Weekly water changes really a must?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Angeleyes2325

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
109
I have 7 tanks running in my house at the moment about to add a very big 8th so I had this hobby for years just curious what peoples opinions are about water changes? In salt and fresh. Also think it should be done more for smaller tanks? :)


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
i do monthly changes on my 180g and try to do 2 per month on the smaller tanks. :)
Or more for the smaller tanks, they are pretty easy compared to the 180g lol
 
I do weekly changes on my 50 and 10 but that's just because It only takes me like 15 min with a water change system I don't know that it's completely necessary in all tanks i would say that largely depends on your filtration stocking level and type of feedings and frequency I have great filtration marineland c360 on my 50 but feed mostly frozen foods and probably tend to overfeed.. Trying to get my angels to grow but my fish seem very happy with their weekly changes..


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
I usually do 50-60% weekly. Sometimes I stretch it to two weeks, but I wouldn't go longer than 2 per month.
 
I have a 30 and a 10 reef salt water, and a 44 and a 10 fresh water. 30+44 monthly and 10s weekly or by-weekly


Fish are friends not food!
 
For freshwater tanks, the need for water changes is multi folded. For starters, it helps reduce nitrate levels continuously so that there shouldn't be a nitrate accumulation at all for the fish to contend with. I do weekly water changes of only 10% -15% and stopped regularly checking nitrates in my tanks about 30 years ago. They weren't an issue then and I haven't changed my fish keeping practices. ( FYI, just today I did do a nitrate test, for kicks, in a tank that has been an experiment for a while with having some live plants in there for nitrate control and the level with no water change for approx. 6 weeks was under 5 ppm.)
Another reason to change water is to drain off any sludge that may be developing in the gravel or sand bed. Another is to help add back any minerals that the fish have absorbed out of the water. ( We used to call this "sweetening the water".) There are some other more technical reasons as well which I can't remember atm.
For marine tanks, again, reducing the accumulation of nitrates is a main reason for water changes. In today's hobby, there are supplements available to add that water changes used to be done for. Pulling out extra proteins that a skimmer may not have gotten to yet would also be accomplished by a water change.
I was told, long ago, that "If your tank's inhabitants look better after a water change, you should be changing water more often because the setup is either lacking something they need or something is accumulating that they don't need. "Figure out which and fix it!!" These were words my fish lived by. ;)

Keep in mind that it seems that today's hobby seems to be more about how much stuff we can get into a tank with the least amount of followup work. Unfortunately, the more "stuff" you have in a tank, the more work you should be doing. Understocking and overfiltering (within reason) will help reduce the frequency of needed water changes. I doubt many tanks fit that scenario.

As previously stated, with a proper water change system, it shouldn't take long to do water changes in your tanks. I did 10 tanks today in just over 2 hours because 2 of the tanks were complete strip downs and I moved fish around so they needed to be acclimated. Usually, that would take less than an hour of my time.

Hope this helps.
 
For freshwater tanks, the need for water changes is multi folded. For starters, it helps reduce nitrate levels continuously so that there shouldn't be a nitrate accumulation at all for the fish to contend with. I do weekly water changes of only 10% -15% and stopped regularly checking nitrates in my tanks about 30 years ago. They weren't an issue then and I haven't changed my fish keeping practices. ( FYI, just today I did do a nitrate test, for kicks, in a tank that has been an experiment for a while with having some live plants in there for nitrate control and the level with no water change for approx. 6 weeks was under 5 ppm.)
Another reason to change water is to drain off any sludge that may be developing in the gravel or sand bed. Another is to help add back any minerals that the fish have absorbed out of the water. ( We used to call this "sweetening the water".) There are some other more technical reasons as well which I can't remember atm.
For marine tanks, again, reducing the accumulation of nitrates is a main reason for water changes. In today's hobby, there are supplements available to add that water changes used to be done for. Pulling out extra proteins that a skimmer may not have gotten to yet would also be accomplished by a water change.
I was told, long ago, that "If your tank's inhabitants look better after a water change, you should be changing water more often because the setup is either lacking something they need or something is accumulating that they don't need. "Figure out which and fix it!!" These were words my fish lived by. ;)

Keep in mind that it seems that today's hobby seems to be more about how much stuff we can get into a tank with the least amount of followup work. Unfortunately, the more "stuff" you have in a tank, the more work you should be doing. Understocking and overfiltering (within reason) will help reduce the frequency of needed water changes. I doubt many tanks fit that scenario.

