Water Changes, How Much How Often
- Thread starter Duzzy
- Start date
JenCliBee
PleC & CorY MaD
i do roughly a 30-40% weekly but it all depends on tank stock really 
jen
jen
gaz gun man
Fish Addict
20 % weekly
Measure the nitrate levels in the tank and if they are going up rapidly then do a water change. If they are staying pretty low then don't do water changes as often.
Make the water up a day before you use it. Add some dechlorinator and aerate the heck out of it. Then do a 25-30% change.
Make sure you use a clean bucket for the fish and don't let anyone use the fish buckets for cleaning things like bathrooms or the car.
Make the water up a day before you use it. Add some dechlorinator and aerate the heck out of it. Then do a 25-30% change.
Make sure you use a clean bucket for the fish and don't let anyone use the fish buckets for cleaning things like bathrooms or the car.
tangokitty
Fish Addict
Why do you aerate the water and make it the night before?
I do a 20% water change every wednesday using straight cold water from the tap adding dechlorinator with a heavy metal remover, mixing in a bit of boiled water to warm it and then just add it in to the tank. My fish are healthy, the oldest fish in the tank is nearly 7 and still active and healthy.
For Duzzy
You have to be careful when using rainwater. If you live near a city or industrial area the rain can pick up all sorts of nasty stuff. If you collect water after it has been raining for 10 minutes or more then it should be cleaner. Also if you live in the country then it should be fine.
Make sure the rainwater isn't held in galvanised tanks because the zinc can leach into the water and kill the fish.
Rainwater is also very soft and has no minerals in it. This means the PH can drop very quickly. You should add some mineral salts to increase the hardness a bit. A rift lake conditioner used at about 1/3 dose should make a nice mixture for most community fish.
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The other reason I hold it over night is because it allows the mineral salts and buffers a chance to dissolve completely before the water goes in the tank. And I can put a heater in the bucket to get the temperature correct.
You have to be careful when using rainwater. If you live near a city or industrial area the rain can pick up all sorts of nasty stuff. If you collect water after it has been raining for 10 minutes or more then it should be cleaner. Also if you live in the country then it should be fine.
Make sure the rainwater isn't held in galvanised tanks because the zinc can leach into the water and kill the fish.
Rainwater is also very soft and has no minerals in it. This means the PH can drop very quickly. You should add some mineral salts to increase the hardness a bit. A rift lake conditioner used at about 1/3 dose should make a nice mixture for most community fish.
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The tap water around Perth has lots of chlorine in it. A lot more than many parts of the world, and it takes a bit longer to get out even with dechlorinators. If I aerate it heavily for at least 24 hours I have a lot less problems. If I use it straight out of the tap (with a dechlorinator) then I lose fish. We also have a lot of other things in the water and it often smells bloody horrible.
The other reason I hold it over night is because it allows the mineral salts and buffers a chance to dissolve completely before the water goes in the tank. And I can put a heater in the bucket to get the temperature correct.
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I change around 50% every week.
Darren, the fundamental point to remember is that so long as you roughly match the temperature, pH and hardness of the fresh water to that of the tank water, you can't change too much water.
A tank which has the water changed regularly will have similar parameters to the water from the tap anyway, so make sure you change some water at least once per week, and you only really need to concern yourself with matching the temperature and dechlorinating properly. Keep that in mind and water changes will always be beneficial regardless of whether it is 10% or 90%.
Follow Colin's rule to determine how much to change each week. Start with 30% like you are already doing and monitor the nitrate level. If the nitrate steadily increases despite your water changes, that is an indicator that you need to change more water. If changing 30% weekly holds the nitrate level relatively close to that from the tap, your water changes are most likely sufficient.
Follow Colin's routine that he describes above and you will be just fine.
Remember, you can't change too much so long as you bear in mind the points above, but it is quite easy to change too little.
Hope this helps.
BTT
Darren, the fundamental point to remember is that so long as you roughly match the temperature, pH and hardness of the fresh water to that of the tank water, you can't change too much water.
A tank which has the water changed regularly will have similar parameters to the water from the tap anyway, so make sure you change some water at least once per week, and you only really need to concern yourself with matching the temperature and dechlorinating properly. Keep that in mind and water changes will always be beneficial regardless of whether it is 10% or 90%.
Follow Colin's rule to determine how much to change each week. Start with 30% like you are already doing and monitor the nitrate level. If the nitrate steadily increases despite your water changes, that is an indicator that you need to change more water. If changing 30% weekly holds the nitrate level relatively close to that from the tap, your water changes are most likely sufficient.
Follow Colin's routine that he describes above and you will be just fine.
Remember, you can't change too much so long as you bear in mind the points above, but it is quite easy to change too little.
Hope this helps.
BTT
tangokitty
Fish Addict
Thannks for answering my question CollinT I guess I'm lucky our water isn't that bad.
Depends on how readily water is available to you.
Fortunately, we're on a municipal water line, so I do 50-60% water changes weekly.... my take is that you want to get as much "fish pee" (all kinds of stuff is in there) out of there. A gravel vac, a bucket, and 25 feet of extra tubing makes it much easier (we shoot the old water out the front door ).
-Ryan
Fortunately, we're on a municipal water line, so I do 50-60% water changes weekly.... my take is that you want to get as much "fish pee" (all kinds of stuff is in there) out of there. A gravel vac, a bucket, and 25 feet of extra tubing makes it much easier (we shoot the old water out the front door
).-Ryan
It all depends on the time permitting, size of tank, what's fed and how stocked mine is.
On my 75g I do 2-4 75% wc's a week. On the weeks I do 2 75% wc's I will also do 2 40-50% wc's.
On my 55g I do 2-4 30-50% wc's.
Sometimes I don't feed my fish for 6-7 days and I will only do 1 50-75% wc.
On my 75g I do 2-4 75% wc's a week. On the weeks I do 2 75% wc's I will also do 2 40-50% wc's.
On my 55g I do 2-4 30-50% wc's.
Sometimes I don't feed my fish for 6-7 days and I will only do 1 50-75% wc.
Thanks all, the tank water is wonderful we are out of town a way. I will stick to a 1/3 and keep an eye on test kits etc. Town water is foul to drink you can taste and smell the chlorine. The water partially comes from a dam/reservoir and partly bore water that is so hard you can nearly get stones coming out the tap lol
Regards Darren
Regards Darren
pete0403
New Member
A very interesting read!
It would be great to have a system that did a slow changing of water all the time:
-A small steady amount would be drawn from the tank by a little pump to drain
-The same amount would be drawn into the tank from a treated/circulating/aerated/temperature-controlled reservoir
-The same amount of tap water would be drawn into the reservoir with treatment chemicals being dripped in slowly to match incoming untreated water
Once this was fine-tuned to your stock/feeding levels, all you'd have to worry about was siphoning up waste and debris.
All of that would be pretty extreme though and probably cost thousands to setup let alone monitor and maintain automatically...it might even take the fun out
D
It would be great to have a system that did a slow changing of water all the time:
-A small steady amount would be drawn from the tank by a little pump to drain
-The same amount would be drawn into the tank from a treated/circulating/aerated/temperature-controlled reservoir
-The same amount of tap water would be drawn into the reservoir with treatment chemicals being dripped in slowly to match incoming untreated water
Once this was fine-tuned to your stock/feeding levels, all you'd have to worry about was siphoning up waste and debris.
All of that would be pretty extreme though and probably cost thousands to setup let alone monitor and maintain automatically...it might even take the fun out
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