How often do you do pwc?

[PB_Smith]

Flawed in some ways definitely but I do sympathise slightly for Bbradbury. He/she is not wrong in saying that large weekly water changes will probably prevent a lot of problems down the line.

It's not a bad method or habit to have. I personally just don't believe it's necessary. Because of what I now understand. This doesn't mean Bradbury lacks knowledge when it come to water chemistry etc. I believe he/she is a very experienced keeper and that he/she has come across most of the problems we all face at some point or other. I believe his/her method is simply preached to newbies because it's easy although not always necessary.

Telling a newbie to change 50% every week maybe a good way to ensure most people run in to less problems down the line and I believe by encouraging people to do this, less people will come on here with problems.

Yeah, error on the side of safety and all that,
BUT
There are a lot of fish that do not take kindly to such large water changes.
In my mind a change of 50% is really only warranted in the event of emergency/really bad water parameters.

 

[Caliban07]

Yeah, error on the side of safety and all that,
BUT
There are a lot of fish that do not take kindly to such large water changes.
In my mind a change of 50% is really only warranted in the event of emergency/really bad water parameters.

I would tend to disagree slightly. I think most fish that have become accustomed to 50% water changes will show no ill effect. Just like fish in the wild become accustomed to dry seasons/rainy seasons etc. Certainly really bad water parameters such as high ammonia/nitrates.

I believe that breaking the routine is much worse for fish. Letting TDS/ph/temp fluctuate is not good. Of course most fish will happily adapt but I believe that they would rather not. Stability is key in my eyes. If you have the same stock, feed the same amount of food and end up with the same amount if nitrates every week before a 50% water change things will be fine.

I change 20% in my tanks. I've just returned from a week long break and the person I left in charge didn't push the pellets down so they sink as instructed. The result was about 100 pellets stuck to the internal filter sponge and an abundance of algae + 0.25 ppm ammonia. There must have been a spike midway through the week. I just change 40% and I think that was too much all at once. Treading on eggshells again

 

[Coryluv]

I'm glad to hear some other voices on this.

Here is another thought. Depending on tank size, equipment, physical ability, etc. I think that smaller regular PWCs with measured feeding and stocking and results of regular testing in mind is better than larger water changes that don't get done because they become too unwieldy. That happens and to say it doesn't would be naive. Better IMO to set realistic and achievable as well as responsible goals than to fail because the task is too difficult. I'm expecting I'll take some flack for saying this because after all if you can't keep up with 50% or more weekly water changes it could be argued that it precludes one from keeping fish.

One reason I don't have more or larger tanks is the water changes I can keep up with with the equipment I have available to me. While 50% water changes are a good strategy they are one of several good strategies for clean healthy tanks. There is more than one way to be a reasonable and responsible fish caretaker.

 

[PB_Smith]

I'm expecting I'll take some flack for saying this because after all if you can't keep up with 50% or more weekly water changes it could be argued that it precludes one from keeping fish.

LOL, I sure hope that was sarcasm.

one other way of looking at it for those who would preclude you from keeping fish because you don't do huge water changes, maybe they do 50% or greater weekly because that is the only way they know how to maintain a healthy tank.

I do five gallons a week on my 30 gal, in my opinion a little more than is needed, but 5 gallons is convenient for me and easy.

 

[Caliban07]

LOL, I sure hope that was sarcasm.

one other way of looking at it for those who would preclude you from keeping fish because you don't do huge water changes, maybe they do 50% or greater weekly because that is the only way they know how to maintain a healthy tank.

Wow now you've gone and done it lol

 

[PB_Smith]

 

[Coryluv]

LOL, I sure hope that was sarcasm.

one other way of looking at it for those who would preclude you from keeping fish because you don't do huge water changes, maybe they do 50% or greater weekly because that is the only way they know how to maintain a healthy tank.

I do five gallons a week on my 30 gal, in my opinion a little more than is needed, but 5 gallons is convenient for me and easy.

Lol. A little bit of sarcasm, but more like inoculation. I wanted to say it myself before someone else said it. People have very strong opinions about best practices.

I think your water change regime is entirely reasonable. I have a 29 gal tank and my actual water volume is more like 25-26 gallons so a 5 gallon change is right around 20%. You can easily eyeball it on the tank, too.

I definitely hope your other comment was sarcastic!

 

[squirrilah fish]

One thing worth mentioning is the substrate, the back and forth about migrating particles seems half true,
Particles disperse evenly in water. A 25% change will cut your nitrates 25%.

The substrate, where particles and waste gets trapped, is where you can have problems.

Sand needs to be churned weekly, and gravel needs to be vacuumed out to the bottom. Without doing this a huge chunk of waste will stay in the tank, and any amount of water change is little help.


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[PB_Smith]

One thing worth mentioning is the substrate, the back and forth about migrating particles seems half true,
Particles disperse evenly in water. A 25% change will cut your nitrates 25%.

The substrate, where particles and waste gets trapped, is where you can have problems.

Sand needs to be churned weekly, and gravel needs to be vacuumed out to the bottom. Without doing this a huge chunk of waste will stay in the tank, and any amount of water change is little help.


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finally, a rational answer.

