Newly cycled tanks - waterchange related question

[james3434]

Hi guys,

I;m relatively new to this hobby to please excuse my newbie questions.

I lil intro -

I have 2 tanks - both 12L nano setup.

Tank 01 :

12 L / Planted / sponge filter / 2 amano shrimps only and planning to add 2 pair of small tetras.

Tank 02 :

12 L / Planted / Hang on filter / right now I have 5 fire red shrimps and planning to add 5 more that's it.

I managed to cycle both my tanks. Did a Amonia and Nitrite reading this morning both also 0.

Now my question is, how to do regular water changes?

My one tank has sponge filter and another one with hang on filter. So which one needs more water change?

Can I do bi weekly 30% water change on my tank with hangon filter and a 30% weekly water change on my sponge filter tank? would that be enough? Please note both tanks are heavily planted (at least 4-5 different types with Moss balls).

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

[Aiken Drum]

Are you saying the 12L tank is a 12 gallon long or a 12 litre tank?

Smaller tanks are more difficult to consistently manage water quality than bigger tanks. So more frequent but smaller water changes are usually better than less frequent and bigger.

Id be guided by nitrate. Do a water change and take a measure of nitrate, then do another nitrate test a week later. How much has nitrate increased in that week? If its hardly gone up at all you can probably do a 30% water change every 2 weeks, if its gone up a lot you might need to change 50% every week or 30% twice a week. If you are seeing no nitrate at all this would indicate your plants are using all the ammonia/ nitrate your shrimp produce and it could lead to nutrient deficiency in the plants, so that would be something to look out for.

[james3434]

Originally Posted by Aiken Drum

Are you saying the 12L tank is a 12 gallon long or a 12 litre tank?

Smaller tanks are more difficult to consistently manage water quality than bigger tanks. So more frequent but smaller water changes are usually better than less frequent and bigger.

Id be guided by nitrate. Do a water change and take a measure of nitrate, then do another nitrate test a week later. How much has nitrate increased in that week? If its hardly gone up at all you can probably do a 30% water change every 2 weeks, if its gone up a lot you might need to change 50% every week or 30% twice a week. If you are seeing no nitrate at all this would indicate your plants are using all the ammonia/ nitrate your shrimp produce and it could lead to nutrient deficiency in the plants, so that would be something to look out for.

Hi thanks for the reply.

It's a small setup so the entire water volume is just 12L. I'm still new to this hobby so i wanted to start slow, learn, then eventually setup a larger tank with proper aqua scaping etc that;s my idea.

Thanks for the testing ideas. I will make sure to check amonia, nitrites and nitrates.