Hey, those who keep neocaridina davidi, how large a water change do you do, and how often?
My tank is well planted so nitates remain low. I used to do 40-50% water changes twice a week when I just had guppies, but when I got otos and red cherry shimp, I was told I shouldn't do more than 20-25% per water change, and only when needed as the nitrates start to rise. That because the otos and shrimp are sensitive to changes in water parameters, it was better to stick to smaller water changes once a week, and even leave it for two weeks if nitrates were still at 5ppm.
I'm been doing 20-30% water changes once a week since then, but have tried leaving it for for up to 12 days then retesting, and my nitrates were still only barely above 5.0 ppm. I think the plants are established and growing well enough that they just soak up any nitrates as fast as the fish make them, so replying on the nitrate level to decide when to do water changes isn't really working for me.
I like to do water changes and do plant maintenance, which usually means lowering the water level so I can get my hands in there, and it just feels wrong for me to leave it it for two weeks, and I'd rather vac the gravel more often than that too, to clear up plant leaves and mulm.
I also need to move the tanks around, so will obviously need to empty the tank completely. I can save the water of course, but I'd prefer to save the first 50%, then give the gravel a good clean before removing it, so would like to refill the tank with 50% treated tap water.
If the water is from the same source, temperature matched and treated, is it really a high risk to my shrimp and otos to do larger and/or more frequent water changes? Could there be variations in the chemistry from the tap water that risks making my tank unstable for them? Or have I been misinformed again, and it would be fine to do a 50% water change once or even twice a week?
My tank is well planted so nitates remain low. I used to do 40-50% water changes twice a week when I just had guppies, but when I got otos and red cherry shimp, I was told I shouldn't do more than 20-25% per water change, and only when needed as the nitrates start to rise. That because the otos and shrimp are sensitive to changes in water parameters, it was better to stick to smaller water changes once a week, and even leave it for two weeks if nitrates were still at 5ppm.
I'm been doing 20-30% water changes once a week since then, but have tried leaving it for for up to 12 days then retesting, and my nitrates were still only barely above 5.0 ppm. I think the plants are established and growing well enough that they just soak up any nitrates as fast as the fish make them, so replying on the nitrate level to decide when to do water changes isn't really working for me.
I like to do water changes and do plant maintenance, which usually means lowering the water level so I can get my hands in there, and it just feels wrong for me to leave it it for two weeks, and I'd rather vac the gravel more often than that too, to clear up plant leaves and mulm.
I also need to move the tanks around, so will obviously need to empty the tank completely. I can save the water of course, but I'd prefer to save the first 50%, then give the gravel a good clean before removing it, so would like to refill the tank with 50% treated tap water.
If the water is from the same source, temperature matched and treated, is it really a high risk to my shrimp and otos to do larger and/or more frequent water changes? Could there be variations in the chemistry from the tap water that risks making my tank unstable for them? Or have I been misinformed again, and it would be fine to do a 50% water change once or even twice a week?
