Too many water changes?

[Aquascaper]

Can any damage be done to a tank by doing lots of water changes?
I have recently had my tank crash and start cycling again so I figured this would be a good time to do any major re-modelling. I have jaust changed my gravel for sand and have been doing water changes to clear the water.
So far I think I must have done at least a 100% water change since I started messing about. I have done this in small amounts, approx. 12 litres at a time, and have let the tank aclimatise back to normal temp before doing another (the temp has not fallen more than 1 degree).

Is this going to cause any problems because if it is i'll stop and let it all settle on it's own.

 

[Teelie]

Yeah, a number of things including pH shock, chemical inbalances, no "aged" water, temperature shifts and the fact it does a lot of disturbing to the aquarium if fish are in there. If there are no fish or living animals in there then all it does is prolong the cycling process.

 

[Aquascaper]

Yeah, a number of things including pH shock, chemical inbalances, no "aged" water, temperature shifts and the fact it does a lot of disturbing to the aquarium if fish are in there. If there are no fish or living animals in there then all it does is prolong the cycling process.

As mentioned in the original post there is very little temperature shift. The pH of my water is and always has been 7 (in the tank and from the tap). There will be no chemical imbalance apart from reduced Ammonia as my tank water and tap water match exactly for hardness, etc. The fish are not disturbed at all as the 'new' water is added into the filter chamber and not directly into the tank.

So apart from the blindingly obvious

no "aged" water

, anything else?

 

[Teelie]

It's still a bad idea, there are a lot of other factors I don't know all the details on. Water chemistry is not simple and definitely not something to tamper with lightly and though the fish don't appear bothered, they might not show signs until it's too late.

Just do it in steps, slowly and let things sort themselves out. If you're worried about ammonia spikes then there's ammonia detoxifiers you could use that will let the process go on but not kill the fish. I wouldn't use it too much though. I don't know what kind of long term effects it may cause.

 

[Leslie]

By alot of water changes how many do you mean a day? How big is your tank?

 

[Aquascaper]

I have just changed my gravel for sand and have been doing water changes to clear the water.
So far I think I must have done at least a 100% water change since I started messing about.

I think people are misunderstanding me. I do not do large waterchanges on a regular basis, just today to clear the water after removing gravel and adding sand.
The only reason I have done large water changes is that my tank has been going through a huge ammoina spike (it had already cycled) and i was trying to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Thanks for your input I've stopped doing the water changes, my water's clear, my parameters are stable and my fish are playing happily in the sand so i guess that i've done no harm.

 

[luxum]

Several small water changes will not harm your fish.