A rant

pops

Alligator Gar
MFK Member
Nov 24, 2013
6,247
3,304
188
WA
going to rant about water changes. I can not beleave how many folks bring up there fish problems that are due to just not doing there water changes. It is the number 1 thing you can do for your fishes health and well being. and to keep your tank looking clean and pristine. i hear so many times. "I change 30% a week" never doing a perams check just thinking I work hard to do the 30% water change. poppy cock! do the water tests, find out what you need to be doing, not what you want to be doing. and do it. if its to much work for you, reduce the stock, or stop keeping fish. sorry looking fish and tank nothing to be proud of, even if they are "still alive" .

ok, rant off I feel better. :)
 

petspoiler

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2011
3,352
32
81
rural Calif.
HAaaa, good on ya. I think this rant would be ok in Gen Aquaria.
 

Pyramid_Party

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2008
4,916
4
68
Monterey, CA
I think people overdo it on water changes. I agree, they should be knowing what they are doing rather than just blindly doing obsessive water changes. But I think as a whole most people don't understand the threshold of where lethal water chemistry is. People freak out over 30/40 ppm of Nitrate.
 

lp85253

Polypterus
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2009
2,845
153
96
sometimes (mostly really ) they don't change NEARLY enough....GOOD CALL POPS ...it takes me 2 30-50% per week just to keep in line,, then I have to do BIG changes every once in a while, too.....when you here a guy talk about losing fish & his "bad luck" usually it's because he won't take the time to learn how to do it properly and/or won't take the time to test & do w/c's... I am gonna take the next step.....if you lose fish and 1)don' test
2)don't keep nitrates below 30
3) don't care about the parameters....news flash .... you suck as a fish keeper.... IF YOU try to learn and lose a few fish "overcleaning" but are getting better at it and are in the process of figuring out how to have good water you are like the rest of us "back when"...and are probably a good fish keeper...hope I DIDN'T HURT ANY FEELINGS
 

BuffaloPolypteridae

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 5, 2013
3,011
7
0
Buffalo
People freak over 30-40 ppms nitrate for a reason, it inhibits growth and promotes illness in any concentration. I have an almost OCD like habit of keeping my water below 10-20 ppms nitrate and even then I'm still doing a water change within the time the seachem prime has made it less harmful.

I've found 20-30% every 2-3 days respectively and then one large 50% or more change once every week or so plus pothos keeps my water under 10-20 as readable on the api liquid test kit

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Pharaoh

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
MFK Member
Feb 18, 2008
17,566
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Indianapolis
I change my water 50% twice a year, whether it needs it or not. It's just good practice if you ask me.


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krichardson

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jun 19, 2006
27,558
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Datnoid Island
Too many believe that "more filtration" is what they need (or do water changes and ignore a crap dirty filter).

Matt
Yep,even though the waste is caught up in the filter,it is still in the water cycle.
 

Vanica

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 22, 2014
329
2
18
Alberta, Canada
Knowing your parameters can save you work as well. Currently I am only needing to do a 30% water change every 2-3 weeks as I got my tank large and fish small. This will increase as the fish grow. But for now knowing means less work. And will tell you when you need to start increasing
 
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