Water Changes: How often and how much?

[Sati]

philc21's thread got me wondering what everybody's habits are, so....

How often do you do water changes in your tank(s)?

How much water do you swap when you do them?

And since the two don't necessarily go hand in hand, how often do you gravel vac?

 

[Sati]

Oh, and I'll start.

30% every week, and I vac one side of the tanks and leave the other side undisturbed.

 

[pondmom]

I gravel vac and do 20% weekly.
I also clean the green algae(if any) off the glass.

My canister filters need cleaning every 2 months.

 

[Todd2]

I do a 20% water change weekly and gravel vac one side of the tank.

 

[yhbae]

25% weekly, with thorough gravel vac on roughly 50% of the area. I clean algae about once every 4 months... (lazy... ).

 

[William]

I do 30% in the 29gal bi-weekly normally, 20% in the 10s bi-weekly. Gravel vaccing half at a time.


That being said, I have not done my tanks in a month because I've had some bad cuts on my hands and did not want to stick my hands in the tanks. However I'll have no choice but to don the long dishgloves [ new of course, never use the kitchen ones! to many residues ] and give them all a good cleaning before christmas comes around.


Gotta have it all looking pretty

 

[TankGirl]

I am a water changing fool, so I do it every 3-4 days, about 15%. I gravel vac only in my krib tank, since it has only java fern, but my 55 is too heavily planted to gravel vac. My African tank has sand so I stir that up quite regularly, but the valisneria has taken over in there so it is tricky now. When the shellies arrive I imagine the vals will have to go, since they will spend a lot of time rearranging and the plants will get uprooted. The gourami tank needs serious gravel vac'ing every time, due to the giant snails that reside in there. I have experienced dangerous nitrAte spikes following particularly vigorous gravel vacuuming, so caution is recommended!

I think my water changing schedule is top-normal, but a whole lot of trouble can be avoided by frequent partial water changes. I run a business out of my home so it is easier for me than others, since I am staring at my tanks all day!

 

[William]

For us fools that work 12 hours a day its hard to keep up TankGirls level of commitment

Altho a python makes the work infinately more easier.

Gotta ask for one for christmas! its never to late

 

[TankGirl]

Rock On, William! I would not be the Tank Girl that I am today without my trusty Python. That really changes everything! I can do the 55 and the 44 (in the same room) in less than 15 minutes. The limiting factor is toddler twins.....this process is best done at naptime. I recently got the 25' extension so I can run the Python upstairs and do the other tanks after I do the bigger ones. This product is worth every penny!

 

[Annie]

55 gal Discus/Community Tank- 30-40% w/c every 3 days, with a minor sweep over with the gravel vac everytime . Then on the weekends 40-50% w/c and a really good vac. This tank is also planted.
The 20 gal's, 30 gal's and 10 gals, get a once a week(on the weekends) 20-25% w/c with a good gravel vac.

 

[BrianNY]

Holy this is a great topic. Water changes are the key to a healthy clean tank. You can increase your fish load dramatically simply by changing water. It stimulates their appetites and helps induce spawning.

55 gal discus tank. 40% daily. But I know have 9 almost fully grown discus in this tank breaking all the rules.

55 gal & 125 gal planted tanks. 30% weekly but this will increase when the discus fianlly go in.

Thank god for python (LOL). Changing water has become a routine much like brushing my teeth. I'd just crummy if I didn't do it

 

[Sinuhe]

I normally change 25-30% weekly, with a gravel vac all over. Lately I've been having various problems (cyanobacteria, planaria, etc, yuck) in my tanks, which means I've been doing 2-3 water changes a week.

 

[Sati]

9 in the 55g! Wow Brian, that's sweet, heh. I love overstocked tanks if they're healthy. Do you have any recent pics up? I'd love to see the fish as well as the planted tanks.

 

[BrianNY]

I put up picks of the Red Turqs about 2 weeks ago (on my gallery). I just got a BD and another long fin red turq on Tues. I'll post more picks next week

And the overstocked thing.......It is NO PROB if ya do the water changes