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Permalink Reply by Chris T on April 28, 2012 at 5:29am

its not ,to much water change, its not enough water change is a problem. But for reference my smallest tank 30g i change every 2 weeks to even a month becuase its heavily planted and the fish ratio is small

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on April 28, 2012 at 8:16am

No such thing as too many water changes. (A bad thing, I suppose, if you don't like to do water changes.) In Indonesia pond/river water is circulated throughout the inter-connected tanks and then back into the river. The fish essentially live in natural water. According to the breeders this constant influx of fresh water (and live foods) is the key to breeding success

Natural water may be muddy and contain some pests but it is easily the healthiest water for fish. My leaf cluttered 20,000 gallon stagnant pond always tests for 0 nitrates and ammonia and the fish thrive in a way you'll rarely see in our beautiful but wholly unnatural and unhealthy little aquariums. 

Can fish survive without frequent water changes? Sure. The same way you could survive in an unventilated jail cell. Like us, they are very adaptable. [The Walstad method is a legitimate way of keeping healthy fish without water changes but that's another story.] 

My advice is to figure out how to do water changes so that it doesn't feel so laborious. Siphon tubes that connect to your faucet are pretty convenient. I think they go by the brand name "Python". And if your tank is small, all you'll need is some plastic tubing and a bucket. My 180 gallon tank is in the garage; so I can siphon 25% of my water onto the lawn and stick the garden hose in to refill. The whole process takes 15 minutes but requires almost no labor. I do this everyday and the bonus is that I don't need a filter - the daily siphoning picks up all the detritus and the tap water is pre-filtered having come from a municipal water treatment plant.  Chloramine isn't added; so I don't need conditioner either. (I  find a little chlorine to be beneficial.)

If you're breeding soft water fish like I am now, a rain barrel that collects water from the roof will give you perfectly clean, soft, acidic water. I'm in the process of setting one up now. In the meantime I started dumping my pond water (rainwater) into the tank last week and got results - my German Blue Rams and Killies have both decided to spawn.

My advice is to figure out how to do water changes in a way that is convenient to you. But having said all this, Chris T's advice isn't that bad - a pretty good default setting especially since his tank is heavily planted and carries a low fish load.   

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Permalink Reply by Ish Cruz on April 28, 2012 at 4:13pm

I actually dont use water conditioner either. I always make sure I change less than 50% of the water so that most the water in the aquarium has been there and has beneficial bacteria. I siphon my twenty long as well it surely does make water changes a lot easier

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on April 29, 2012 at 12:42am

Sounds good Ish, but make sure your water doesn't contain chloramine. Call your water supplier or just google "your town + water supply" and check for chloramine. They are required to issue a water analysis to the public.

Your beneficial bacteria is attached to the surface of everything in the tank. It doesn't float in the water; so you don't have to worry about losing it with water changes - no matter how big. But chloramine will kill bacteria.

Two more things:

1) I notice a lot of talk about beneficial bacteria. Plants do the same thing as bacteria. They consume ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates - and they do it better. A heavily planted tank with no bacteria will consume all the poisons that bacteria does - and you won't have to change the water as much either.

2) Aside from removing, poisons water changes do a lot of stuff we don't fully understand. I can tell you that immediately after a water change my killifish exhibit breeding behavior. And each time my Rams have bred it has been right after a water change. Breeders have been saying this for years.  

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Permalink Reply by Ish Cruz on April 29, 2012 at 4:27am

My african cichlids are the same way. Whenever I would change water in my 60 gallon they would right away start spawning. I had to give away a bunch of fry to a family owned pet store around my area because I had so many

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Permalink Reply by Dan w on May 1, 2012 at 11:37am

I very much agree about making it as easy as possible so you don't mind doing it.  What I do is start a siphon with air tubing (I don't clean gravel because its a dirted heavily planted tank with corys and shrimp to clean up).  Its nice and slow so you can do other stuff while it slowly siphons water to a bucket.  Then I  make a bucket of new water put in on a shelf up above the tank start the same siphon and walk away.  This works so well for me because I have a place above the tank to put the bucket of new water.  I am thinking of installing a hook above my larger tank so I can use the same method.  Just find what works for you.

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Permalink Reply by Dan w on May 1, 2012 at 11:30am

I dirted my tank and only do water changes weekly ~25%. Neons and crystal shrimp are growing happily.  there was a clear difference in water tint after water changes the first week or two but then it was hardly noticeable.  All my water tests came up good so I kept to the weekly schedule.  And I have to add if you have any house plant I water them with the water change water and the seem do be growing better.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on May 1, 2012 at 3:33pm

Yeah Dan 25% weekly is fine. I do more cause I'm trying to breed and I don't use a filter, but your advice is solid.

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Permalink Reply by tony pierogi on October 29, 2012 at 10:54am

Ish, but you're asking more about how many water changes during the first few weeks? I am wondering the same thing. I just dirted a 10 gallon with only about 1 or 1 1/4 inches of dirt with sand on top and am doing 50% water changes everyday. but i'm wondering how many days i should do them. In the Walstad book, it says a dirted tank becomes near stable after about 4 weeks but i'm wondering if it's necessary to do water changes everyday for 4 weeks. Have you learned anything about this issue since your post that you can share?

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