Water Changes For Fish Health vs Plant Melt... Happy Medium?

[Nells250]

OK, so the other day I decided Betsy the betta (in Tank #1) NEEDED her gravel cleaned. So for her health and happiness I rinsed out the fish/snail poo and kept about half the original water. I didn't rinse out the sponge filter. Everything went back in the tank. Sure LOOKED better!

Thing is, the various bucephalandra are starting to look show signs of possible melting! One has completely melted away! They were doing SO WELL, too!! I thought that returning half the original water into the tank would help prevent this.

The fish need clean water, but the plants don't seem to LIKE cleaner water! I don't have a lot of money to spend on this hobby, so when I see one of my favorite buce's melt away (hopefully not dead) after FINALLY looking so pretty (slooow grooooow), I don't know WHAT to do in the future!

Spackle the betta in Tank #2 also needs some poo-removal... but HIS buce plants are ALSO doing GREAT!

HELP??

 

[CassCats]

How long have you had the buce?

I do weekly 75-90% water changes on my tanks, all planted, and the plants respond fine to the water changes....

HOWEVER, plants can react to sudden changes just like fish can, so sometimes it's better to gradually increase how much you change instead of doing a big sudden change.

 

[fishorama]

Sometimes smaller 30-50% water changes are better after a long while than a huge 1 all at once, like Cass said. I "try" for weekly water changes but sometimes it's a bit longer . I don't know what happened once, but ALL my plants melted, even java fern I thought indestructible, buces, anubias, crypts of course, everything! I think my water co. flushed the lines or otherwise changed some parameter. Slowly my tank has recovered, but since I have no fish in it, I don't pay enough attention.

I think your buces will recover, mine did. But it may take a while. Be patient & be better at water changing to avoid all heck breaking out. It can!

 

[Colin_T]

Use a gravel cleaner to clean the gravel each week when you do a partial water change. You won't disturb the fish or plants and can clean the gunk out of the substrate without having to take the tank apart.

Fish need clean water to reduce the chance of diseases and so they don't suffer from ammonia, nitrite or nitrate poisoning. Without regular water changes the pH can drop and fish can suffer from that. If you do a big water change and you haven't done one for a while (a month or more), the fish can suffer from acidosis or alkalosis and go into shock or die. Plants can too. Doing a partial water change regularly (preferably once a week), prevents this from happening.

Plants need clean water to replace lost minerals and prevent nutrient build up from artificial fertilisers that can poison them and the fish.

The following link has a picture of a basic model gravel cleaner. You can buy them from any pet shop or make one with a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle and a length of garden hose. For small tanks use a 1 litre bottle.

Aquarium Cleaning Made Easy

Aquarium cleaning should take 30 minutes every two weeks. Learn how the professionals do it in 18 easy steps.

www.about-goldfish.com

Home made gravel cleaner.
Remove plastic ring and cap from top of bottle and throw those 2 items in recycling bin.
Use a pair of scissors and cut the bottom off the bottle and throw the bottom bit in the recycling bin.
That's the gravel cleaner part.
Stick a length of garden hose or clear plastic hose in the top of the bottle and you have a home made gravel cleaner.

 

[Essjay]

I do 50% water changes a week and my Bucephalandra biblis grows very well with that.
Just a thought - is your buce planted in the substrate or attached to decor? Buce's need the rhizome above the substrate.

 

[Nells250]

1) I USUALLY change maybe 1/2 the water every month or so... they are all small tanks so it is usually easy
2) these buce plants have mostly been in there over 4-5 months... attached to rocks or wood
3) RE: gravel cleaners... the two little tanks with fish do NOT have any plants planted IN substrate... because I tend to make changes, etc a lot, and experiment with new plants, they are either in pots or attached to wood or rocks BUT Plant Test Tanks #1&2 do have plants IN substrate, and I don't understand how to vac gravel with plants and roots growing in it.

QUESTION: Isn't all the various poo under the gravel bad for the fish over time? I know it ends up as "nutrients" of various kinds, and the ammonia level is always safe (basically NONE). It just seemed like all that stuff would end up unsafe over time. And stinky. Am I simply thinking too much in terms of terrestrial life??

 

[MattW]

QUESTION: Isn't all the various poo under the gravel bad for the fish over time? I know it ends up as "nutrients" of various kinds, and the ammonia level is always safe (basically NONE). It just seemed like all that stuff would end up unsafe over time. And stinky. Am I simply thinking too much in terms of terrestrial life??

Good question I would like to know a detailed answer to that too! Personally, I like to leave my substrate alone as I've only done one gravel vac in 3 years of keeping planted aquariums. My reason for not disturbing the substrate is down to both plants and microfauna, in my experience they deal with the nasty stuff for me.
This is a good watch

 

[Nells250]

28 YEARS?? Wow! I need to watch some more of those clips.

 

[GaryE]

One advantage of small weekly water changes over larger monthly ones is they are much less likely to change the parameters radically. If wastes build up, the ecology of the tank changes. The water change swings it back suddenly and abruptly. But 25-30% every week keeps it stable. No swings, no radical changes.

I came from the balanced aquarium myth scene of the 1970s, and dragged myself screaming and kicking into water changing in the late 1980s. At first, I did it right, weekly. Then I got lazy, and slipped to monthly, or even less often. Suddenly, a big water change could kill fish. I swung back to weekly, and in the last 30 years haven't lost fish to water parameters changing too quickly. I would assume the same works with plants. Slow but steady wins the race, and saves the wallet.

 

[Nells250]

Another bit-o-buce MELTED in Tank #1 Dangit... LESSON LEARNED!!!