Tank is Cycled.......question re Nitrates and PWCs

[TXFish]

Hi All.....

My 20 gall finished cycling. I did about a 50% water change yesterday when I saw nitrites were at 0 and Nitrates were at 5. I'm just wondering if there is a "safe" nitrate range to aim for with respect to water changes . I'm planning to do 50% water changes weekly. Is that too much--or is there such a thing as "too much" water changing?

I guess alot of this depends on how heavily stocked a tank is to begin with, right (??). Mine has got 5 Platys, 8 Lemon Tetras, & a Dwarf Gourami. I'd like to add a couple of Otos a little later. Am I already overstocked??

Probably worth mentioning, too, is that I have no live plants in this tank......just artificial ones.

Just want to get this tank off to a good start and I appreciate the help!Thanks!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You are correct, the amount of water change depends on how heavily stocked the tank is. Do not let the Nitrate level get above 20. 30 is ok, but if you keep it at 20 you won't have to battle trying to lower the level.

 

[talloulou]

I personally don't believe there is such a thing as too much water changing in an established tank.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

20 is a good number, I personally keep mine at around 15. The lower the better. Like others have said, 30 is ok, but it's pushing it and will take more work to get it back down. I do a 20% change weekly, and mine rarely gets up to 20. But I do have some java moss which helps a little.

 

[talloulou]

Overfeeding will cause your nitrates to rise quickly as well so be careful with that.

 

[Zagz]

I don't believe there is such a thing as too many water changes either. I keep my nitrates at 20 or below, I had a battle with nitrates being too high in my 29 gal tank and it was due to overfeeding. I feel less, added some plants and now all is good.

 

[TomK2]

You can not change the water too frequently. I do a 40% change twice a week. My nitrates are 5 or less, fish are happy. But I am a water change fanatic, nitrates of 20 is not a big deal. MOre than 40 is too much. The more regular you do it, the easier it is to keep nitrates down.

 

[Guest]

I have mostly plastic and silk plants, but i have some Java Fern and crypts as well and i never have a problem with nitrates, they are usually at about 10-20 and i do weekly water changes. So i would say yes, weekly is a good aim, and do be sure to test your water at least once a month or if you ever think that something may be wrong.

 

[sudz]

I have alot of evaporation in my tank. 10 % of my tank evaporates in a week, And i do a 10 percent water change twice a week. SO i GUESS that sort of consists of 30% a week. It works. I've never seen my nitrates above 10ppm EVER. As you know... General hardness is another factor for me... hehe :-(

 

[rich311k]

evaporation is not changing water it consolidates the bad things. do 25% you will be good.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Not really. Because the 10% of water that evaporates still leaves behind the minerals and such. So really, you're changing out 10% per week.

 

[Guest]

a 10% water change twice a week is only 20% each week and as long as your nitrates stay under control then you are fine. But as was stated, evaporation does not constitute a water change becuase only H20 is evaporating... nothing else.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

What's the temp? I don't have 10% evaporation in a week. That's a lot for a week.

 

[Guest]

different people in different environments will have varrying amount of evaporation Lonewolfblue. My tank will evaporate about an inch from the top in about a week. If i had a 10 gallon im sure it would evaporate 10% in a week.

 

[sudz]

Yup! its a 10 gallon. I have about 60% of the top covered by a canopy, and the HOB filter has no lid as well (it vibrated and resonated so i took it off, as the tank is on the dresser RIGHT beside my bed.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I have a 26G tall bowfront and have less than 1/2 inch evap per week. Now that I have my tank at 86 degrees to help my bala with his popeye, along with a half dose of meds today, will see how my evap goes. My tank was always at 78 degrees.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

hi again...

Keep us updated on your water changes. Hope things start turing your way in the next day or 2, so you can move on to just weekly changes.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

i have a very hard time keeping my Nitrates at anywhere below 20... usually when i do a 50% pwc its almost at 40. I have a heavily stocked 10G, but it could be due to overfeeding, im always afraid of starving the little fellers, ill cut back on food, and see if that helps. I also fert my tank twice a week, which I know increases too, but the plants should help in bringing down the nitrates a little, right?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

What are you dosing for? Is the tank med or high light?

 

[jcarlilesiu]

no... its a low light "medium planted" tank. The plants i have are: Sunset hygro, java moss, val, dwarf sag, micro sword, red ozelot sword... and one other one i can't remember the name of. I have had the tank set up for about 6 months now, and I have always dosed it. Im afraid of stopping because everything is thriving. i do enough water changes to keep the nitrates in check, and i don't want to take the risk of hurting the plants by stopping dosing in order to be lazy and cut down on water changes. I guess im saying, if its not broke, don't fix it... am i right for thinking this?