Do you do water changes in your planted tank?

[Devilishturtles]

As it is now, I do water changes about every 3 weeks in my tanks. It has been about 4 weeks since I've done one in my planted tank and parameters are steady at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5 or so nitrate. I feed the tank once every other day, have 6 exclamation point rasboras in the tank (very very small!) and about a hundred or so snails probably, maybe even more. I do dose nitrogen, else I fear the nitrates would bottom out. But, if I'm not doing water changes to eliminate nitrates, what is the purpose of doing water changes in my planted tank? What gets replenished?

The tank is heavily planted with CO2 addition, 10 gallons.

I do have tap water, so was considering that the addition of the trace metals, minerals, etc. to perhaps be beneficial with my water changes.

How often do you do water changes?

 

[Purrbox]

I perform 50% water changes once a week on my aquariums (assuming I don't get lazy and delay it a few days). My tanks are High Light with CO2 and EI fertilizing.

The purpose of water changes is to removed DOCs (Dissolved Organic Compounds) and to refresh minerals and nutrients that are commonly found in tap water. Since I also use EI dosing, the water changes reset my water parameters helping to ensure that things don't get too badly out of whack.

 

[GlitcH]

^^ what she said.

 

[An t-iasg]

I agree too and do 50% water changes once a week.

I did neglect my 5 gallon tanks once - I didn't do water changes for 3 months and everything was still great! There was no algae. There were NO fish in there at the time or else I wouldn't have neglected the tanks. The bettas in the tanks had died, and I let the tanks go for awhile. Everything did seem to be fine, but I wouldn't really recommend doing this (no water changes) for any length of time, other than the "late by a day or two" that happens to all of us. I have since torn the tanks down and reworked them.

 

[JDogg]

50% or more every saturday..use IE dosing so have to keep any nutrients from building up too much

 

[rkilling1]

I am a EI doser, so I also do the 50% PWC every sunday on my tanks.

 

[Jchillin]

I hate sounding like a broken record but I'm with the above group.

 

[IceH2O]

same here

 

[dapellegrini]

ditto on my large tank. On my 3g I am a little bit more relaxed...

 

[docrak]

I am a EI doser, so I also do the 50% PWC every sunday on my tanks.

What's EI dosing?

I think you could go longer that a week without doing water changes. I used to leave my tanks for as long as a month without changing the water. I must admit I've never really understood changing the water if all your parameters were fine. I always felt that if there was another factor other then ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate they would have built a test kit for it. I've started doing 30-50% water changes every week and my tanks look great and every thing is growing great, I just haven't noticed a differnce between going one week vs. going longer. The only reason I'm doing a water change every week is because my plants grow so quickly and the tank needs the maintenance.

I have no Idea why this is and I haven’t heard to many good explanations as to why this works. Most people will tell you some "B.S.". I'm not sure if they really under stand. By far the best explanation I've heard so far has been by Purrbox. My question is; aren’t DOC's supposed to be good for a tank? I was reading about SeaChem Flourite and it is supposed to use the mulm for nutrients as it breaks down:

...the mulm that settles into the substrate will break down into usable nutrients that the plant roots will soak up.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=55466

I don't know, I'm still confused.

 

[Purrbox]

DOCs are not the same thing as mulm. One of the most obvious signs of overly high DOCs is when you get that filmy scum on the surface of your tank water. Mulm is solid material while DOCs are actually dissolved in the water.

EI = Estimative Index. EI is currently a popular fert dosing approach that ensures that plenty of nutrients are available at all times for the plants. It enables it's users to test much less often since you aren't trying to hit specific targets. Just occational testing if something's not quite right and you need some help pinpointing the problem.

 

[dapellegrini]

I think giving this a good read will pretty much explain the EI and how water changes factor into that method of tank maintenance. It is not the only way of doing it, but arguably one of the easier and cheaper methods:

http://www.barrreport.com/estimative-index/62-estimative-index-dosing-no-need-test-kits.html

 

[Devilishturtles]

But what if you aren't using EI dosing and have a very small bioload? Do the plants really use up that much trace elements from your tap water, that you would have to replenish them at 50% a week?

I just have this basis of opinion from working with sw tanks where the system pretty much runs itself. The only thing you do water changes for is to maybe reduce nitrates, but most importantly to replenish trace elements. I change that tank about once a month as well.

I am not trying to explain a lazy way of keeping my tanks, but rather the actual reason why water changes should be done on a planted tank if they are esentially a self contained habitat. With dosing, aren't you replacing those trace elements found in the tap water? Am I missing something?

I have CO2 and dose Flourish Excel (occasionally), Trace, Nitrogen, and Potassium on my 10 gallon. I don't really have a schedule nor test for them (besides the N) but I make it a point to dose the same amount (measured out) twice a week and that works for me. I do not know what this EI thing is (I will read it soon, thanks for the link) but if you aren't worried about EI, what's the point in doing water changes with the aforementioned tank conditions?

Thanks guys.

 

[rkilling1]

That's hard to say Devilishturtles. That all depends on your plants uptake rate. How much light are they getting, how much nutrients are they getting, how much anything they are the getting, How much nutrients are in your tap water, ect...

I don't believe anybody here can anwser your question. The best you can do is watch your plants and see how they grow.

HTH

 

[dapellegrini]

You don't need to do 50% water changes every week. All depends on your setup. On the opposite side of the spectrum, I believe this is the book that claims no filters, no water changes, no CO2, etc:

http://www.amazon.com/Ecology-Plant..._bbs_sr_1/002-6660770-9242422?ie=UTF8&s=books

Many different ways of maintaining a tank. I am still relatively new at maintaining a happy planted tank, so probably not the best to explain the ins and outs... Will let others chime in with more details...

 

[Devilishturtles]

Thanks rkilling.

I was thinking that maybe there was something I was missing in this whole scheme of things. I am not very experienced with planted tanks at all, and just wanted to make sure. Seemed most of the responses were centered around EI dosing, and I just wanted to make sure that, outside of EI dosing, there was nothing else to it.

Again, thanks guys. I will just keep plugging away with my every 2-3 week water changes.

Edit: Thanks as well dap. I am just still trying to fully undestand this planted thing. Thanks for the link!

 

[Purrbox]

The reason for the 50% per week water change with EI is that it keeps the ferts from building up really high if your plants aren't using them as fast as you think they are.

With replenishing the minerals and nutrients, you've got to keep in mind that your ferts assume that certain things are already going to be present in your water and therefore aren't in the ferts. As a result if you go long enough without a water change, certain essentials will get used up since the ferts don't include them.

 

[evercl92]

I'm with docrak. I haven't / don't see a difference in water parameters whether I do a PWC 2x a week, or every 3 months. Thus, it gets done every 3 months. I clean the filter out once a week with tap (city) water, and the thin nylon pad (the only media that I have in it) keeps the water pretty clear. I may take out dead leaves, if I happen to see them, and feel like getting them out. I often just leave them in there for the snails to clean up.

 

[dapellegrini]

If you are dealing with a low-tech setup, you can significantly reduce or eliminate water changes, dosing, CO2, etc and still have healthy happy plants. I often see comments on other boards about this. Again a reference to Tom's board (founder of the EI):

http://www.barrreport.com/co2-aquat...-fertilisation.html?highlight=low+maintenance

http://www.barrreport.com/general-p...ntenance-setup.html?highlight=low+maintenance

 

[Burks]

Guess I'll be the lazy one.

I haven't done a significant water change on my 10g for uh...well about a month. Just basically top it off and let it run. Apparently the water isn't bad because my plants are pearling, growing, and even my shrimp are holding eggs for the first time.