so water changes progressed from a ratio of fish to water like X fish in a 20gal...this much water...
to 20-25% weekly then the "magic" prime comes along and I see people suggesting 50% and even 90% water changes and I just close my eyes and nod...
a drip system like the OP has...even at 19% it's a lot more than what I'm doing
now these are facts I can see and trust...
so my system to put in plain words is basically...
imaginary toilet gets dry...add water...gets full of poop...flush it down
unnecessary water changes are not done and my fish are happy and healthy just the same...
cost for something like this? 100bucks...

kiko said:

@TwoTankAmin my point was just that you can find literally anything to backup claims either way and this in a 5min search...
I'm pretty sure if I were to spend the time I could find actual papers on whichever side weather it be small or big changes...
but in this specific topic and I've been around through this before where I can say a 10% water change is more than enough
and then comes along A/B and C on how it's bad and their OTS ideas etc but for some reason my posts get flagged for cursing and name calling?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??
lets say my 45gal tank for eg...it has a 4" sump from the wall..the section where the pump sits is where the water goes down...
right now its around 8" lower (evaporation)
so the volume of this would be 7" x 4" x 9" which comes to just over 1gal
according to my chart...(my own tank)
View attachment 307794
my water change was done on 23/nov...the next one on 29/nov and a top-off on 04/dec then 16/dec another water change
my tank went 12 days without a top-off or a water change
my water changes are based on my tds and done at around 400ppm - 15% of water volume plus the top-offs of around 1-2gallons on the sump
it should take another top-off tomorrow or the day after so even if you put everything together my water changes end up being 6.75gal for water changes + 1.5gal topoffs
and sometimes it goes up to a month without a water change (i've gone almost 2 months without one)
now...I keep expensive fish like zebra plecos in this very tank between other fish as this is a community planted tank...
should I follow the whole 50% water changes and risk losing fish because someone suggested it to me?
or just keep doing what I do that I know works?
---> I've had oto's and neon tetras breed in this tank

at the end of the day we have to ask ourselves why do we do water changes?
pretty much to get rid of fish poop...leftovers
so if I have an imaginary toilet to fill up with my fish poop...will it always be full every week?
fish just like us don't eat the same every time or poop the same everyday
so who made this 1 week rule of x% water change? I understand it's an easy step to follow and not everyone is going to be changing water based on a ppm value like me
because one...being realistic it costs money...it's not monetary feasible for a person with lots of tanks
and two...some people want their tanks crystal clear so they figure..let's just do 20% weekly and it should be the sweet spot
a ppm based water change works with a 100% precision whether I'm overstocked or not because once it reaches that value...its water change time
be it 5 days or 20 days
but then again you will never see a study done on how much water exactly should I exchange on an aquarium and based on what
because to put it simply...research costs money and nobody's paying for that
so water changes progressed from a ratio of fish to water like X fish in a 20gal...this much water...
to 20-25% weekly then the "magic" prime comes along and I see people suggesting 50% and even 90% water changes and I just close my eyes and nod...
a drip system like the OP has...even at 19% it's a lot more than what I'm doing
now these are facts I can see and trust...
so my system to put in plain words is basically...
imaginary toilet gets dry...add water...gets full of poop...flush it down
unnecessary water changes are not done and my fish are happy and healthy just the same...
cost for something like this? 100bucks...

Click to expand...

Two questions:
How do you determine if your fish are 'healthy' and how did you determine that TDS accurately measure water quality ?

1. I have no fish deaths to diseases, and they're also breeding which means they must ok with the water parameters
2. based on the after value (after a water change) which mine is around 350 after a water change...

so I change when it increases 50ppm from that

@sparkypenguin , if your question about copper piping has been answered satisfactorily, I can close this thread down

It has devolved quite a bit from the original subject...just let me know with a message here, or a PM

kiko said:

at the end of the day we have to ask ourselves why do we do water changes?
pretty much to get rid of fish poop...leftovers

Click to expand...

