Water changes

Pharaoh

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Waste of water and it can shock the fish.
 

krichardson

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If everything is the same as the tank are %100 water changes fine?
But it won't be the same as the incoming water will be different.Think of when you bring a new fish home,you don't just remove it from the bag and drop it into your tank...well I hope you don't lol.It has to be slowly acclimated to this totally new body of water it is being placed in or it could be stressed and die....kind of the same thing with a 100% change.
 

predatorkeeper87

Potamotrygon
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Sep 8, 2014
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theres no need to senselessly move fish to temp holding buckets, drain allllll the water out of the tank, fill it back up, match tempatures because thats a HUGE difference for the fish, then drip acclimate the fish to the new water....
or you could over filter the tank, be diligent with 25-50% WC's and gravel vaccing, and have pothos in your filter/tank.
 

xraycer

Arapaima
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Sep 5, 2013
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If everything is the same as the tank are %100 water changes fine?


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Yes, you can do 100% wc if EVERYTHING (temp, pH, no chlorine) is the same as the tank water........but still a waste of water. However, many discus breeders in Asia do daily 100% wc
 

viejafish

Plecostomus
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Jan 31, 2013
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I routinely do 75% WC in my tanks. Just yesterday, I did my routine WC but walked away and let the hose drop too low. When I returned, I found my fish flapping in 2 inch of water. They are large 8 to 14" cichlids so there was just enough water to cover their gills. Except for initial hard breathing from the struggle, they recovered with no stress and were happy with nearly 90% WC.

Because I do large WC frequently, the water chemistry of my tank water and tap water is almost identical. I put enough dechlor and match the temperature so there is no shock to my fish. Large WC is stressful only if you do it infrequently allowing the tank water chemistry to drift away from tap water.
 

krichardson

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theres no need to senselessly move fish to temp holding buckets, drain allllll the water out of the tank, fill it back up, match tempatures because thats a HUGE difference for the fish, then drip acclimate the fish to the new water..
When I was a kid and not yet into fish keeping I saw it done that way plenty of times and I suspect some old timers who haven't grown with the hobby still do_One fellow does that annually.
 

Gill Blue

Piranha
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Apr 28, 2011
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I don't do 100% because I don't want my fish flopping around on the rocks, but I've often left the bigger ones leaning to the side.
 
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