How often do you clean your tank?

[NewFishPerson]

Cold water is full mains pressure so that is fine. I fitted the header tank myself about 6 years ago so I'm confident enough that there isn't anything nasty in it. When I opened the tank to change the ballcock about a year ago the tank looked clean, no sediments or anything particularly bad looking in there. The lid has a vent pipe on it but that has an upside down U bend on it so there is very little chance anything can get in there, save perhaps an insect crawling in.

There is a high turnover rate of water in the tank because I'm a bath man so I'll keep an eye on things. I did worry about the hot water cylinder leeching copper into the water but had heard that was more a problem with newer cylinders. The one installed here is ancient!

 

[Essjay]

That's another reason I don't use hot tap water at the moment - we had a new cylinder fitted last month and I have shrimps and snails.

 

[BettaMan2000]

I wonder if you can get a test kit for your water that way you’d know for sure?!

 

[Essjay]

Sorry, know what for sure? If you mean copper in the water, yes you can buy copper testers. But it is easy enough for me to heat the new water change water with a kettle, that way there is no risk to my inverts.

 

[BettaMan2000]

Know if there are any specific nasties in the water tank, just from a point of convenience it’s always going to be easier if you can use water directly from the tap.

 

[Essjay]

Not using hot tap water has been ingrained in me since I was a child so when I first started keeping fish 20 years ago it never occurred to me to use hot tap water. I've always boiled a kettle from the first water change I ever did - and although that was with fairground goldfish, our tap water is too cold for them in winter (My teenaged sons won goldfish throwing darts at the fair)

 

[drewzaun]

There is no one size fits all approach, except with water changes. There is the right way, and then every other approach is wrong.

The right way is to adjust your frequency and amounts to keep the parameters your fish thrive in consistently.

The wrong way is arbitrarily do xx percent a week because someone said that’s what they do. Most of us do things the wrong way because life gets in the way, but at least if you know your fish and water you’ve got a handle on it.

For maintence, I’ve got dirted tanks, so I can’t really vacuum the substrate. I rely on critters to stir it up and plants to suck the nasties out. I do try to clean off unsightly algae and detritus as I can during water changes.

I start with an every 2 months filter cleaning schedule and then adjust as nitrate levels and flow rates tell me the filter needs attention more often.

I do a “deep cleaning” every six months, I take everything out of the cabinet, clean the filter hoses, examine driftwood to make sure it’s not rotten, really trim the plants and re-evaluate the direction I’m heading.

When I had just sand or gravel I did a thorough vacuum each water change but the rest is the same.

As for breaking the tank down and completely redoing, I’ve done that only infrequently, when I’ve decided I want a new look. Health wise I’ve never had a crash.

I’ve had tanks run for years without a breakdown job, and sometimes I’ve caught everything out and rescaped 3 times in a year.

But in a nutshell I’ve found proper flow and water changes mean everything else is super easy


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[NickAu]

I rarely touch the substrate also, I have MTS to look after the substrate. My tanks are heavily planted and in my Betta tank I would need to move plants.

I change 50% of the water every week without fail, I use pre heated, treated water that has been aged for at least 24 hours.

I sometimes give the inside front glass a wipe with a soft sponge, I do not bother with the back and sides, I have MTS Shrimp and a small BN to do that.

This is how I get the water ready on my Betta tank. There is a heater in the bucket under the power head, I make my own Blackwater.

And before anybody says " Thats fine if you have a small tank " I also do the same thing on the 6 footer.

I have a nice new 200 liter plastic drum to pre heat and age the water in and I use a power head to pump it into the tank from the drum.

 

[Byron]

The right way is to adjust your frequency and amounts to keep the parameters your fish thrive in consistently.

The wrong way is arbitrarily do xx percent a week because someone said that’s what they do. Most of us do things the wrong way because life gets in the way, but at least if you know your fish and water you’ve got a handle on it.

I start with an every 2 months filter cleaning schedule and then adjust as nitrate levels and flow rates tell me the filter needs attention more often.

There is a major problem here, in allowing test results to guide your water changes or filter cleanings.

By the time nitrate has risen above the norm for the aquarium, harm is being done to the fish. And nitrate is only one test; there are other issues affecting the fish that we cannot test for, but know are applicable. The aim of water changes is to maintain stability, where nitrate never increases beyond the norm. By "norm" I mean the lowest level that is possible in any given aquarium, and this must always be as low as possible. Nitrate present in your source water is one issue that can be dealt with, depending upon the level. But nitrate occurring solely from the biological functions in the aquarium is certainly controllable by the aquarist, and this level of nitrate should never rise above the lowest you can achieve.

I have had aquaria for over 25 years. I rarely testy for nitrate because I know exactly the level in each tank (between zero and 5 ppm using the API test) and whenever I do test, this is always the result. This stability has existed for well over a decade. My weekly 60% water change, along with not overstocking, not overfeeding, live plants and appropriate fish species, allows me to be certain this is not going to change.

Prevention is the best method, not reaction after test results show trouble. The fish have already been affected.

Byron.

 

[drewzaun]

I think you’ve misunderstood what I was trying to say. I start with a schedule, because you have to start somewhere, then I adjust that schedule based on what the tank is telling me, to keep the best consistent conditions I can. The whole point to my post was there is no one size fits all, you’ve got to watch your tanks and adjust to what they tell you.


