Ich problems

[martintanks91]

I Went to my local aquarium today and the guy told me when the fish has ich i shouldnt do water changes, is he right?

 

[jwh0818]

Yes you wanna keep the water as clean as possible. You don't have to go overboard

 

[martintanks91]

So hes wrong? He says the water changes change the fishes enviroment and they become more stresd

 

[jwh0818]

I'm gonna say yes he is wrong. I would do a water change every few days because you want clean water

 

[Mebbid]

So hes wrong? He says the water changes change the fishes enviroment and they become more stresd

Wrong.

The only stress they experience from a water change is if you're chasing them around with the siphon, throwing stuff all over the tank, or the water that you're putting in is vastly different from the tank water in temperature and pH. They don't care about the minute change in their environment that a water change causes. Furthermore, some fish will only breed right after a water change. I find it hard to believe that a stressful situation would provoke breeding.

Think in the wild, a fish's water will change with the regular day / night cycle, rainfall, or drought. They don't care at all about it.

 

[martintanks91]

So i should do weekly water changes? The guy at my local aquarium says he almost never does water changes. He really confused me.

 

[Mebbid]

You can just throw that bit of advice from him out. The only way to remove fish waste is through water changes. It also adds in elements that are necessary for fish health as well as replenishing the buffers that cause your ph to stabilize.

 

[captaincritical]

Cleaning the tank substrate and doing water changes is probably even more important during an ich outbreak. I'm treating for it right now also and everything I've read says to do a PWC at least once every 2-3 days. Vacuuming your substrate will help to treat the ich faster by removing any free-floating nasties, too. Just don't do more than a third of your substrate at once.