Large Water Changes On A 55uk Gallon Tank

[Marclau]

I dont have any Discus, but i do a 30% water change every 4 weeks for my fish.
I do also top up once a week which adds up to around 5-10% (due to evaporation)........by topping up, it's a bit like opening a window for my fishies.

Now, the reason why it works for me is that I have a canister setup and then a 2nd filter so my tank stay pretty clean. This together with heaps of real plants helps maintain a reasonably low maintenance setup.

When I do my 30% water change, I use a Syphon and also clean my gravel at the same time............this works really well for me........and seems to keep my tanks reasonably stable............

 

[Truck]

I dont have any Discus, but i do a 30% water change every 4 weeks.

yet in another post you said that your fish are dying and you have 0 nitrates all the time, yet thats not feasible unless you have anaerobic bacteria

 

[Craster]

Where can I buy a Python Drain & Fill in the UK?

I don't believe you can - however this thread gives instructions on how to make your own with bits from homebase.

 

[Marclau]

I dont have any Discus, but i do a 30% water change every 4 weeks.

yet in another post you said that your fish are dying and you have 0 nitrates all the time, yet thats not feasible unless you have anaerobic bacteria

I lost my fish (about 5 or 7) first time in over 2 years.............!!
You have never lost any fish??

Apart from what happened last week, everything back to normal and still same readings as I have had.
I dont believe, as some other members and my LFS beleive, it had anything to do with with water, spikes or anything.......assumption was perhaps a bad Neon etc etc....

Water changes have since stabilise my tank again................first time in 20 years, and 2 + years with this tank that anything like this has happened.
Works for me.......

 

[Truck]

I dont have any Discus, but i do a 30% water change every 4 weeks.

yet in another post you said that your fish are dying and you have 0 nitrates all the time, yet thats not feasible unless you have anaerobic bacteria

I lost my fish (about 5 or 7) first time in over 2 years.............!!
You have never lost any fish??

Apart from what happened last week, everything back to normal and still same readings as I have had.
I dont believe, as some other members and my LFS beleive, it had anything to do with with water, spikes or anything.......assumption was perhaps a bad Neon etc etc....

Water changes have since stabilise my tank again................first time in 20 years, and 2 + years with this tank that anything like this has happened.
Works for me.......

well if it were me i would be doing more water changes (every two weeks)

 

[Marclau]

I dont have any Discus, but i do a 30% water change every 4 weeks.

yet in another post you said that your fish are dying and you have 0 nitrates all the time, yet thats not feasible unless you have anaerobic bacteria

I lost my fish (about 5 or 7) first time in over 2 years.............!!
You have never lost any fish??

Apart from what happened last week, everything back to normal and still same readings as I have had.
I dont believe, as some other members and my LFS beleive, it had anything to do with with water, spikes or anything.......assumption was perhaps a bad Neon etc etc....

Water changes have since stabilise my tank again................first time in 20 years, and 2 + years with this tank that anything like this has happened.
Works for me.......

well if it were me i would be doing more water changes (every two weeks)

Each to their own I suppose.........

It's funny really, 20 years ago it was recommended that you change 40%-50% of the water every 8 weeks.
I thought this was hard to maintain and balance your tank.......so back then I did it more frequently like every 3-4 weeks and only 30%........

Now, 20 years later, some are recommending water changes every fortnight..........
In 20 years from now, people will recommend it weekly........

I, and only speaking from my experiences with my fish I have had over the years, it really depends on your setup, water quality and plants......
I also believe it depends on volume of fish in your tank and depth of gravel.

I never heavily stocked my tanks and believe this helps as well.........

Anyway, these are my opinions only..........

 

[rabbut]

As said before, there is no right or wrong way to do it.

Waterchanges are needed at different times, depending on a number of factors. Lightly stocked tank and heavily planted ones need them few and far between. Heavily stocked or "sencitive" fish need them more regularly as a rule. You cannot change too much water or too often, but there are limits to what's practicle and many only want to do what's nessisary

Many years ago, it was recomended not to change any water, and rely soley on loads of plants to filter for a minor fish load. I know one aquarist whom is still following this method on a 30 year old tank

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Marclau]

As said before, there is no right or wrong way to do it.

Waterchanges are needed at different times, depending on a number of factors. Lightly stocked tank and heavily planted ones need them few and far between. Heavily stocked or "sencitive" fish need them more regularly as a rule. You cannot change too much water or too often, but there are limits to what's practicle and many only want to do what's nessisary

Many years ago, it was recomended not to change any water, and rely soley on loads of plants to filter for a minor fish load. I know one aquarist whom is still following this method on a 30 year old tank

All the best
Rabbut

Gee Rabbut, thanks for pointing that out.........suddenly feeling very old............gee I remember those days.....OMG....!!!!
No water changes and rely on your plants.......how things keep changes............

And totally agree about all the different factors and times..........

 

[Jeff Lange]

I also do the bucket routine on my 65 gallon. I use 5 gallon buckets when I do water changes every week. I change out about (3) 5 gal buckets week. Got to be careful , I only remove approx 2 1/2 buckets from tank, seems that I always need 3 buckets to fill it back up, go figure
After I do my water change I immediatly add new water to the 3 5 gallon buckets with Prime and let them sit for about 1 week.
Not sure how the Python thing works but I put my 3 buckets in my bathtub to get the temp to 79 degrees ( My current Tank Temp ) before I put water back into my tank. Not sure how you can adjust the temp comming out of the faucet to the exact temp of your tank.
Anyway thats the way I do it. Im not too old and I can still lift 5 gallon buckets

 

[rabbut]

You tend not to heat the water before adding for hose waterchanges If it's a 25% waterchange, you can do the maths and work out that the maximum possible temperature drop for such a waterchange on a tank running at 24c is 6c, assuming all the water hits the tank at once, comes in frezing cold (0c) and has no ambient room heating. In winter, 4c from the tap is typical, you fill over time and there is ambient heating as the water moves through the house, making for a much smaller temperature drop A 6 degree drop is fine, and will actually make many fish spawn Thats smaller than many temperature drops that fish would go through in the wild