 

[busymom23]

How exact do you churn sand? I have pool filter sand in mine, but below the sand is organic dirt for the 4 plants that are in there....when I do water change, I only try and get what waste is on top of the sand. I don't get all of it I know, but I do get most. Also if I leave the vacuum on the sand, I suck out a chunk of it and don't feel as tho I'm accomplishing much except losing sand.


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[Coryluv]

I have plants and only disturb the sand when planting and uprooting plants or placing root tabs. I believe extensive plant roots obviate the need for disturbing the sand.

If you don't have plants you can gently stir the sand with a chopstick or get Malaysian trumpet snails to do it for you.

 

[squirrilah fish]

I have plants and only disturb the sand when planting and uprooting plants or placing root tabs. I believe extensive plant roots obviate the need for disturbing the sand.



If you don't have plants you can gently stir the sand with a chopstick or get Malaysian trumpet snails to do it for you.

I agree with every word accept "gently" but I have an overstocked Cichlid tank, every set up is different.

I get in there with my hand and literally churn it so that all the gunk comes out, and then I let it settle on the surface and vacuum it out.


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[Ian086]

These threads ALWAYS end up the same with different people giving different %'s and then telling each other I'm right, you wrong. 50% is a general number many(not all) like. Lower and higher numbers work too but generally 50% weekly is a good starting point. I don't want to get into an argument with anyone but I personally do 50% weekly and it works for me. Some do 20%, some do 80%. The key is to test your own water and find out what works best for your own tank/set-up.

 

[Brookster123]

These threads ALWAYS end up the same with different people giving different %'s and then telling each other I'm right, you wrong. 50% is a general number many(not all) like. Lower and higher numbers work too but generally 50% weekly is a good starting point. I don't want to get into an argument with anyone but I personally do 50% weekly and it works for me. Some do 20%, some do 80%. The key is to test your own water and find out what works best for your own tank/set-up.

True.. very true.. the fact of the matter is not all tap water is created Equal and anyone who gives 3 craps and a kitten about their tanks do whatever is best for them.. whatever it takes to keep that water right.. end of discussion people, go tell someone their goldfish tank is overstocked; )

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[Mama Karoti]

I do 33% per week in my 60 gallon planted tank. I actually end up with about 5ppm nitrates and have to supplement a bit of dry ferts or my plants start to go down hill from macro nutrient deficiency.


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[Fishy Smell]

Personally, i think 15% per week is good. Been doing it for a few years and had zero water problems. I only start losing fish or having them go off food etc when i start doing >30% as the water parameters change too much for some of them. I overfilter and make sure the filters are as efficient as possible by carrying out regular maintence on them. I guess that's what they're there for, keeping the water clean....


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[Angela1108]

In my opinion this question has a lot of variables. The more stocked or even over stocked your tank is then the higher the need for (bigger) water changes. An under stocked tank will need less.

It also depends on the type of fish. A 4 inch fish will make more waste than 4 1 inch fish.

Planted vs not planted would change how you do the changes. Non planted suck away at the substrate. Planted you don't want to poke at it because of the roots. And the plants will help


Really I think you need to play around with it and see what works best for you and your tank. I don't think you can do too many water changes as long as you are careful to add the correct amount of prime or whatever water dechlorinater you are adding.

The one exception is if you have an old neglected tank - take time with the water changes so you don't stress a fish- do lots of smaller ones until you get it under control then find your weekly plan for water changes.



I think part of the not agreeing on it are the variables I mentioned and I am sure there are others too that I didn't think of. No two tanks will be the same!! Also we all live all over the place. Our tap waters/well waters/bottles water we use all have different parameters to start!


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[DragonFish71]

One thing people also forget is "old tank syndrome" it sadly is not a myth. My 120 is going through it right now.

Doing large water changes aren't always a good thing. After a few years, your tank loses it's buffering capabilities. Life happens and you might not be able to get to that weekly water change, so you do a large water change 2 weeks later. Then it happens.

Your pH crashes, you start losing your stock, you get an ammonia spike. You have to slowly add baking soda and do small water changes nightly to correct it until you can get a long term buffer into your tank like crushed coral.

And don't even try to tell me this is a myth or that I have a bad maintenance routine. If you want to argue this, research it first.

Now, to the OP, do you remember the old saying most parents or grandparents tell us "if your friends jump off a bridge, would you follow?" Think of LFS like that. Take most of what they tell you with a grain of salt.

 

[busymom23]

Thanks for all responses! I didn't know I'd get this many replies with one question! I have come to the conclusion that I do know what I'm doing, I was questioning myself because of what lfs was saying, and they being a fish store I doubted myself. But after reading all the replies on here, I think that my weekly maintenance schedule fits my tank just fine! I will start stirring the sand ( which I had no idea you were supposed to do). I enjoy doing all the water changes because I know they like clean water as much as we like being clean. Thanks again for all the responses!


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[squirrilah fish]

True.. very true.. the fact of the matter is not all tap water is created Equal and anyone who gives 3 craps and a kitten about their tanks do whatever is best for them.. whatever it takes to keep that water right.. end of discussion people, go tell someone their goldfish tank is overstocked; )

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Lolz


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