water change philosophy

[godkins]

I was looking for techniques on water changes. Are there contributors that can advise:
How often?
what %?
Direct to tank? Or pre-treat in buckets (or other)
Treatment chemicals used?
Equipment used?
Tips / efficiency tricks?

I am re-booting my 75 g planted community tank and I think I have forgotten anything I ever knew (which wasn't much).

Thanks,
John in Durham, NC

 

[Bubba643]

I was looking for techniques on water changes. Are there contributors that can advise:

How often?

what %?

Direct to tank? Or pre-treat in buckets (or other)

Treatment chemicals used?

Equipment used?

Tips / efficiency tricks?



I am re-booting my 75 g planted community tank and I think I have forgotten anything I ever knew (which wasn't much).



Thanks,

John in Durham, NC

I'm in NC too, first thing I recommend for ease and options is setting up tank within 25 feet or less of a drain if possible, sink or window to outside flower bed or soil. If near a window make sure it isn't in sunlight or you'll get over run with algae. Sink with a faucet or window near an outdoor faucet is ideal both for water out and leaving options open for refilling.

I have a 60 gallon with cichlids. I do a minimum 50% WC per week but most weeks I'll do one 50% and two 25%. It depends on how many fish and how much waste they produce really but one 25% a week is usually minimum in a cycled tank.

I use a regular gravel vac with a hand squeeze pump to get it started and run it into my kitchen sink drain.

As for refilling my kitchen faucet isn't standard or I would direct fill with half inch garden hose directly attached to faucet head adding "Prime" water conditioner after per change. In the winter I refill with 10 gallon bucket from slightly warmed kitchen tap that I treat per bucket in, warmer months I run my garden hose through kitchen window and direct fill adding Prime once filled. Temperature and adding Prime is the main priority. I tested my outdoor water recently and it was under 60 degrees which probably wouldn't kill the fish as my heaters pretty strong and the other 50% remaining would offset it a bit, but it would definitely stress them enough to open them up to illness and disease.

Hope that helps.

 

[GuppyGuy333]

How often?
I try to do mine at least once a week. and i do a 50 percent on all my fish tanks (10, 20, 55 gallons) i try to stick to the same day each week but i do sometimes let it slip to one every 10 days.

Direct to tank? Or pre-treat in buckets (or other)
I keep my tanks in my bedroom and i have a en suite bathroom. i fill a bucket with water and make multiple trips and pour the bucket directly into the tanks ( I put my hand into each tank and let the water hit my hand and kind of soften the flow so it doesn't disrupt my sandbed and plants)

Treatment chemicals used?
a lot of people use prime but i prefer Aqueon water conditioner. all the prime bottles i have gotten give directions in terms of 5 ml per fifty gallons and that is kind of hard to split up if you have smaller tanks. the aqueon is much easier because it is 5 ml per ten gallons (though this probably means you use more of it over time....it also doesnt' stink as much as prime)
Equipment used?
i use a top fin gravel vac to suck water out of my tanks and pour it directly into the yard through windows that are close to my tank. i do not recommend this brand because if you didn't know this is the Petsmart brand product and I don't think it is as good as other brands out there.
Tips / efficiency tricks?
Get a gravel vac!!!! way better than using cups to get water out of your tank. don't get top fin products.

Good luck!

 

[Cindy 64]

I use Aqueon water conditioner or API quickstart. I have to use 5 gallon buckets as my aquarium is in my room with no easy access to faucets. I've read anywhere from 10% to 50% water change every 7 to 10 days. It depends on your ammonia, nitrate, & ph levels. Sometimes you may have to do it more frequently, if your levels are off.

 

[flchamp89]

Everyone said some great stuff. Ill throw a twist in. Something to consider. Once tank is cycled stocked and running whatever percentage you come up with make the last weekly wc of the month larger than the previous 3.
It will help with tds.

 

[gilpi]

Here's my wc philosophy and a practice I've been using for decades, keep it simple! I use a garden hose to empty and to fill direct into the tank while adding conditioners. Good filters making sure I don't clean them much, no carbon, no meds, no testing equipment that can drive me nuts maybe an occasional ph test, never overfeeding and everything runs pretty smooth. The simple approach might not be everyone's cup of tea but has been working for my tanks for many years.

