Water changing questions + more

[P&BtheBetta]

1. What percentage of water should I change weekly in a split 10-gallon tank with two betta fish? I'm doing a 30-35% water change but I fear that might be too much.
2. How often should I clean out a sponge filter?
3. There's like this white algae growing on the top of my heater, should I be scrubbing it off with old tank water?

Thanks.

 

[Sgooosh]

1. What percentage of water should I change weekly in a split 10-gallon tank with two betta fish? I'm doing a 30-35% water change but I fear that might be too much.
2. How often should I clean out a sponge filter?
3. There's like this white algae growing on the top of my heater, should I be scrubbing it off with old tank water?

Thanks.

i dont think you can change TOO much water out unless the water is unstable
30 is fine
i think you should clean filter each 2 weeks since they get dirty
photo?
i reccomend taking the heater out, and scrubbing it.
old tank water is fine

 

[itiwhetu]

I do 25% water changes weekly.
I clean the sponge filter weekly in water from the tank, try and reduce the amount of waste by about 50%. Don't try to make it clean.
The algae stuff may be left over food, clean it off. Make sure that any food you put in your tank goes through your fish. A photo of that would be helpful.

 

[Byron]

There is an article explaining water changes posted at the head of the Tropical Discussion forum, which I happened to have written, here's the direct link; as you'll see, there are good reasons to change as much water weekly as you can, and it really can never be too much provided the parameters between tank water and source water are relatively equal. I'm not suggesting you change more, just pointing you to an explanation of why water changes are so important and beneficial.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/regular-partial-water-changes.471488/

Sponge filters can be rinsed out at each water change. If you have floating plants or lower plants even, you can rinse the sponges under the tap. As for the heater, if it is white it is not likely algae but more likely minerals left when water evaporates. Warm water should dissolve this; don't use any scraping implement which could damage or crack the heater glass.

 

[P&BtheBetta]

I do 25% water changes weekly.
I clean the sponge filter weekly in water from the tank, try and reduce the amount of waste by about 50%. Don't try to make it clean. Does putting the sponge inside of a plastic bag with old tank water and rinsing it until the water is filthy (and then using new tank water to rinse it out again good enough?
The algae stuff may be left over food, clean it off. Make sure that any food you put in your tank goes through your fish. A photo of that would be helpful.

There is an article explaining water changes posted at the head of the Tropical Discussion forum, which I happened to have written, here's the direct link; as you'll see, there are good reasons to change as much water weekly as you can, and it really can never be too much provided the parameters between tank water and source water are relatively equal. I'm not suggesting you change more, just pointing you to an explanation of why water changes are so important and beneficial.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/regular-partial-water-changes.471488/

Sponge filters can be rinsed out at each water change. If you have floating plants or lower plants even, you can rinse the sponges under the tap. As for the heater, if it is white it is not likely algae but more likely minerals left when water evaporates. Warm water should dissolve this; don't use any scraping implement which could damage or crack the heater glass.

i dont think you can change TOO much water out unless the water is unstable
30 is fine
i think you should clean filter each 2 weeks since they get dirty
photo?
i reccomend taking the heater out, and scrubbing it.
old tank water is fine

Thank you everyone for the replies.

 

[itiwhetu]

When I clean sponge filters I siphon some water from the tank into a bucket, put the filter in the bucket and squeeze it several times and then put it back into the tank.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Generally speaking 'there's no such thing as too much fresh water'.

https://mjvaquatics.com/blog-filtration-water-quality/

 

[P&BtheBetta]

Generally speaking 'there's no such thing as too much fresh water'.

https://mjvaquatics.com/blog-filtration-water-quality/

When I clean sponge filters I siphon some water from the tank into a bucket, put the filter in the bucket and squeeze it several times and then put it back into the tank.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Sgooosh]

Generally speaking 'there's no such thing as too much fresh water'.

https://mjvaquatics.com/blog-filtration-water-quality/

True, love your website too! So much good info!
it helps a lot, op should check it out

 

[AbbeysDad]

True, love your website too! So much good info!
it helps a lot, op should check it out

Thank-you! Just another extension of the hobby to share decades of learning experiences. On the one hand, on the surface, the hobby is simple - a bowl of water with some plants and aquatic creatures. But as one digs deeper and looks closely, there's a LOT of 'stuff' to learn to be a really successful fishkeeper.