Water changes

[quitters]

29 gallon, 29 inches of fish, moderately planted.

3 questions

1: people say with that amount of stuff i should do a 50% change a week
2: does that not seem like too much to u guys? in my head is spells shock to the system even if ph and temp is adjusted.

3: If i add a fluval 104, full of bio-max, will this let me do only a 25% a week?

(i hear adding filters increases bio-load, but it cant reduce nitrates can it?)

 

[quitters]

ps i know im asking a lot of questions but im gonna donate real soon

 

[quitters]

didnt mean to post twice

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The amount of water change depends on your readings. How high are your nitrates after a weeks time?

When you say that you have 29 inches of fish, is that the adult size? The current size? The type of fish is needed, not just the inches in the tank. If you have 15 Tetras, your tank won't need as much of a water change than lets say, 5 Oscars.

Many people do large water changes of 50%+. Discus owners sometimes do daily 100% changes.

Additional filters do not necessarily reduce Nitrates. Honestly, I do not have a clue how to that question, but logic tells me that the additional filtration has nothing to do with the Nitrates. Hopefully someone else can come in and respond to that question.

 

[bman]

You shouldn't think about water changes as a "shock to the system", but rather replacing stagnant water with fresh water. In your fishes eyes, that's what they see and appreciate the larger changes.

 

[malkore]

I have done 80% waterchanges on my planted tank. Aside from the sheer amount of water to deal with, its fine. In fact my fish and plants like it a lot. Normally I aim for 50% per week.

Just make sure the water is up to temp. pH changes caused by CO2 aren't very dramatic to fish...not like a pH change caused by a change in the Kh. That's a major chemistry change to the water.

Really, the only time huge water changes are problematic in FW is when you have a tank that hasn't had a water change in ages...like a year or more. Just top offs for evaporation. This kind of tank has a ton of DOC's built up in the water, usually very high nitrates (over 100ppm), and who knows waht the Gh and Kh are like at that stage.
Because that tank gradually went downhill, the fish adapted to it. But if you suddenly replaced 95% of the water, that would be a shock tot he system and you should expect many losses.

 

[quitters]

Thanks a lot guys, im just looking for a way to only do 25% a week not 50 coz im lazy, i dont actually have the fish yet, still cycling maybe ill look into those nitrate pads?

fish i want are:

10 Gold tetras
5 Guppies
2 Coral Blue Dwarf Gouramis
1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 Red shark
1 Catfish name unknown, lots of wiskers, silver-grey with black spots (any1)?

Im going to replace the pleco when it gets to big with a smaller one.

there all pretty low-bio load fish arent they? except the pleco?

 

[bman]

If you're lazy, then get a python to do the water changes. IT makes it easy to drain and refill; better than the 'ol multiple bucket-lugging siphon method.

With that load on your tank you probably won't be able to get away with a 25% change, but then again, I have seen a friend of mine that had a tank for years and only did a 50% pwc once a month and he had a 50 gallon. He was lazy, but somehow he had no problems with his tank.

HTH

 

[7Enigma]

Additional filters do not necessarily reduce Nitrates. Honestly, I do not have a clue how to that question, but logic tells me that the additional filtration has nothing to do with the Nitrates. Hopefully someone else can come in and respond to that question.

Yup, they have no affect on nitrAtes at all. The only advantage to having more/larger filters is there is a greater area for bacteria to populate, and thus they can absorb more ammonia and nitrIte. This would allow you to have more/larger fish, but you will still have the nitrAte problem. The fact that you will have a planted tank will help a little bit with the nitrAte, but you didn't mention (or I missed it) what plants you will have. Fast growers that absorb through the leaves (wisteria, hornwort, etc I believe) are excellent nitrAte absorbers, but due to the fast growing will have to be trimmed frequently, and need a good amount of light to continue absorbing at a fast rate. If you have java fern or some other low light slow grower that absorbs through the roots they will not make a noticeable dent on the nitrAte levels, but they also won't require as much maintainence.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Don't mess with the Nitrate pads. Just do more water changes to control Nitrates. The less "altering" that you do to the water chemistry, the better. It's better to fix something instead of just putting a bandage on it.

The catfish you are talking about is probably a Pictus cat. They grow way too big for your tank. The BN pleco will be fine as they do not grow too big. You are looking at a pretty big bio-load for a 29 gal tank. I would cut the guppies, shark, and catfish and replace with cories. That way you are distributing the fish into sections.

 

[quitters]

Thanks heaps guys!

Ive just edited my list can you tell me what you think please?

3 wpg heavily planted 28 gallon tank with 2xRed Sea Co2 things OR flourish excel or both havnt decided need to look into it more. . .

4 guppies
11 Gold tetras
1 Algae Eater not decided
2 Coral Blue Dwarf Gouramis

That gives 29.5 inches or adult fish (except algae eater i will replace at 3-4 inches) in a 28 gallon tank.

I will plant heavily and some will be nitrate absorbing plants.

with just a fluval 204 do u guys think this will be ok or should a get a 104 to add to it? (filters will be full of bio-max no carbon)

thanks! oh and stupid question but if i can keep ammonia nitrite and nitrates down i am ok yeh? thats the only symptom on overload yeah? (oxygen will be fine with heave plants i assume)???? thanks

oh 1 last question how much of a problem will i have with algae if i have a decent amount of Anubias? the are susseptable but they dont actually cause it do they?

 

[7Enigma]

All plants are nitrAte absorbing. While they prefer ammonia over nitrAte, they will all use nitrAte. This is a great way to slow down the buildup of nitrAte in the tank.

