Water change vs. gravel cleaning

[Corimorgan]

New to aquariums and just reading the article about cycling. When everyone refers to a water change does this mean to leave the gravel alone and strictly just change the water? I have been suctioning the gravel with every water change because I figured it would be good to get all of the old food and waste out. But, after reading that article which stated the good bacteria exist on the gravel, decor, etc maybe I am doing the wrong thing to disturb the gravel with every water change. can someone clarify this for me?

I have a 6 week old tank that under the advice of the national pet store has been doing terrible! Many fish have suffered while I continued to be told to stop doing water changes. Currently I am treating my Molly for fin rot with melafix. I have noticed a big difference with that fin! I ordered the API master test kit and will begin to work on the water quality as soon as I know the levels.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Zimmanski]

While doing a fish in cycle you need to be doing daily water changes/gravel vacs daily until you get your master test kit. One you get your test kit you need to do a water change anytime your ammonia levels get above .25ppm. Don't listen to any of the chain stores advice, they want you to kill your fish and buy more from them. As far as gravel vacs OR water changes, its both. When you do a water change it includes a gravel vac

 

[Fresh2o]

New to aquariums and just reading the article about cycling. When everyone refers to a water change does this mean to leave the gravel alone and strictly just change the water? I have been suctioning the gravel with every water change because I figured it would be good to get all of the old food and waste out. But, after reading that article which stated the good bacteria exist on the gravel, decor, etc maybe I am doing the wrong thing to disturb the gravel with every water change. can someone clarify this for me?

I have a 6 week old tank that under the advice of the national pet store has been doing terrible! Many fish have suffered while I continued to be told to stop doing water changes. Currently I am treating my Molly for fin rot with melafix. I have noticed a big difference with that fin! I ordered the API master test kit and will begin to work on the water quality as soon as I know the levels.

Thanks for the clarification.

To answer your first question...sometimes. Gravel vacuuming is done typically in non-planted tanks. With plants, vacuuming the gravel can damage their roots. Also, some planted tanks have a soil base under the gravel or sand and vacuuming would be too disruptive.
Yes, beneficial bacteria is present in the gravel (and on rocks, tubing/pipes, etc). Vacuuming the gravel might remove some of the bacteria but removal of waste material far outweighs it. Some folks who do vacuum their gravel only do sections at a time. Besides, the majority of the BB should be found in certain sections of the filter. Hope this helps.

 

[Corimorgan]

How much water change should I do for the daily change until I get my kit? 10%? Also, should I wait until I am done with the melafix treatment which will be Wednesday? Or should I start with a change immediately. The melafix directions say to change water after 7 day treatment is complete.

 

[Zimmanski]

How much water change should I do for the daily change until I get my kit? 10%? Also, should I wait until I am done with the melafix treatment which will be Wednesday? Or should I start with a change immediately. The melafix directions say to change water after 7 day treatment is complete.

Water changes are absolutely necessary until you have cycled. Far more important than the melafix. I live and use melafix, but curing fin rot can be accomplished with pristine water conditions as well, and I imagine the toxin buildup is the cause of the fin rot anyway so that needs to be taken care of first or during the melafix treatment. Also I agree with the response above, but gravel vac doesn't only mean shoving the vac into the substrate, it can also just mean hovering over the gravel to pick up debris and detritus. No plants = vigorous deep gravel vacs. Live plants = light gravel vacs hovering over the substrate.

 

[Corimorgan]

Water changes are absolutely necessary until you have cycled. Far more important than the melafix. I live and use melafix, but curing fin rot can be accomplished with pristine water conditions as well, and I imagine the toxin buildup is the cause of the fin rot anyway so that needs to be taken care of first or during the melafix treatment. Also I agree with the response above, but gravel vac doesn't only mean shoving the vac into the substrate, it can also just mean hovering over the gravel to pick up debris and detritus. No plants = vigorous deep gravel vacs. Live plants = light gravel vacs hovering over the substrate.

Makes sense. Still unclear on how much water to change daily though.

 

[Zimmanski]

Start with 40% to 50% daily until your test kit comes. Then adjust accordingly. After your cycle depending on your nitrate buildup normally people do around 25% to 30% weekly changes

 

[Corimorgan]

Great thanks!

 

[Corimorgan]

I did a 40% change today and it brought up another thing I have been confused about if you could also clarify this for me... I'm using Prime by Seachem as a water conditioner and the directions say 1 capful for 50 gallons. My 40% change is 4gals so I am having trouble converting this and figuring out my dose. Also I was told that I should be using enough water conditioner for my entire tank (10 gal) and not the amount for the new water. Is this true? So, I just end up guessing at the amount and dumping some in the new water. How important is it to get the quantity exact?