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[Bubba643]

Here's my wc philosophy and a practice I've been using for decades, keep it simple! I use a garden hose to empty and to fill direct into the tank while adding conditioners. Good filters making sure I don't clean them much, no carbon, no meds, no testing equipment that can drive me nuts maybe an occasional ph test, never overfeeding and everything runs pretty smooth. The simple approach might not be everyone's cup of tea but has been working for my tanks for many years.

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I had a similar setup with may Oscars years ago. It was heaven, in most cases I just ran water in and vacuumed out at the same time. I will say I wouldn't suggest that for smaller less hardy fish however. My Oscar was full grown and tough enough that a little temporary cooler water and 15 minutes worth of chlorine tap water exposure doing direct fill didn't affect him much. But you can't beat a hands free water change while not having to shut off any equipment that's for sure.

 

[klacid]

50% change once a week. I've always filled my tank with water straight from the tap, and added dechlorinator mid-way through; my fish were never bothered with it. The results of this may vary, though, as not everyone has the same tap water.

Cheers!

 

[skrapeNKA]

I change 25% out weekly. The volume you end up changing out is mostly going to come down to how heavy/light your bio-load is and personal preference.

 

[Anna94]

How often? Once a week.

what %? 50%

Direct to tank? Or pre-treat in buckets (or other). Direct to tank as I use a python water changer to refill my tank.

Treatment chemicals used? Prime.

Equipment used? Gravel vac and python water changer.

Tips / efficiency tricks? Vacuum only half the gravel during each water change. For example, vacuum one half during one water change and then vacuum the other half during the next water change and so on.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

Aquarium keeping is interesting, often things get repeated enough that they become law. Take water changes for example, the weekly water change rule was repeated enough that it stuck. According to a very respected breeder and petstore owner in his late 60's that I know, he believes this actually began in the petstore itself, most LFS would change water on a set day weekly, say early hours on a Tuesday, when there wasn't a lot of foot traffic in the store. This advice was passed on from the store and became fact. In actuality, ignoring advanced issues such as replenishing trace elements in a planted tank, the water in a fish only aquarium only needs to be changed frequently enough to keep nitrate levels in the accepted range. Variables such as bio load, ammonia or nitrate consuming plants, beneficial bacteria colony size, and water turnover rate as well as other factors play a key role in frequency.

Then we come to amount. It's fairly simple to calculate the amount of water needing changed, example, say we have 10 gallon tank, nitrates reading 20, a 5 gallon(nitrate free) water change would leave 10 ppm, a 75% wc would bring it down to 5, only 25% wc would leave 15 ppm. The 50% amount we see referenced so often is inaccurate, your individual tank determines it's need, it could be more or less.

Somewhat long winded but my point is no one-size-fits-all tank maintenance approach should be applied. I've had tanks that needed weekly 75% changes and tanks that would maintain proper levels with 1 10% change monthly. For some fish a 50% change can be stressful with ph change, tds change, temperature change, hardness etc....

 

[Anna94]

Aquarium keeping is interesting, often things get repeated enough that they become law. Take water changes for example, the weekly water change rule was repeated enough that it stuck. According to a very respected breeder and petstore owner in his late 60's that I know, he believes this actually began in the petstore itself, most LFS would change water on a set day weekly, say early hours on a Tuesday, when there wasn't a lot of foot traffic in the store. This advice was passed on from the store and became fact. In actuality, ignoring advanced issues such as replenishing trace elements in a planted tank, the water in a fish only aquarium only needs to be changed frequently enough to keep nitrate levels in the accepted range. Variables such as bio load, ammonia or nitrate consuming plants, beneficial bacteria colony size, and water turnover rate as well as other factors play a key role in frequency.

Then we come to amount. It's fairly simple to calculate the amount of water needing changed, example, say we have 10 gallon tank, nitrates reading 20, a 5 gallon(nitrate free) water change would leave 10 ppm, a 75% wc would bring it down to 5, only 25% wc would leave 15 ppm. The 50% amount we see referenced so often is inaccurate, your individual tank determines it's need, it could be more or less.

Somewhat long winded but my point is no one-size-fits-all tank maintenance approach should be applied. I've had tanks that needed weekly 75% changes and tanks that would maintain proper levels with 1 10% change monthly. For some fish a 50% change can be stressful with ph change, tds change, temperature change, hardness etc....

So what if your ammonia is always reading at .25 or .50? How big of a water change do you do to reduce it? My tank's a 20 gallon long, by the way. I have cardinal tetras, lemon tetras, Celebes rainbows, a Kribensis, a horseface loach, and otos. Would weekly 50% water changes be too much for them? Should I separate that water change into two 25% water changes per week?

