Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thanks for the info.
For starters, water changes are more effective when done on a weekly basis rather than monthly. With that many fish in the tank, you need to exchange higher nitrate water with clean water more frequently to keep the tank healthier. Excess/ uneaten food, fish poo and detritus all help foul up the water so even if they are smaller amounts but more frequent water changes, it would be better than monthly. Water changes also help replenish minerals that are found in the water which also helps the fish and snails because they do absorb them out of the water so they need to be replaced. ( And Yes, LOW PH will effect snail shells as it means the water has more acid in it and that eats away the shells. ) There is also a correlation between rising nitrates and falling PH so the water changes also help keep the PH more stable. While a reading of 40 PPM nitrates is considered acceptable, fish go by "the lower the better" so please keep that in mind. One way to do that is to clean a small section of your substrate at ever water change. Assuming you have a standard 55 gal which is 48" long and 12" wide, if you vacuumed a 6" x 12" area at every water change, you should not be disturbing enough of the bacteria bed to have any real effect on it. What I do on my tanks is to make marks with a magic marker at certain distances so I know where to clean. So say you started at one end of your tank and went from left to right, make a mark at 6", 12" 18", etc. so that every week, you just vacuum within that one 6" space and the next week, move it to the next 6" space and just keep rotating like that. This will help keep any detritus from building up and degrading your water.
So now it comes down to knowing your tap water readings. If it has ammonia and/or nitrates in it or not plays a key role in how you manage your tank. I again suggest you invest in your own test kits so you can have more immediate answers in the future. They are one of the best investments you can make for your fish. So please post your readings after you get the tap water tested.
For starters, water changes are more effective when done on a weekly basis rather than monthly. With that many fish in the tank, you need to exchange higher nitrate water with clean water more frequently to keep the tank healthier. Excess/ uneaten food, fish poo and detritus all help foul up the water so even if they are smaller amounts but more frequent water changes, it would be better than monthly. Water changes also help replenish minerals that are found in the water which also helps the fish and snails because they do absorb them out of the water so they need to be replaced. ( And Yes, LOW PH will effect snail shells as it means the water has more acid in it and that eats away the shells. ) There is also a correlation between rising nitrates and falling PH so the water changes also help keep the PH more stable. While a reading of 40 PPM nitrates is considered acceptable, fish go by "the lower the better" so please keep that in mind. One way to do that is to clean a small section of your substrate at ever water change. Assuming you have a standard 55 gal which is 48" long and 12" wide, if you vacuumed a 6" x 12" area at every water change, you should not be disturbing enough of the bacteria bed to have any real effect on it. What I do on my tanks is to make marks with a magic marker at certain distances so I know where to clean. So say you started at one end of your tank and went from left to right, make a mark at 6", 12" 18", etc. so that every week, you just vacuum within that one 6" space and the next week, move it to the next 6" space and just keep rotating like that. This will help keep any detritus from building up and degrading your water.
So now it comes down to knowing your tap water readings. If it has ammonia and/or nitrates in it or not plays a key role in how you manage your tank. I again suggest you invest in your own test kits so you can have more immediate answers in the future. They are one of the best investments you can make for your fish. So please post your readings after you get the tap water tested.