Water change schedule

[Kamdavid]

Have you added anything to your tank lately, some rock for example?

Nothing added except a cave decoration from the pet store last week. We have had a lot of rain this past week . And who knows if the water company is adding extra stuff to the water because of the virus...

 

[Metalhead88]

Once a week, 75% on the community tank and on my cichlid tank, I take out as much as possible while still giving the fish room to swim. Probably 85%

 

[Kamdavid]

I will test same
Time every week

 

[Kamdavid]

Just to share my results right now :

Ph- 7.6
Ammonia- 0.25ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- 5 ppm

 

[JuiceBox52]

Just to share my results right now :

Ph- 7.6
Ammonia- 0.25ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- 5 ppm

Is your ammonia always that high?

 

[Kamdavid]

Is your ammonia always that high?

The test showed in between 0 and 0.25 ppm. It’s always tested the same.

 

[Kamdavid]

The test showed in between 0 and 0.25 ppm. It’s always tested the same.

Is it bad ?

 

[JuiceBox52]

Is it bad ?

It could be, try testing just plain tap water to see if it is originating in the tank or the tap water

 

[Kamdavid]

It could be, try testing just plain tap water to see if it is originating in the tank or the tap water

Tap tests .50 ppm

 

[Byron]

I would not worry about ammonia at 0.25. We have had several threads over the past few weeks about the same...if chloramine is added to your water, that could be this. Use a conditioner that detoxifies ammonia at water changes; these are temporary but the idea is to detoxify it immediately and by the time it wears off the bacteria/plants can easily handle it after that.

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

I like to do 40 % on Sundays and Wednesdays

 

[AbbeysDad]

I'm sorry to say that there is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to the amount and frequency of routine partial water changes required to maintain high water quality. A large tank with few fish and/or heavily planted can easily go much longer with less volume water change than a smaller tank with a lot of stock...it's just common sense. The key is to keep pollution at a minimum as the 'solution to pollution is dilution'! To this end, we can use nitrates as a guide and adjust the volume and frequency of routine partial water changes such that nitrates is <=20ppm...and the lower the better. And all of this coincides with proper feeding of quality foods and good tank/filter maintenance to get the 'crud' out of the system.
So some could cut back some and others should probably increase the volume/frequency of water changes.
Now having 'said' the above, we might say that in most cases, there's no such thing as too much fresh water...so typically a larger water change more frequently is a bonus. And if you're already doing it, what's a few more gallons?!
My 60g heavily planted display tank gets 50% weekly. My 110g stock tank w/40g sump, 37g, 29g, 20g, 10g, fry, grow out, colony breeding tanks all get 50% twice a week. The 5' turtle pond gets 50% about every other week. Daphnia buckets/bins get 50% weekly. All tanks have fast growing floating water sprite and duckweed.