Water changes

[J19Reynolds]

How often should u do a water change? I've had mine up and running 3 weeks now... All my readings are 0 .. My high range ph is 8

 

[savage]

Do you have fish in there? I do two changes weekly in my established tanks. Usually one good 50-70% change on the weekends (gravel vac and the works) and then a 25-30% during the week without vacuming the gravel.

If I lose a fish or have a big change in my water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) then I'll do more. Ph is cool at 8 as long as it's stable.

 

[melosu58]

IME they should be done every 1-4 weeks. They are very important for the SW tank.

 

[J19Reynolds]

Yes I have 2 clowns and 2 peppermint shrimp... Everything wa shoot til added them last Sunday then Amm went up to 0.25-0.50 for one day then went back to 0 the next day... People said my cycle might not have been done all way and that that just finished it... But it's been at 0 for 3 days now.. I didn't do any water change yet

 

[Terrance]

I recently asked a similar question: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/determining-water-change-schedule-190596.html

Do you have a good skimmer?
Do you have vegetation, such as chaeto, and are they growing well?
Both contribute to removal of undetectable dissolved organics and other pollutants in the water.

It also depends if your system is overstocked or understocked (such thing is a rarity in this hobby), nitrAte levels in between water changes, and the amount of food you feed your fish. In a well established system that is not overstocked with good skimmer and vegetation, I'd think you can push out water changes to ~30-40% once per 3-4 weeks. More frequently if nitrAte start to rise.

 

[J19Reynolds]

I recently asked a similar question: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/determining-water-change-schedule-190596.html

Do you have a good skimmer?
Do you have vegetation, such as chaeto, and are they growing well?
Both contribute to removal of undetectable dissolved organics and other pollutants in the water.

It also depends if your system is overstocked or understocked (such thing is a rarity in this hobby), nitrAte levels in between water changes, and the amount of food you feed your fish. In a well established system that is not overstocked with good skimmer and vegetation, I'd think you can push out water changes to ~30-40% once per 3-4 weeks. More frequently if nitrAte start to rise.

What's chaeto? I do NOT have a protein skimmer all I have is a aqua clear 70 filter..

 

[EriksFish315]

I would reccomend doing water change on 20% weekly. I've always done that schedule for my freshwater and my systems have thrived.

 

[Sergie]

Cheato is a macro algae. Water changes should be done whenever nitrates get high or when there's waste that needs to be removed. I honestly don't believe in a certain time frame. I've had tanks run great by doing one 10% water change every month. I've also done water changes every week at 20% with same results. It all depends on your biological filtration, mechanical filtration, bioload, CUC and other factors. 10% weekly is a rule of thumb because it's safe and constant.

 

[J19Reynolds]

Ok thanks everyone for the helpful information