75% water changes

[FishGuest5123]

Well haven't you just got everything working perfectly then, well done, that is what this hobby is about.

Some of us don’t have babies because we don’t want them. I got rid of all my lve bearers and took the fry to lfs. Fish eggs are snacks for the fish. I am planning to breed a few cherry barbs though. I bred fancy goldfish for years and just burned out.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I hope this thread doesn't get locked, it is interesting and potentially eye opening.

I agree that I don't think fish should be involved in any testing, but daphnia would be a fine substitute and the Walstad method is certainly very respected in the hobby.

I don't understand the chemistry enough, or have room for a spare 100L tank to participate myself, but I'd like to follow along and learn as much as possible.

Threads only get locked when things go bad. Keep it upbeat.

 

[HoldenOn]

Threads only get locked when things go bad. Keep it upbeat.

waterchangesdance

 

[Realpedro]

My experience with fish keeping has been short, so bear that in mind. However, mathematically, if you make only one change per week and are changing less than 100%, your nitrate level will continue to grow week after week until it hits a mathematical limit. It will then fluctuate between two points.

Easy to make a quick excel sheet telling you where that limit will be if you know two data points. First, how much does your nitrate level increase weekly. Second, what percentage of water do you change in your weekly water change.

For example, if your nitrate increase by 20ppm weekly, with a 33% water change, after about three months your nitrate levels will fluctuate between40 - 60 ppm. It will be 40ppm directly after the change and will increase to a high of 60ppm directly before the next change. With the same nitrate increase of 20 ppm weekly, a 75% weekly change will have your tank fluctuating between about 7ppm and 27ppm weekly after about three weeks. Meaning your tank should never hit 30.

This doesn't take into account things like plants that reduce nitrate levels, but the difference is pretty clear. A 75% change once a week is substantially more effective if your goal is maintaining consistently low nitrate levels.