Is There A Certain Point In L/h When You Dont Need To Do Water Changes

[Peter C]

is there a point with tanks where the water is being recycled to a point where theres no point in doing water changes?

sure i read someones post on here an they had a tank that was getting cycled through the filter so much the didnt need water changes

cheers in advance

 

[sadguppy]

You do water changes to lower nitrate levels (the end product of the nitrogen cycle) and replace minerals. Neither of these can be done by a filter so the answer is no, there is not such thing as a closed aquarium system.

 

[fluttermoth]

Simple answer is; no.

All tanks need water changes. Think about the nitrogen cycle that goes ammonia > nitrite > nitrate.

In freshwater there is no mechanism for removing nitrate, so you have to do water changes to stop that climbing to dangerous levels. One of the signs of a neglected tank is sky high nitrate.

If you had lots of plants and very few fish, you might not see the nitrate level rise, but then the plants would be using a lot of trace minerals from the water that would need to be replaced, guess how? Water changes.

I suppose, in theory, you could build a tank with lots of plants, not many fish and some sort of fertilizing/trace mineral dosing that could possibly work, but in the normal run of things, no. Even then you'd have the problem that some fish produce hormones that stunt their growth at certain concentrations, so you might find that the fish never grew properly.

Large, regular partial water changes are one of the keys to successful fishkeeping, IME. Cheap and simple too!

 

[ian]

you can do it in a planted tank...with enough plants to use the N03 and adding a little trace elements every week. I know of a fair few planted tanks that have gone a year or so with out water changes.

The light has to be low though.

 

[Akasha72]

You do water changes to lower nitrate levels (the end product of the nitrogen cycle) and replace minerals. Neither of these can be done by a filter so the answer is no, there is not such thing as a closed aquarium system.

what she said Couldn't have said it better myself.

My neighbour has tropicals and never has and never will change any water. We talked about it today. His attitude is "the fish are alright, not dying like yours seem to do" I hit back with "mine are breeding like crazy, can you say the same?"

Happy fish = good water and living conditions

 

[Peter C]

il try an find the tank i was on about, its an enlgish fella on here with a huge tank an i mean huge, hes got rays in it

could av sworn he said he didnt need to do water changes?

 

[fluttermoth]

I would just like to point out that just because someone says they do something, especially in fishkeeping, doesn't mean they're right

 

[Peter C]

yeah iv noticed that with my dad

hes an oldskool fish keeper an thinks im wasting time and money doing water changes, buying test kits etc

"we didnt do it like that in my day, didnt have any dead fish, your just wasting ......."

lol

 

[ian]

that tank is T1's tank and he has it linked to the water system, so he doesn't need to. It cchanges the water automatically.

 

[Peter C]

that tank is T1's tank and he has it linked to the water system, so he doesn't need to. It cchanges the water automatically.

thats what i was tryin to get at

what has he done with it?

 

[mattlee]

T1KARMANN is the guy you refer to i think. with his stocking if he didnt do water changes then he woukd be in trouble....

are you sure its not on a overflow constant water change system meaning he doesnt actually do any water changes as it does it itself...

 

[sadguppy]

that tank is T1's tank and he has it linked to the water system, so he doesn't need to. It cchanges the water automatically.

thats what i was tryin to get at

what has he done with it?

The water is constantly changing as it is linked to the supply I believe. So he doesn't have to physically change it, but it gets changed more than most tanks!

 

[Peter C]

that tank is T1's tank and he has it linked to the water system, so he doesn't need to. It cchanges the water automatically.

thats what i was tryin to get at

what has he done with it?

The water is constantly changing as it is linked to the supply I believe. So he doesn't have to physically change it, but it gets changed more than most tanks!

so hes linked it upto the mains water supply basically?

 

[sadguppy]

that tank is T1's tank and he has it linked to the water system, so he doesn't need to. It cchanges the water automatically.

thats what i was tryin to get at

what has he done with it?

The water is constantly changing as it is linked to the supply I believe. So he doesn't have to physically change it, but it gets changed more than most tanks!

so hes linked it upto the mains water supply basically?

Yes, that's my understanding. Nothing to do with the level of filtration though.

 

[Staxx]

i know someone who hasent done a wc in 6 months. but his tank is very understocked(about 15 cardinals in a 180litre) and its very heavily planted.

the fish waste is such a little ammount in a massive water space and he has that many plants they use up all of the nitrate produced.