dianel64
Aquarium Advice Regular
I have always did a 25% pwc once a week. My friend does 12% twice a week, she says its easier as her tank is 450ltr. Which is the best method, or does it matter as long as the pwc changes are done.
PWC
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dianel64
Aquarium Advice Regular
What quantity & how often do you do a pwc?
rich311k
Aquarium Advice Addict
Those two small changes will not have the effect of one larger change. I do 50% plus weekly.
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dianel64
Aquarium Advice Regular
I thought 50% plus might give the fish ph shock.
rich311k
Aquarium Advice Addict
Water from my tap is the water in the tank. If I had the free time I would change twice a week. The real secret to happy, healthy fish is to change water, as often and as much as possible. All the things we add, all the problems we have with stress and other issues, 90% of them go away if you commit to a regular water change program. Nothing is better for fish than fresh water.
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
I definitely agree with Rich. I've noticed during the time that I've been here that the people with the most problems (sick fish, etc) tend to lack in water changes. I do no less than 50% weekly in all my tanks. pH shock is something that's hugely overrated in aquaria. Fish are much more resilient to changes in temp, water chemistry, etc, than a lot of people give them credit for IMO. As long as your tap water is relatively close to your tank, in terms of chemistry, I dont see you having any problems.
And, it's true that two smaller water changes don't = one bigger water change. Let me see if I can explain:
If you have a 100g tank with 10ppm nitrate for instance. A 50% water change (50g) will reduce the nitrate to 5ppm. If you do a 25% PWC, the nitrate will be reduced to 7.5ppm. Another 25% water change will only bring you down to 5.625ppm. Not a huge difference, but if you were talking about levels on a much larger scale, then you'd see a noticeable difference.
And, it's true that two smaller water changes don't = one bigger water change. Let me see if I can explain:
If you have a 100g tank with 10ppm nitrate for instance. A 50% water change (50g) will reduce the nitrate to 5ppm. If you do a 25% PWC, the nitrate will be reduced to 7.5ppm. Another 25% water change will only bring you down to 5.625ppm. Not a huge difference, but if you were talking about levels on a much larger scale, then you'd see a noticeable difference.
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dianel64
Aquarium Advice Regular
So I should be upping my weekly pwc to 50% 
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
I'm not saying that a 25% isn't sufficient... but doing a 50% every week can only make things better.
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dianel64
Aquarium Advice Regular
Thanks for the advice, you learn something new everyday lol. Now I know why I don't buy anything out of my local lfs. She told me that she never changes the water in her tanks, she only tops them up & she's been selling fish for 20 years....yikes....poor fish :-( the new stock go in water that's been there for 20 years.
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