Water changes are also needed to replace minerals that fish need that but might not be in fertilizer. For example plants need calcium and nickel to grow. For various reasons these are not in most fertilizers. So if you don't a water change. plant may stop growing and it can also harm fish health. The goal of a water change is to keep all water parameters stable. Even the ones you cannot measure.

StevenF said:

Water changes are also needed to replace minerals that fish need that but might not be in fertilizer. For example plants need calcium and nickel to grow. For various reasons these are not in most fertilizers. So if you don't a water change. plant may stop growing and it can also harm fish health. The goal of a water change is to keep all water parameters stable. Even the ones you cannot measure.

Click to expand...

I don't add any type of ferts into my tank...
root tabs in soil put in every 6 months

and I'm building a new tank as I want 2 20gals stacked on a steel rack (already made) on top of each other to keep just the friendlier fish..plecos..otos...hillstream loaches...shrimp..no livebearers...puffers etc...

it'll be finished hopefully by january as I do things whenever I have a bit of free time and wife is out as I live in a condo and she hates the smell of silicones etc...
and I want the tank to stabilize before I put the more finicky fish like zebra otos and plecos as they're on the more expensive side and it's not worth losing thousands$ in fish over rushing
eventually with a house I'll just setup everything automatically...ph...hardness...water changes
my idea is to not use co2 and instead an RO system+tap to control ph/hardness
have a rack with around 3 levels with 4 or 5 tanks each and each level controlled independently so if something did happen it only affects those 4 or 5 tanks
in some years when I move and have my own fish room I'll probably post pics here xD

kiko said:

I don't add any type of ferts into my tank...
root tabs in soil put in every 6 months
View attachment 307900
and I'm building a new tank as I want 2 20gals stacked on a steel rack (already made) on top of each other to keep just the friendlier fish..plecos..otos...hillstream loaches...shrimp..no livebearers...puffers etc...
View attachment 307901
it'll be finished hopefully by january as I do things whenever I have a bit of free time and wife is out as I live in a condo and she hates the smell of silicones etc...
and I want the tank to stabilize before I put the more finicky fish like zebra otos and plecos as they're on the more expensive side and it's not worth losing thousands$ in fish over rushing
eventually with a house I'll just setup everything automatically...ph...hardness...water changes
my idea is to not use co2 and instead an RO system+tap to control ph/hardness
have a rack with around 3 levels with 4 or 5 tanks each and each level controlled independently so if something did happen it only affects those 4 or 5 tanks
in some years when I move and have my own fish room I'll probably post pics here xD

Click to expand...

I also don't add any fert to my tank; and this is what it looks like after a bit of time:



Oh yea i knew i forgot some details; i do a 50% water change twice a week....

anewbie said:

I also don't add any fert to my tank; and this is what it looks like after a bit of time:
View attachment 307909


Oh yea i knew i forgot some details; i do a 50% water change twice a week....

Click to expand...

you have lacefeaf on there which are very nutrient demanding...so asides from having a thick substrate it has to be nutrient rich..be it soil mixed in or tabs
water changes do little to replenish nutrients in water specially for a heavily planted tank like that
with that thick of a substrate I'm going to lean on tabs or a soil mix

kiko said:

you have lacefeaf on there which are very nutrient demanding...so asides from having a thick substrate it has to be nutrient rich..be it soil mixed in or tabs
water changes do little to replenish nutrients in water specially for a heavily planted tank like that
with that thick of a substrate I'm going to lean on tabs or a soil mix

Click to expand...

Neither ! But i do have fishes that like to poop.

lot of poop to keep up with all of those at 2 50%s a week

kiko said:

lot of poop to keep up with all of those at 2 50%s a week

Click to expand...

Well you can see most of the fishes in the picture And given this is a couple of years old it must be working ...

if it works for you I wouldn't change a thing

I bet the OP wishes theyd never bothered.

Thread locked, the requested info has been addressed

@sparkypenguin , send me a PM if you wish the thread to be reopened