Top Ups?

[Betta5]

Hi, I top up about 30-40% of water as my tank is 12 gallons, is this the same as doing a 30% water change a week?

Thanks

 

[BigIan]

ope when you top up you only replacing the water that has evaporated, the idea of a water change is that you remove things from the water such as nitrate and phosphate,
without taking water out and only topping up your are simply leaving the toxins to build up.

ad if your having to top up 30-40% then the salt levels on your tank must be all over the place and this is BAD.,

 

[idlefingers]

From what I've read, top ups made with RO water aren't comparable to a water change at all. It doesn't syphon anything out nor does it replace any trace elements.

 

[Betta5]

its this sudden shock of heat making the water evap like mad, i also have the tank open top because of the heat which dosnt make things any better. Im upgrading soon so its ok.

THanks for your help!

 

[BigIan]

you need to do top off more often though at the moment were diubg it 2-3 times a week.

i keep an eye on the sg and i know when it gets to a certain level the sg has fluctuated to much so it gets top off

 

[Musho3210]

what do you top off with?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

From my understanding you top off with RO water. This is because the salt doent evaporate and remains in the tank while the pure water evaporates so you add pure RO water to dilute the salt again.

If you add a Saltwater mix you will end up increasing the salt levels much to high.

 

[@ombomb]

i have a free standing room fan blowing on mine during the day at the moment and i'm losing about 2 litres of water a day

topping up daily

 

[Musho3210]

From my understanding you top off with RO water. This is because the salt doent evaporate and remains in the tank while the pure water evaporates so you add pure RO water to dilute the salt again.

If you add a Saltwater mix you will end up increasing the salt levels much to high.

correct, i have heard of very small amounts of salt evaporating with the water (not high enough for you to worry about) which is the leading cause of salt creep, but i dont think ive seen any scientific proof, only talk.

 

[Betta5]

My normal aquarium covers that i use are always covered in salt crystats, its so annoying