Water changing tips

[Imat]

So we bought a used / already cycled fish tank. It came with fish and we ended up giving them away and bought compatible fish (theirs were not). I have learned a ton and our fish are doing well! The water levels have been good too.
I want advice on weekly water changes.

It is a 55 gallon and is stocked with

2 blue rams
6 oto cats
15 neon tetras
8 black neon tetras


What percentage of water should i change each week? Also we were given the gravel vacuum to use. How often do we use that?
Should we ever take the fish out and completely clean the rocks/tank?

Any advice in this area is appreciated. I want to be well educated before hand.




Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[icydeath]

Well if the tank is planted, I personally don't gravel vac often. Maybe once a month or if I start getting some algae along the floor.

However, if the tank isn't planted, you can gravel vac every time you change the water, or every other time.

Your tank is lightly stocked which is good. I'm proud.

Using aqadvisor you should be changing about 17% a week. But 25% is easier to gauge and also provides a buffer if you over feed and your nitrates spike or something.

If your tank is planted, I advise you get some shrimp. Cherry shrimp come to mind and you will have a nice colony in a few months. They don't stress the bioload but do eat a bunch of the left over food and algae in the tank. You may have to supplement them with shrimp pellets and algae tablets. However, they are very nice and will aid in cleaning the tank.

Unless something severe happens, like a very serious disease that is persistently affecting the tank, you should never clean out the whole tank.

Hope I helped! - Raymond

 

[MICEY]

will the rams eat the shrimp ????

 

[Mebbid]

It's standard to change 50% of the water in a tank weekly. That will give you very healthy fresh water. As for the gravel vac, just use it when you change your water.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

So we bought a used / already cycled fish tank. It came with fish and we ended up giving them away and bought compatible fish (theirs were not). I have learned a ton and our fish are doing well! The water levels have been good too.
I want advice on weekly water changes.

It is a 55 gallon and is stocked with

2 blue rams
6 oto cats
15 neon tetras
8 black neon tetras


What percentage of water should i change each week? Also we were given the gravel vacuum to use. How often do we use that?
Should we ever take the fish out and completely clean the rocks/tank?

Any advice in this area is appreciated. I want to be well educated before hand.




Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Hello I...

I keep larger tanks and change at least half the water every couple of weeks. Sometimes more often if there's time. The number of fish doesn't matter. The water needs to be replaced regularly to replenish minerals that are lost during the filtration process. Large water changes remove dissolved fish wastes and guarantees stable water conditions for the fish and plants.

You don't need to vacuuming the substrate. The organic material that falls to the bottom dissolves in the tank water and nourishes the plants. Excess nutrients are removed by removing and replacing the water.

In ten years, I've never removed my fish, gravel, decorations or any of that to clean them. If you do you'll remove the good bacteria that lives on these surfaces and helps maintain a stable water chemistry. You just need to change at least half the tank water every week or so and this will remove anything toxic or otherwise that's dissolved in it.

B

 

[Imat]

Thanks. This helps a lot.
My tank is not planted (just the fake plants).
And thanks! I tried very hard to not overstock my tank and also keep a little wiggle room to add more later if I choose. Not much more, maybe grow my schools a little or add a small school of rummynose tetras. I would like to add two male rams so my females are paired up.

What is the process if I decide to re-arrange my tank? Or put a different gravel in? Right now it is fine, but if I end up getting two male rams I want to make sure I have more adequate hiding spots than there currently are. The gravel that is in there came with the tank, but I was thinking about getting a different color/ putting a small space of sand and getting a couple corydoras?

just thoughts.

want to make sure i know everything before I make any decisions.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

Thanks. This helps a lot.
My tank is not planted (just the fake plants).
And thanks! I tried very hard to not overstock my tank and also keep a little wiggle room to add more later if I choose. Not much more, maybe grow my schools a little or add a small school of rummynose tetras. I would like to add two male rams so my females are paired up.

What is the process if I decide to re-arrange my tank? Or put a different gravel in? Right now it is fine, but if I end up getting two male rams I want to make sure I have more adequate hiding spots than there currently are. The gravel that is in there came with the tank, but I was thinking about getting a different color/ putting a small space of sand and getting a couple corydoras?

just thoughts.

want to make sure i know everything before I make any decisions.

Hello again I...

Adding fish to a tank is fine. You'll need to up your water changes to keep the water properties stable and pure and research your additions, to make sure they'll get along with the other fish.

If you decide on plants, then go with those that are dark green. These will require lower light and will be easier to keep healthy. Floating plants provide hiding places for the more timid fish or for newly born fry.

The best substrate for tanks is pea-sized, polished gravel. It will never compact and create water chemistry problems and is easily cleaned by vacuuming if needed. It works fine for Corydoras. I've used it for several years in my Cory tanks.

If you have any more questions. Feel free to ask anyone here.

B

 

[PNWaquarist]

I want advice on weekly water changes.

It is a 55 gallon and is stocked with

2 blue rams
6 oto cats
15 neon tetras
8 black neon tetras


What percentage of water should i change each week?

There isn't a good general rule of thumb for this. It depends on many factors, including your tank size, the total bioload of your stocking, the sensitivity of your fish to sudden pH or GH changes, the sensitivity of your fish to nitrates, etc. For most people, it would be once a week in the 20-50% range.

The GBRs in your tank are more sensitive to nitrate than most other freshwater fish, and you'll definitely want to keep that below 10% (I'd shoot for 5%). Because your tank is understocked (a good thing), I'd start with 30%. If your nitrates are clearly over 5% after that, go up to 50%. Plants that process nitrate will also help.

 

[icydeath]

There isn't a good general rule of thumb for this. It depends on many factors, including your tank size, the total bioload of your stocking, the sensitivity of your fish to sudden pH or GH changes, the sensitivity of your fish to nitrates, etc. For most people, it would be once a week in the 20-50% range.

The GBRs in your tank are more sensitive to nitrate than most other freshwater fish, and you'll definitely want to keep that below 10% (I'd shoot for 5%). Because your tank is understocked (a good thing), I'd start with 30%. If your nitrates are clearly over 5% after that, go up to 50%. Plants that process nitrate will also help.

For nitrates, I think PNW means ppm, not percentage. Just to clear that up.

 

[PNWaquarist]

For nitrates, I think PNW means ppm, not percentage. Just to clear that up.

Yes, 5 ppm nitrates. 5% nitrates would be really, really bad.

 

[trennamw]

You'll get varying opinions on water changes. BB is probably the biggest pro-big-water change advocate here, and does the hobby and the newbies a great service by repeating that standard of 50% weekly.

You will also encounter lots who do less, for various reasons. Heavily planted tanks, concerns about instability, or just feeling it's overkill.

You probably can't go wrong with a weekly 50% change, and doing a gravel vac of one area each week. It's also possible you will be ok with less, if you're well informed and testing a lot and all that.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[PNWaquarist]

Ideally, it'd be best to do 10-15% water changes 2-3 times a week. But very few people have the time or motivation to do that.