My only concern with the 4 guppy's is that that can turn into 400 guppys quite quickly. I hear they are rediculously easy to breed, as in they do it without you asking or setting up some special conditions. This can be avoided in two ways. 1. Making sure you have all 1 sex, but you might not get the brightest colors OR 2. Deciding right now that you will not try to care for the fry. They will be eaten readily by the tank inhabitants and very few if any should survive (except being heavily planted you might have a lower mortality rate than someone with a less planted/bare setup). If you go with method 2 you need to really stick with your decision to not protect the young (I'm sure it can be hard if you get attached to them), or your going to OVERstock the tank very quickly and either have to get MTS or find people to give them away too.

Honestly if it were me, I'd dump the 4 guppy's and get 2-3 cory catfish, and 2-3 Otocinclus catfish. These guys are amazing cleaners, should keep your algae problems to a minimum, and are very VERY interesting to watch. They will keep your nitrAte levels lower than a tank without because they will eat all of the food and debris that sinks to the bottom that the other fish might ignore.

If you keep your ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte down (and pH and temp stable) yes you are fine. It is true that the more fish present the faster the nitrAte will rise, causing more frequent PWC's, but with the heavily planted tank it shouldn't rise quite as fast.

The oxygen issue is a complex one. During the summertime (now for you apparently ) you might need a small air stone or some other agitation to increase dissolved oxygen content. While your plants produce oxygen, they do also use oxygen, and the warmer the water temperature, the less oxygen that can be in the water. You would probably be fine without an air stone, but definately keep an eye on the tank once its fully stocked for gasping fish, or fish gulping air from the surface MORE than a couple times a day.

As I mentioned before, with additional algae eaters such as cory's and Oto's, and with a specific plant or 2 (I can't remember what they are maybe wisteria?) that has supposed anti-algae properties, and keeping the tank out of direct sunlight, you might never get an algae breakout.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

As I mentioned before, with additional algae eaters such as cory's and Oto's, and with a specific plant or 2 (I can't remember what they are maybe wisteria?) that has supposed anti-algae properties, and keeping the tank out of direct sunlight, you might never get an algae breakout.

I believe it's Hornwort that gives off a chemical that supposedly helps in ridding algae.

 

[quitters]

ok awesome thanks. i swear all i want for christmas is a LFS that knows what there talking about.

i went in today to get some lights and see what plants they have, i go to the guy "im in my first week of cycling" and he goes how are u doing it? and i go with raw shrimp, and he laughs in my face and says, "thats not how u cycle, *grabs a bottle of nutrafin cycle* thats how u cycle, see, it says cycle!" GRRR!!!!

so how am i meant to trust fish from that store? blah.

 

[rollin_22]

yeah, that is part of the reason why i hate pet stores

 

[ikon]

Thanks a lot guys, im just looking for a way to only do 25% a week not 50 coz im lazy, i dont actually have the fish yet, still cycling maybe ill look into those nitrate pads?

fish i want are:

10 Gold tetras
5 Guppies
2 Coral Blue Dwarf Gouramis
1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 Red shark
1 Catfish name unknown, lots of wiskers, silver-grey with black spots (any1)?

Im going to replace the pleco when it gets to big with a smaller one.

there all pretty low-bio load fish arent they? except the pleco?

i like the " upside catfish " they look funny ........

 

[cbk.o4]

If you're lazy, then get a python to do the water changes. IT makes it easy to drain and refill; better than the 'ol multiple bucket-lugging siphon method.

hmm i thought u had to treat all the new water u add to the tank, not just add straight tap water back to it? so how can u do that with a python?? IMO it is woth it to get the python just for the no mess dumping of the tank, but i dont get how u can refill with tap water and not throw the whole tank chemistry off...

 

[Catalina]

cbk-- What you do is dose the TANK with dechlorinator right before filling it back up with new tap water. I have a 55 gal. and put in two capfuls of Prime (we have high chlorine levels) right before refilling with the python after water changes. I have had no problems with this method (except for the time when my boyfriend did it and forgot to put in the dechlor, but we luckily realized right away). One thing to realize is that when you do it this way, you're supposed to dose for the entire volume of the tank rather than just the amount of water replaced (it explains why this is on the Seachem Prime website; math's not my forte and I forget!) but with Prime that's only a capful for 50 gal. anyway. The python makes things SO much easier; I'm a water-changing machine now. I can do a 50% change in under 20 minutes, which I'm doing frequently right now because we're having a bit of a nitrate spike. I definitely recommend getting a python to the original poster; the difference between 25 and 50% changes will be completely negligible. Trust me, it's worth it.

 

[cbk.o4]

ah.. thanks for clearing that up, do u do the same if u are using baking soda to adjust levels or something along those lines? (sry for the partial hijack, but if i dont ask ill definately forget to.. )

 

[TomK2]

If you are REALLY lazy concerning water changes, check out this:

http://home.comcast.net/~tomstank/tomstank_files/page0015.htm

A python is a fantastic aquarium maintenance tool, and I have one. But, I am REALLY, REALLY lazy. I only use the python for gravel vacs, and I have permanent plumbing and pumps for water changes. I recognized my sloth-iness before I set up the tank in my current home, and decided a few hours of plumbing at set up would save me and my fish a ton of aggravation later on.

Water changes are always good, provided that water parameters do not fluctuate wildly because of them. If your water change regiment keeps nitrates in check, it is adequate. Most will dose the dechlorinators into the tank right before or as the python is putting water back in, and most get really good at matching tap temp and tank temp just by feel.