When to do a water change

[Kitekat87]

I have a fairly heavily planted tank and it's my first ever properly planted tank so I'm very new to this. I've not done a water change in two weeks because of ich treatment and I've just tested my nitrates which comes out at 5-10 ppm.

My question is should I do a water change despite the nitrates being low or should I leave it a little longer? I don't want to starve my plants of nitrogen by doing a water change but at the same time it feels strange not doing one for so long.

I do dose ferts and liquid carbon each day

 

[Kitekat87]

I've just realised I've probably put this in the wrong thread too

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Kit...

You're the water keeper. It's up to you to decide how much to change and how often. I remove and replace most of the water every week. This keeps the dissolved fish waste out of the tank and replaces minerals the fish and plants need for good health.

Look at your tank this way: If you lived in a closed cube of water and lived in the same water where you went to the bathroom, how often and how much would you want me to change?

B

 

[coralbandit]

I know things are different in the UK but most ich meds say to change water when re dosing.. Also water changes to remove the ichs that fall off and then multiply possibly by the thousands...
I change water as often as possible . Like BB think new water is the most under rated thing aquarium keepers have to use..
I think most who dose ferts do 50% every week to reset tank parameters..
I am sure if I did not change water like I do I would not have the breeding success I enjoy.. It is a hobby of 'not keeping water' if you want to keep your fish IMO !

 

[Kitekat87]

Water change coming up. I normally do 50% weekly but with not much experience with plants I wasn't sure if removing the nitrates would harm the plants.

The ich meds I got specifically said don't do water changes until after treatment. I did think that was a little weird as all the ones I've had in the past said do one mid treatment

Thanks guys

 

[flitabout]

The plants will be fine. I change 50% twice a week.

 

[King Fisher]

I have a fairly heavily planted tank and it's my first ever properly planted tank so I'm very new to this. I've not done a water change in two weeks because of ich treatment and I've just tested my nitrates which comes out at 5-10 ppm.

My question is should I do a water change despite the nitrates being low or should I leave it a little longer? I don't want to starve my plants of nitrogen by doing a water change but at the same time it feels strange not doing one for so long.

I do dose ferts and liquid carbon each day

First off how's the ich treatment working? I'm old school and use salt, high heat and frequent water changes. My advice is to keep regular water changes if you have ich. I'm talking 25% daily with light siphoning of the top layer of substrate. If your tank is cycled it will be ok. Again, I don't use chemicals to treat ich so maybe this won't work. Ich has a life cycle and that cycle is sped up with heat. The siphoning is to pick up eggs so it can't multiply. I use salt for skin treatment but this is controversial. I've seen ich cured without it and only using heat and water changes. Now when you get this ich under control I would do a water change, never above 35%, and start testing once weekly until you get a reading to high. This gives you a time frame. I wait until my ammonia hits .25 ppm and my nitrates hit 20-30 ppm. Then I cut back a few days off that. Test again. Once I hit the sweet spot of 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites and 20 ppm nitrates I do my water change. I've got my tanks down to 1-2 days before getting a reading above what I just listed on the water change. If this process takes 2 weeks or 4 weeks it doesn't really matter how often. It matters when your water parameters need the change. Testing is the way to determine this.