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[Byron]

I think you’ve misunderstood what I was trying to say. I start with a schedule, because you have to start somewhere, then I adjust that schedule based on what the tank is telling me, to keep the best consistent conditions I can. The whole point to my post was there is no one size fits all, you’ve got to watch your tanks and adjust to what they tell you.


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I don't fathom this at all, sorry. My previous post specifically referred to water changes and filter cleanings, and I made the point that you cannot only do these when tests indicate some issue. You mentioned nitrate, and I pointed out that nitrate should remain consistent over months and years. If you allow things to regress to where nitrate rises, from within the tank itself, and then do catch-up so the nitrate lowers, that is not good tank husbandry.

Water changes should be regular and significant. There is no benefit to reducing the volume or frequency if you think they may not be needed at the higher levels. This seems to be one of your contentions. Same goes for filter cleaning. The more water changed, and the more the filter is rinsed, the healthier will be the fish.

 

[drewzaun]

If you allow things to regress to where nitrate rises, from within the tank itself, and then do catch-up so the nitrate lowers, that is not good tank husbandry.

No where did I say “allow things to regress”. What I said was do water changes with the frequency and volume to maintain consistent levels your particular species thrives in. I then offered my personal starting point for filter maintence, and said watch your tank and test and then increase your maintence as needed. Only a psychic would know before hand the exact perfect schedule, I rely on tests and observations, ymmv. Btw, if you’re not testing your water as you claim, how do you know when a problem is starting or your maintence schedule needs adjusting? IME over decades of keeping fish myself, I’ve found testing the 4 basic levels regularly clues me into an issue long before watching my fish does.

Water changes should be regular and significant. There is no benefit to reducing the volume or frequency if you think they may not be needed at the higher levels. This seems to be one of your contentions. Same goes for filter cleaning. The more water changed, and the more the filter is rinsed, the healthier will be the fish.

Again, go back and read what I wrote and then quote where I said REDUCE anything! Although I will tell you, if you only do 60% a week, you’re significantly affecting your water chemistry, and some sensitive species can be be adversely affected by this up to death. That’s why people who are consistently successful with sensitive fish do smaller volume changes several times a week, and many private and most professional aquariums install a drip system to automatically change small amounts every day.

Also, how does doing water changes rinse out your filter? I shut my filter off during water changes, but whether you keep it on or not taking water out of your tank and then replacing it does nothing to clean the filter media inside the canister, hob or sump or sponge or whatever. The only way to clean your filter...is to physically clean it, at least afaik, if you’ve got a better way for me to have a cleaner filter that requires less attention I’d love to learn it.


Here’s my personal schedule for the three tanks I’m currently running...

Grow out tank gets 10-20% daily water changes, and the hob cartridge rinsed weekly. This keeps the water pristine while allowing me to have food available to fry 24/7.

90g Cichlid tank gets 30% changes every other day, and filter gets cleaned every 2 months as water chemistry and flow doesn’t change noticeably in that time frame, nor does it improve after cleaning, so no need to increase. No, I’m not interested in reducing the frequency of cleaning either.

My 65g planted tank is in flux. It was on the same schedule as the 90 but I just changed to 1x a week water changes to accommodate a dosing regime I’m trying out. I’m only a few weeks in however and I’m not seeing significant improvement with the plants and I am seeing ph swings and detritus buildup and just this week ammonia levels have shown .25ppm and my nitrates are double what they were before on test day. Idk whether it’s from the ferts or the dirt or something else but all fish accounted for and I’m back on more frequent water changes. I know I need to adjust because I test my levels religiously and thus have spotted an issue before my fish told me there was a problem. I’m also on a more frequent filter cleaning schedule as I did a rescape not long ago and the flow is reduced do to extra material getting kicked up.

As you should be able to see from this, when I said start with a schedule then test and observe to adjust when the tank tells you it needs more attention, this is what I meant, not kick back with a beer and wait until something happens, which you seem to think I said. Now if this sounds a little snippy, it’s because it is. When you misconstrue what someone says and then throw out comments like “poor husbandry” all the while admitting to not testing important levels and just assuming they will always be what they always were, I’m gonna get snippy.

Have a good day...



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[BettaMan2000]

Ok guys I need to step on this, I think there’s been much good advice been given, and I appreciate that, with various different and interesting view points that’s also most welcome, particularly from Byron.

But we need to be careful in that we don’t offend others, after all we’re all trying to help each other and that’s the point of having a discussion forum, so guys please let’s not antagonise each other!

 

[Byron]

Btw, if you’re not testing your water as you claim, how do you know when a problem is starting or your maintence schedule needs adjusting? IME over decades of keeping fish myself, I’ve found testing the 4 basic levels regularly clues me into an issue long before watching my fish does.

There should be no problems related to tests, and the maintenance schedule does not need adjusting if it is significant to begin with, that is the point. I can assure you that I would never find any issue by testing ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, GH, KH or pH, simply because the tanks are biologically balanced. And this is largely due to my water change schedule. And there are several fish-debilitating issues that you cannot test by any means, and that can only bee corrected/prevented by water changes.

And my water chemistry is being kept more stable by significant water changes. We obviously start with the given that parameters are the same or close to being so, which means that the more water changed the healthier the fish. There are discus breeders who change 95% of the tank volume two and three times a day in fry tanks.

And the fundamental point was and remains that if your schedule of water changes is not maintaining stable and consistent water quality with respect to any test (nitrate, pH, etc) then it is clearly not adequate. These values should never alter over months and years. But having said that, there is the diurnal pH fluctuation, which occurs in nature and will not bee an issue assuming the balance is present.