water changes

[sarah5775]

I heard you should do 20% water changes weekly.

I have a 55 gallon and my python won't reach it :-( I have to get an extension hose, but that means a trip to the lfs and since my car broke down, it might be a while (I don't want to get it online because it may not fit the hose I have unless I buy it at the same place). But I've developed arthrtis in my hands and carting 10 or more gallons is going to be really hard.

So my question is- is it ok to do a 10% water change twice a week rather than a 20% water change once a week? That might make it easier.

 

[theaquaticlibrary]

I have a 100 gallon tank and do 10% twice a week and the nitrates are never above 5 so I don't see why not

 

[The_Desacrator]

The most common I hear is 10 gallons weekly. I don't know who told you 20 gal a week.you could carry 1 gallon out at a time to drop the weight load considerably. or get a freidn to pick it up from the store for you and have him/her take a photo and send it to you before he/she buys it

 

[mommytron]

there is no exact science. just keep an eye on your water parameters and do PWCs as necessary. do 10%, test your levels daily for a while, then do another when you need to. if you test every day after your PWC, it will give you an idea of how often you should be changing the water.

 

[mfdrookie516]

The most common I hear is 10 gallons weekly. I don't know who told you 20 gal a week.you could carry 1 gallon out at a time to drop the weight load considerably.

10 gallons is just shy of 20%...


To the OP, its really hard to say whether 10% twice weekly will be sufficient. Two 10% pwc's are not the same as one 20% pwc. Then again, 10% may be sufficient for your tank once a week, or your tank may require 50% twice a week. If you post your stocking and water parameters prior to your weekly water change, we might be able to help you figure out a rough estimate (of course, testing will be the true way to know for sure)

 

[Big Dog]

do a 50% water change on all my planted aquariums. I would do at least a 30% water change once a week.8OI

 

[sarah5775]

I don't know what my water parameters are. I don't have a test kit. I guess I need to get one. Maybe I will order one online, because I probably won't be able to get to the lfs for a while. What brand or type would you recommend and where should I order it from?

I am running two AquaClear 70 filters, tank is 55 gallons, has the following:

3 guppies
4 harlequin rasboras (hope to get two more
3 mollies
1 platy
2 gold barbs
5 bloodfin tetras (1-1.5 inches ea.)
6 black skirt tetras (all still small)
1 opaline gourami
3 cories
1 small rubber lip pleco

what do you think?

 

[maxima423]

like mfd said, it all depends on what you have in there!!!

 

[mommytron]

API Freshwater Master test kit. google it, they sell it at a whole bunch of places.

 

[maxima423]

well i put your stocking list in AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor and it tells me that you need 20% PWC every week, i couldnt find the last two fishes you have so maybe 20-30% a week

 

[taylorodw]

Once you get a test kit (a liquid reagent kit, not the strips! Most people here like the API kit), just do water changes to keep your nitrates below 20 ppm. Like MFD said, that could be anywhere from 10% once a week, to 50% twice a week.

In the meanwhile, 20% once a week would be okay, as long as your fish are acting normally.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I agree with the others. Even knowing your stocking, without knowing your test results, it is impossible to say. Personally, I would recommend a 50% pwc at least once a week until you get a test kit, but since this thread is about doing less... Get the API master test kit, then you'll be able to tell. for now, just keep doing what you're doing. The way I see it, if they've done ok until now, what's another week or so if nothing has changed? FWIW, I do a 50% in all of my tanks every week, sometimes twice. So that involves removing and replacing 5 gallons in two of them, and 75 gallons in my 150g

 

[Crepe]

You might also want to test the water out of your tap. My tap water has almost 1ppm ammonia so before each pwc I need to add a few mililitres of ammonia remover. Before I did this I was RAISING ammonia for each pwc.

 

[sarah5775]

I just ordered the test kit.

I really don't have any idea, because the current stocking of the tank is new. I had goldfish in this tank up until three days ago. I brought them to the lfs because everyone said they would outgrow the tank. Then I combined the fish from my smaller tanks into this one, and added a bunch more.

I am deeply ashamed to admit it, but with the goldfish I never did any water changes at all. Only topped off. I did about a 30% water change before I added all the new fish.

Test kit should come in a few days though. I am really ashamed I did not take care of the tank better back then, but I want to do the right thing from now on in.

 

[mommytron]

I just ordered the test kit.

I really don't have any idea, because the current stocking of the tank is new. I had goldfish in this tank up until three days ago. I brought them to the lfs because everyone said they would outgrow the tank. Then I combined the fish from my smaller tanks into this one, and added a bunch more.

I am deeply ashamed to admit it, but with the goldfish I never did any water changes at all. Only topped off. I did about a 30% water change before I added all the new fish.

Test kit should come in a few days though. I am really ashamed I did not take care of the tank better back then, but I want to do the right thing from now on in.

no reason to be ashamed, stuff happens. it's not like you were trying to torture fish or anything! maybe just didn't know any better. i commend you for wanting to do it the "right" way this time around. getting a test kit is the first and probably most important step in that. nice job!

 

[sniper]

i do 5 gall water changes once a week on myy 55 and is perect

 

[sarah5775]

As soon as the test kit gets here, I will post my levels on AA because I'm not sure what the levels are supposed to be (I know Ammonia is supposed to be 0) but I dont' know about nitrates and nitrites (in fact, I don't know what the difference is) so in a few days I'll post more info.

In addition I'm going to see if I can just order the extension online from Petsmart, may save me a ton of trouble in the long run!

 

[Crepe]

Nitrites- NO2
Nitrates NO3
Nitrites is an intermediate product of the nitrogen cycle. Bacteria take ammonia and generate nitrites. Then, another set of bacteria will transform the Nitritie to Nitrate. Nitrates will build up in FW. Our water changes remove the nitrates in the water.

Nitrates can be almost anything, although the preferred amount is below 30ppm. Nitrites are extremely deadly and should be 0.

 

[mommytron]

In simple terms, things live, eat, breathe and die. An end result is ammonia (bad). However, a bacteria, called Nitrosomonas spp., works to convert toxic ammonia to nitrItes. NitrItes, also toxic to fish, are converted by another bacteria, Nitrobacter spp. into Nitrate (not as bad, but bad). So we start with bad and end with not so bad. See, it’s a cycle! I’m sure that made no sense to you, but, you really don’t have to know what it is as much as how to do it. Hint: Those two words Nitrite and Nitrate seem similar but are not. So to remember them we’ll call them NitrItes and NitrAtes. (Or, if you really want to impress your favorite guy/gal you can use NO2 and NO3)

This was taken from the "Fishless cycling for dummies" thread on this forum (http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fishless-cycling-for-dummies-103339.html). thought that might be a little helpful for you to understand your water chemistry a little better. also, you can google the nitrogen cycle to help you understand nitrites and nitrates and the effect they have on your aquarium. hope this helps clear things up for you

 

[sarah5775]

When I started the first tank a few years ago I used filter media from a friend's tank and tested ammonia regularly after adding a few fish, and since then I've just run the filters in one of the other tanks for a month before setting up a new one, so I knew you had to cycle tanks, and knew the basic idea, but this link will definitely be helpful as I will learn more in detail what the process entails. Thanks and I'll bookmark this and keep you posted.