Water change n quality

[Tyler777]

Hello Tyler. I've mentioned this multiple times: Tanks less than 30 gallons need half the water changed twice a week. Tanks 30 gallons and larger, need half the water changed out less often, once a week is ideal. The water change doesn't only depend on the number of fish you keep. The water change also depends on replenishing the minerals in the water that the fish and plants constantly remove. The nutrients that make up a healthy water environment must be freshened up every few days, so the fish and whatever else you keep has a steady supply of nutrients.

10

Ok thanks

 

[FishyD]

Neon Tetra per my experience are not a hardy fish. I have lost many neon tetras even in a cycled tank sometimes shortly after adding them to my tank.

Neons are definitely about my last choice to have in a non-seasoned tank, because they are trouble under good conditions. Funny thing is my mother mentioned them today as her favorite fish when I had an aquarium as a child. She was shocked to learn they are not easy fish for a kid to raise. I know one hobbyist online that has old aged neons recently. Just about distilled water comes out of his tap, and he has an extremely lightly stocked tanks with lots of plants.

 

[FishyD]

Ok , I did a water change 1 hour ago. Ammonia was my main problem

10 tanks advice sounds good for a cycling tank especially. You put yourself in a tough spot. I would actually have a few buckets of water at room temp and ready to go at all times, and be changing out a little water daily in between larger changes just to keep the ammonia from getting at all out of control.

 

[Fishmanic]

Whenever ammonia or nitrite is even slightly elevated, you would need to do a large water change.

 

[Fishmanic]

Once your tank is fully cycled so that ammonia and nitrites are always 0, then 50% water change once a week would be sufficient as long as nitrates are less than 20 ppm.

 

[Colin_T]

With a 46 gallons aquarium how many times should I do water changes if the water quality is ok ?

If the water quality isn't ok how soon should I do a water change ?

On a 46 gallons aquarium, what would it be the right percent for water change ?

It doesn't matter how big the tank is, the following rules apply.

As a general rule you do a partial (50-75%) water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week. If there are only a few fish in the tank and the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate stay on 0ppm, you can do it once every 2 weeks. Most people try to do a water change every week so they get into a routine and clean the tank on Saturday or Sunday, or whenever.

If there is an ammonia or nitrite level above 0ppm, you do a 75% water change every day until the level gets down to 0ppm. If it's on 0.25ppm it's not too bad and you can sometimes leave it for a few days but your goal is to have 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite. And you want nitrate as close to 0ppm as possible and under 20ppm at all times.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the aquarium.

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In a newly set up aquarium that is cycling (developing colonies of beneficial filter bacteria), you test for ammonia and nitrite but don't bother testing for nitrate until the tank has finished cycling in about 4-6 weeks. Nitrate test kits read nitrite as nitrate and give you a false nitrate reading. So leave nitrate testing until the ammonia and nitrite levels have both gone up and then come back down to 0ppm. Then start testing for nitrate.

 

[Ceez]

Just do this and you'll be fine. I have used this on multiple new tanks and never lost any fish. Thousands of dollars in fish. Unpopular opinion on this site I'm sure but it works and it works well. You don't need a cycled tank using this method and your tank will cycle doing this. Only other thing I woukd add is I do this for 2 weeks straight instead of 7 days. I change water at the 7 day mark and keep up dosing for a other 7 and change it again at 14 days. At day 14 you should be 0/0/20+

 

[Colin_T]

Supplemental filter bacteria (bacteria in a bottle) can help speed the cycling process along. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week then pour the remaining contents into the tank. Try to add the bacteria near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where it belongs.

 

[FishyD]

I won't be maintaining a bunch of tanks that require a 50-75% WC every seven days to maintain healthy fish. That's a good way to eventually burn yourself out on the hobby if you have a life.

 

[Rhysp87]

I won't be maintaining a bunch of tanks that require a 50-75% WC every seven days to maintain healthy fish. That's a good way to eventually burn yourself out on the hobby if you have a life.

As others have said, it is possible to do it less frequently with a lightly stocked tank but ultimately its up to us to do what's best for the fish. Just keep an eye on the water quality and do changes as soon as it gets bad if you don't want to commit to a routine every 7 days.

 

[FishyD]

As others have said, it is possible to do it less frequently with a lightly stocked tank but ultimately its up to us to do what's best for the fish. Just keep an eye on the water quality and do changes as soon as it gets bad if you don't want to commit to a routine every 7 days.

For sure. It took years to learn, but stocking my tanks properly and a heavy dose of plants keeps the hobby from owning my life. I definitely spend plenty of time caring for my fish. Just my opinion, but I set myself up for failure when 75% WCs are required outside of an emergency. I do get it this is not a sport for the lazy if you wish to succeed.

 

[Rhysp87]

For sure. It took years to learn, but stocking my tanks properly and a heavy dose of plants keeps the hobby from owning my life. I definitely spend plenty of time caring for my fish. Just my opinion, but I set myself up for failure when 75% WCs are required outside of an emergency. I do get it this is not a sport for the lazy if you wish to succeed.

Yeah I do get you. I'm on my way for a 2 week holiday so my fish are on their own for a bit. I've done plenty of water changes and cleaning, and set the auto feeder up to feed lightly every other day. I believe my stocking level and water parameters when I left will be fine to get them through the two weeks healthily.
In that sense I completely understand what you mean by not letting it burn you out.
Normally I change about 40% of the water once or twice a week but that's probably more than is strictly necessary.

 

[FishyD]

Yeah I do get you. I'm on my way for a 2 week holiday so my fish are on their own for a bit. I've done plenty of water changes and cleaning, and set the auto feeder up to feed lightly every other day. I believe my stocking level and water parameters when I left will be fine to get them through the two weeks healthily.
In that sense I completely understand what you mean by not letting it burn you out.
Normally I change about 40% of the water once or twice a week but that's probably more than is strictly necessary.

When I had my last round of fish keeping that lasted about five years, I ended up with 11 tanks and about five seasonal ponds on the deck. It became too much eventually. This time I will have a few serious tanks, and some tanks ready to be a new fish quarantine or a hospital. I am determined to not kill the joy by turning it all into a burden again. And yes, I do like to take a two week vacation now and then, so I guess I can't have 20 tanks full of discus.

 

[Colin_T]

I won't be maintaining a bunch of tanks that require a 50-75% WC every seven days to maintain healthy fish. That's a good way to eventually burn yourself out on the hobby if you have a life.

If you have a number of aquariums, you can set them up with an automatic water changer. A number of shops have them and they simply run by themselves (after they are set up). You still get regular water changes and you still need to go in and do gravel cleaning and filter cleaning, but it's less work if you have a number of tanks.

 

[sharkweek178]

If you're doing a fish in cycle, then water quality is not going to be ok unless you have a lot of fast growing floating plants. Barring that, you should be prepared to do a substantial (50%).water change every day or two until the cycle completes.
After the cycle completes, I'd say a 50% water change weekly. We don't do water changes just to fix bad parameters. A wise man once told me we do frequent water changes to keep the parameters stable so that they never get bad.
Besides, the fish love it. Fish love fresh clean water. I can see my fish are more active and out in the open after I do a water change.