 

[Zimmanski]

I did a 40% change today and it brought up another thing I have been confused about if you could also clarify this for me... I'm using Prime by Seachem as a water conditioner and the directions say 1 capful for 50 gallons. My 40% change is 4gals so I am having trouble converting this and figuring out my dose. Also I was told that I should be using enough water conditioner for my entire tank (10 gal) and not the amount for the new water. Is this true? So, I just end up guessing at the amount and dumping some in the new water. How important is it to get the quantity exact?

Prime can be dosed up to 5 times the standard dose without any harm to your fish at all, so don't worry so much about over dosing, but you can go buy an infant needle-less syringe at Walgreens, CVS, or Walmart that has the rubber stopper with it for around $3. It's the best $3 I've spent for my tanks. Makes it extremely easy to measure dosing and for your tank I would do 1ml with each water change

 

[Corimorgan]

I received my kit and did my first test. Not looking so hot. Do you mind if I post my results here for your advice? Here are the numbers...

ph: 7.6
Ammonia: 1.0ppm
Nitrite: 5.0ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm

How do I get this under control?? Should I keep doing the 40% change daily?

 

[calfishguy]

I received my kit and did my first test. Not looking so hot. Do you mind if I post my results here for your advice? Here are the numbers...

ph: 7.6
Ammonia: 1.0ppm
Nitrite: 5.0ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm

How do I get this under control?? Should I keep doing the 40% change daily?

Now I'd start with two emergency 50% after changes. Test the water again in the morning if the params should be fairly close to 0. Keep testing daily and do water changes as needed. You should start to see an improvement within the next couple days.

 

[Zimmanski]

Now I'd start with two emergency 50% after changes. Test the water again in the morning if the params should be fairly close to 0. Keep testing daily and do water changes as needed. You should start to see an improvement within the next couple days.

+1. Do two emergency 50% water changes about an hour or two apart, then check tomorrow and do a WC any time ammonia or nitrite are above .25 pom

 

[dmolavi]

I did a 40% change today and it brought up another thing I have been confused about if you could also clarify this for me... I'm using Prime by Seachem as a water conditioner and the directions say 1 capful for 50 gallons. My 40% change is 4gals so I am having trouble converting this and figuring out my dose. Also I was told that I should be using enough water conditioner for my entire tank (10 gal) and not the amount for the new water. Is this true? So, I just end up guessing at the amount and dumping some in the new water. How important is it to get the quantity exact?

Dose Prime on total tank volume. I have a 56 gallon tank, I do a 30-40% change every week and dump a capful in before adding the tap.

 

[dmolavi]

I received my kit and did my first test. Not looking so hot. Do you mind if I post my results here for your advice? Here are the numbers...

ph: 7.6
Ammonia: 1.0ppm
Nitrite: 5.0ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm

How do I get this under control?? Should I keep doing the 40% change daily?

Do a baseline test on your tap water before adding it to the tank; I was pulling my hair out over high nitrAtes until I realized it comes out of my tap that way.

 

[Fresh2o]

Do a baseline test on your tap water before adding it to the tank; I was pulling my hair out over high nitrAtes until I realized it comes out of my tap that way.

1+ Agree with this. This is how I discovered my municipal tap has 1.0 ppm ammonia and 5-10 ppm nitrAtes.

 

[Corimorgan]

Do a baseline test on your tap water before adding it to the tank; I was pulling my hair out over high nitrAtes until I realized it comes out of my tap that way.

I tested my tap as you suggested. Here are the results...

Ph: 7.5
Ammonia: .25ppm
Nitrite: .25ppm
Nitrate: 5.0ppm

Is this tap acceptable? If not, do I have to start buying bottled water? Does a Britta water filter on the faucet help?

 

[Corimorgan]

1+ Agree with this. This is how I discovered my municipal tap has 1.0 ppm ammonia and 5-10 ppm nitrAtes.

So what are you using now for water change?

 

[Fresh2o]

So what are you using now for water change?

Still using tap but limiting PWCs to 25-30% so I don't introduce a mini-cycle. Lots of plants and an established filter help out in my situation.

 

[dmolavi]

Still using tap but limiting PWCs to 25-30% so I don't introduce a mini-cycle. Lots of plants and an established filter help out in my situation.

A RODI with a chloramine canister would work too....pricey..but another possible solution.