 

[TMRC Exotics]

So what if your ammonia is always reading at .25 or .50? How big of a water change do you do to reduce it? My tank's a 20 gallon long, by the way. I have cardinal tetras, lemon tetras, Celebes rainbows, a Kribensis, a horseface loach, and otos. Would weekly 50% water changes be too much for them? Should I separate that water change into two 25% water changes per week?

Well a 20 gallon at 50 ppm nitrate is far too high (I realize you are giving an example) so a 20 gallon at 50 ppm with a 50% water change would yield a .25 ppm result, still too high, at 75% it's a .125 ppm result.
The same 20 gallon at .25 ppm is closer to a normal reading, a 50% change here results in a .125 reading. More stable.

However, for me the end game in this situation is keeping levels as low as possible, so I would do WC's until the concentration was low, then a week may introduce .10 ppm nitrate, then a 25% change keeps you well under the norm at .075. This is always bio load depending, the trick is to understand your average bioload, then calculate what's necessary to keep it safe. I'm not against 50% water changes per say, I've done larger % in times of need, to me consistency is important. In the wild fish don't fluctuate in water that is .1 ppm, then .90 ppm, then .2 ppm., it's more stable with gradual swings, I like to replicate that in the home aquarium. So when it's necessary to avoid swings yes I like two 25% changes as opposed to 1 50%, however at times a 50% change is necessary. Personally I like to stock tanks so they can thrive with a 25-40% change every two weeks.

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[Anna94]

Well a 20 gallon at 50 ppm nitrate is far too high (I realize you are giving an example) so a 20 gallon at 50 ppm with a 50% water change would yield a .25 ppm result, still too high, at 75% it's a .125 ppm result.
The same 20 gallon at .25 ppm is closer to a normal reading, a 50% change here results in a .125 reading. More stable.

However, for me the end game in this situation is keeping levels as low as possible, so I would do WC's until the concentration was low, then a week may introduce .10 ppm nitrate, then a 25% change keeps you well under the norm at .075. This is always bio load depending, the trick is to understand your average bioload, then calculate what's necessary to keep it safe. I'm not against 50% water changes per say, I've done larger % in times of need, to me consistency is important. In the wild fish don't fluctuate in water that is .1 ppm, then .90 ppm, then .2 ppm., it's more stable with gradual swings, I like to replicate that in the home aquarium.

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I wasn't talking about nitrates. My nitrates stay pretty consistent between 10 and 20. .25 or .50 ammonia was what I was asking about.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

Well that's emergency levels. Ammonia shouldn't show in a cycled tank at all.

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[Anna94]

Well that's emergency levels. Ammonia shouldn't show in a cycled tank at all.

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I don't think my tank has ever showed 0 ammonia.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

I just reread the post, my mistake, I read right over ammonia, the removal rate in ppm for ammonia is the same, you just have to factor in that's it's produced more quickly, so when you test your water you might see .25 ppm, however while you're testing a fish could go potty raising the rate to .28 ppm, whereas with nitrate it has to be released as ammonia, converted to nitrite, then nitrate.

However in a cycled tank ammonia levels shouldn't reach a level viewable on a home test kit.
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[TMRC Exotics]

I don't think my tank has ever showed 0 ammonia.

They should read 0

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[Anna94]

They should read 0

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Well, I have 21 fish in a 20 gal long (one set of 5 of them are otocinclus') and an AquaClear 50 and a sponge filter rated for up to 40 gallons and I do weekly 50% water changes. Maybe two separate 25% weekly water changes will be better.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

Well, I have 21 fish in a 20 gal long (one set of 5 of them are otocinclus') and an AquaClear 50 and a sponge filter rated for up to 40 gallons and I do weekly 50% water changes. Maybe two separate 25% weekly water changes will be better.

Always over filter, though a filter is prone to the law of diminishing returns. A 40 Gallon filter isn't twice as good as a 20 gallon filter, an 80 gallon filter isn't 4 times better than a 20 gallon filter. Water turnover, as long as it's at an acceptable rate for the size tank, is limited by the time it takes beneficial bacteria to convert waste to its least toxic form. Aquaclear is a great HOB unit, when properly set up and maintained they're nearly impossible to beat.

Instead of 1 50% change, the benefit to multiple lower % changes is the ability to be flexible on the amount changed while still taking big swings. You could change up to 3/4 of the water in the tank in a week broken down into two changes of less than that original 50%.

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