As previously stated, with a proper water change system, it shouldn't take long to do water changes in your tanks. I did 10 tanks today in just over 2 hours because 2 of the tanks were complete strip downs and I moved fish around so they needed to be acclimated. Usually, that would take less than an hour of my time.

Hope this helps.


Well said! Lots of good knowledge in there!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
Water Changes

I have 7 tanks running in my house at the moment about to add a very big 8th so I had this hobby for years just curious what peoples opinions are about water changes? In salt and fresh. Also think it should be done more for smaller tanks? :)


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Hello Angel...

Water changes are the most important thing if you want a healthy tank. I keep several tanks and can tell you, if you change a lot of tank water and change it often, you'll have no problems with fish or plants.

In very small tanks, half the water should be changed a couple of times a week. Medium sized tanks up to 30 gallons should have half the water changed weekly. I change more than half of the water in my larger tanks at least every two weeks, sometimes more often.

The more water you change and the more often you change it, the healthier the fish and plants.

B
 
Honestly it all depends, on tank size, stocking , how much water you change when you do, filtering etc.

If you really wanna know expose ur fish to an experiment and test nitrates like every day and fine the magic amount, but if all ur fish die from something don't blame me haha.
 
Water Changes

Water changes is a good topic.

The real need for large, frequent water changes isn't entirely based on how many fish you have in the tank and the need to remove their waste, it's also based on the need to replenish the minerals the filtration process removes over a period of time.

The tank water moves through your filter multiple times a day and the filter media removes minerals the fish and plants need for good health. By changing out a lot of water regularly, you replace the minerals that filtration removes.

Remove and replace a lot of tank water and do it regularly and your effort will be rewarded with healthy fish and plants.

Pretty simple.

B
 
Water changes is a good topic.

The real need for large, frequent water changes isn't entirely based on how many fish you have in the tank and the need to remove their waste, it's also based on the need to replenish the minerals the filtration process removes over a period of time.

The tank water moves through your filter multiple times a day and the filter media removes minerals the fish and plants need for good health. By changing out a lot of water regularly, you replace the minerals that filtration removes.

Remove and replace a lot of tank water and do it regularly and your effort will be rewarded with healthy fish and plants.

Pretty simple.

B
The carbon does? I've never heard that?... don't run carbon lol
 
I think it really does depend on the stock. Discus need much cleaner water than your typical livebearers. If I can do by weekly changes on my discus tank I do. I don't do the full gravel clean, just a rooms the top inch for mid week. When I had a community tank I could do a 20% once a week and everything was golden. I know those are extreme examples but it shows how the stock can make a difference.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
I have a 30g as it's a smaller tank I do fortnightly changes and everything is going well.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
I've had tanks set up for 13 years and I have fish that are 13 years old and moved them to a new house 10 years ago. I do 30% water changes every month for freshwater and every 2 weeks for saltwater. If you allow your tank to get "dirty", you and your fish are in for trouble. If you can't afford 15 min water changes every month then don't set up a tank. If you think you need water changes every week then get a life. Just my opinion. I really don't think they're required that often unless you're severely overstocked in which case you're flirting with disaster.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
I've had tanks set up for 13 years and I have fish that are 13 years old and moved them to a new house 10 years ago. I do 30% water changes every month for freshwater and every 2 weeks for saltwater. If you allow your tank to get "dirty", you and your fish are in for trouble. If you can't afford 15 min water changes every month then don't set up a tank. If you think you need water changes every week then get a life. Just my opinion. I really don't think they're required that often unless you're severely overstocked in which case you're flirting with disaster.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

While your method will work in some instances, it won't work for all instances. It really depends on the stock you are trying to keep. ( That's not opinion BTW ;) )
As previously stated in this thread, you are changing water for other reasons than just because the water is dirty. Hopefully, your fish are getting what they need with your water changing schedule. (y)
 
Depends on the situation. Some tank stocks are nitrate factories so weekly wc's are a must. Other tanks are less of an issue especially planted tanks, although one still has to be relatively on top of nutrient levels for best results.
 
Most of my tanks are a bit over stocked so I usually do 25/30% w/c every 3/4 days after testing.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Back
Top Bottom