Water Change Almost Empty

[bumper]

i do a 20% water change every week, and clean gravel once a month,the problem i have is when i clean the gravel i remove about 80% of the water,and still have a part of the tank to clean,so i have been doing it in two halfs,a week apart,but worried that by removing so much water i could be doing some harm to my fish ,any advice please

 

[Mikaila31]

Large water changes are not harmful to fish. What I would suggest though is just gravel vacing what you can every time you change water. I use the gravel vac to siphon regardless if I am actually using it. Often you will notice some areas are worse then others and tank will do better with more often "spot" vacuuming, instead of full vacuuming every month

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Little and often is key, vaccum every water change then you dirt wont build up the fish will happy and healthy, no one like to sit in their poo for month do they?

 

[onebto]

The only thing you have to watch with large water changes is,
that you do not drop the temperature to much as this will stress your fish

Regards onebto

 

[fishnovice]

The only thing you have to watch with large water changes is,
that you do not drop the temperature to much as this will stress your fish

Regards onebto

I do a quick gravel vac removing 1-2 buckets of water every week and a "deep clean" removing ornaments etc and cleaning under them every month. Water changes 30-50% weekly depending on tank inmates ie big plecs!

 

[nurglespuss]

I do 10% every other day on my nano, and 20% a week on my larger tanks.

vacuuming part of the gravel each change is a very good idea, just increase the frequency of the changes if you can, until the gravel is showing to be less messy.

Also, if your getting so much waste in the gravel, it may be worth investing in malayan/malasian trumpet snails, and/or feeding the fish less?

 

[Randi]

I used to end up taking out most of my water when vacuuming the gravel, but I'm getting better. I think it just comes down to technique and practice.

 

[Min8040]

I gravel vac and 20% water change twice a week. 150 liter tank.