How often do i do water changes?

[Nourhan58]

my 5 gallon tank has cycled after 3 weeks. It is stocked with one betta, a few javaferns, annubias, and moss ball. Amonia is 0 ppm and nitrites are 0 ppm, nitrates are 5 ppm. I have a filter sponge that I never take out to keep beneficial bacteria.

I need help determining when to do water changes! My petsmart manager who is knowledgeable about fish told me 50% every 3-4 days. What do you think?

Also how do you guys change your filter media without losing any good bacteria? I have not changed mine yet for that pupose.

 

[Ch4rlie]

50% every 3 or 4 days is not bad advice for a small betta tank actually.

For most of us with larger tanks we generally do around 50-75% (nearer the 75 for most of us) once a week water changes with filter maintenances, usually weekly for small internal or HoB filters and bigger canisters once a month being the general consensus imho.

You don’t change filter media at all, just rinse the sponge media in old tank water during water change routine.

 

[Essjay]

Clean the sponge by squeezing it gently in water that you take out during a water change.

 

[Nourhan58]

50% every 3 or 4 days is not bad advice for a small betta tank actually.

For most of us with larger tanks we generally do around 50-75% (nearer the 75 for most of us) once a week water changes with filter maintenances, usually weekly for small internal or HoB filters and bigger canisters once a month being the general consensus imho.

You don’t change filter media at all, just rinse the sponge media in old tank water during water change routine.

Okay thank you for the advice . This is not the exact filter cartridge I use but its similar. So your recommending to keep it in forever and wash with the dirty tank water? Just want to make sure we are on same page

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ah, those cartridges, that looks like it has carbon and filter floss all in one type.

Do you have other cartridges with sponge media in the same filter and possibly ceramic noodles or bio balls type of thing?

 

[Nourhan58]

Okay thank you for the advice . This is not the exact filter cartridge I use but its similar.

I have that filter media in image above and I have a filter sponge. The cleaning method you said refers to sponge but what about the other filter media I have in image above?

Ah, those cartridges, that looks like it has carbon and filter floss all in one type.

Do you have other cartridges with sponge media in the same filter and possibly ceramic noodles or bio balls type of thing?

A what?? Sorry I'm new to this. The only filter I have are that carbon one you mentioned and a small piece of filter sponge. My question is how do i clean the carbon one without getting rid of benefical bacteria? Do i use same method as sponge where I clean in dirty water? Or change completely and put new one?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ok, think I have the idea now.

That cartridge contains carbon which is a media that removes medications and elements from the tank water, useful for a while but it wears off and will release whatever it absorbed after a while.

The white cotton stuff that covers it is filter floss, this helps to catch tiny bits of debris, dirt and stuff from going into the tank water.

What I would advise is to get rid of this cartridge and replace the space this cartridge was in with filter floss and more sponge media if there’s space.
The filter floss gets replaced every week as bacteria does not live in this, they don’t like it so it’s good for catching those small bits of debris from getting into the tank water is all.
You can get a roll of this filter floss (much cheaper than buying specific sizes branded filter floss from LFS) and cut out to size and replace every week, remembering to rinse it out first before adding to the filter.

Helps if the filter floss is the last part in which water flows through just before going into the tank water.

This will help clean the water more and you still have the sponge media in which the beneficial bacteria resides in.

You could also add some ceramic noodles, just a very small handful into the bottom of the filter or in a small media mesh bag and put that into the filter as well, bacterias likes to live in this as well.

There is no hard rules for these filters, most folks have two or three types of media, sponge, ceramic and filter floss.