flowerhorn water change? how often

[Riftraft]

Your knowledge is a bit incorrect. Many people as myself do 90% a week and its all beneficial to the fish. If you know what you are doing there's no foul play.

Wow are you certain of that? 90% sounds extreme to me. I haven't heard of anyone else doing that big of a percentage at once. Not saying you're wrong, just thought multiple smaller water changes were better than a big one like that.


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[gamerpond1]

How big is ur flowerhorn I think when flowerhorn hit like 6" they start to dominate other fish inside the tank


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From my experiences they start alot younger than that around 3 had a red dragon take out two syns a thai take out a parrot and a carpintis and have had other CA cichlids just become holy terrors around that size too but

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[DDK]

Wow are you certain of that? 90% sounds extreme to me. I haven't heard of anyone else doing that big of a percentage at once. Not saying you're wrong, just thought multiple smaller water changes were better than a big one like that.


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Well most fish including fh's generally adjust to water parameters such as nitrate within a period of two weeks. A shock of nitrate is possible yet highly unlikely. Large water changes dont kill fish but the actual act of the water change makes the fish stressed to the point of dying. Removing the water and their space getting so confined along with the trying to adjust to nitrates is the cause of death. If a tank hasn't had a w/c in 2-3 months then give that a 90% water change will probably kill them. But moving from 20% the first week then 30% the second and so on and so forth will ensure they adapt with what you are actually doing and the amount changed.

For my fish large water changes are better for them cause I only have one free day of the week to tend to maintenance. If I do one 20% water change a week my jardini's tank nitrates are around 80ppm but with 90% w/c's its 20-30ppm.

 

[tejeda91]

How big is ur flowerhorn I think when flowerhorn hit like 6" they start to dominate other fish inside the tank


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He's about 4 inches now

 

[gamerpond1]

Well most fish including fh's generally adjust to water parameters such as nitrate within a period of two weeks. A shock of nitrate is possible yet highly unlikely. Large water changes dont kill fish but the actual act of the water change makes the fish stressed to the point of dying. Removing the water and their space getting so confined along with the trying to adjust to nitrates is the cause of death. If a tank hasn't had a w/c in 2-3 months then give that a 90% water change will probably kill them. But moving from 20% the first week then 30% the second and so on and so forth will ensure they adapt with what you are actually doing and the amount changed.

For my fish large water changes are better for them cause I only have one free day of the week to tend to maintenance. If I do one 20% water change a week my jardini's tank nitrates are around 80ppm but with 90% w/c's its 20-30ppm.

90% water change and you have 20-30 ppm what are you doing taking water out by throwing a syphon tube in the tank and draining it replacing that much weekly should zero everything out unless the amount of overkill is keeping your tanks stuck in a permanent cycle not allowing them to finish out I bet you also have a low amount of ammonia and high amount of nitrites

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[Riftraft]

90% water change and you have 20-30 ppm what are you doing taking water out by throwing a syphon tube in the tank and draining it replacing that much weekly should zero everything out unless the amount of overkill is keeping your tanks stuck in a permanent cycle not allowing them to finish out I bet you also have a low amount of ammonia and high amount of nitrites

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I agree. Something is wrong if your doing 90% WC and your still at 20-30ppm. Should be 0-10ppm. And personally if I had a tank that got up to 80ppm, I would rather do 3 separate WC's, maybe every other day rather than one massive one. When you take out a ton of water is when they get stressed. Like I said I keep all FH in my tanks and my fish are use to WC's because I do them so often. They don't stress to often. Everybody has there own way of doing things, but FH stress very easy so I will stick with my less invasive approach and keep doing my multiple WC's a week.


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[DDK]

To gamerpond1 and riftraft. Your conclusions about be doing w/c's and being at 20-30ppm is incorrect. You dont know how I feed, how often I clean my filters, what types of filters I have, and even how big my jardni is. Aerobic bacteria which I have on that tank ex. bio balls pot scrubbers will always yield a high amount of nitrate which is around 80-120ppm. All filtration isnt equal and I have a feeling you dont know too much about about the nitrogen cycle. A tank running with a sump containing bio balls will thrive in aerobic bacteria which leads to a very efficient yet high output of nitrate. Anaerobic yields less nitrate due to a bacteria known as denitrifying bacteria which is present where oxygen levels are low.


gamerpond1/riftraft To achieve 0 everything you will need a drip that does roughly 75% of the tanks volume in one day and even if you have a drip that is 75% it will take weeks to achieve 0 ppm unless its straight new tap water and also feed light. I am not in a cycle I have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite constantly. I'm curious to why you think I'm at a cycle, knowing the cycle like the back of my hand you're missing information or have been told incorrect information of the cycle to think that I am in a cycle. A high nitrate level will ensure a thriving colony of ammonia detoxifying bacteria and also nitrate detoxifying bacteria. 90% water changes only removes a fraction of nitrates which is about. For me 90% water changes removes about 70% of the nitrate. Organic materials which give off ammonia and leads to the ending nitrates, it then dissolve in the water but water changes only removes the dissolved leaving the source of the ammonia which leads to never being at 0ppm. Knowing this to reach a 0 all across the board you will need to make sure you remove all of the organic material which ill the you right now is impossible in a regular fish tank. To remove organic materials to reach 0ppm of nitrates you will effectively be removing all the BB in the process. There's always a source, if its the actual fish producing, or the organic materials inside the tank such as uneaten food or waste. I think researching a bit more about the nitrogen cycle will help you get an understanding. 20-30ppm of nitrates on my tank is perfectly acceptable and normal. I do dose with rid-x to get it down to 10-15ppm but I'm currently working on establishing a strong denitrifying colony so I can do 20% water changes bi weekly to replenish diluted minerals and adjust the ph and also alkaline levels.

 

[Aquatic Aggression]

Don't forget to clean your filter once a month. How do you do a 90% water change every week? I mean do you take the fish out or something? Most of my fish would be on their sides if I did a 90% water change, there wouldn't be enough water left for them to remain upright.
I over filter all of my tanks and that couldn't hurt. My most over filtered would be a 30 gallon with 2x aqua clear 110s.

 

[DDK]

Don't forget to clean your filter once a month. How do you do a 90% water change every week? I mean do you take the fish out or something? Most of my fish would be on their sides if I did a 90% water change, there wouldn't be enough water left for them to remain upright.
I over filter all of my tanks and that couldn't hurt. My most over filtered would be a 30 gallon with 2x aqua clear 110s.

Well its a 220 thats 72x24x30, there's plenty of water for my 18-20 inch jardni to swim as its a 30 inch tall tank. I have a 1200gph pump connected to the hose which I drain the tank with and water my lawn with. Takes next to no time. Roughly 15-20 mins max. I have a 2600gph pump on a sump I believe? could be more could be less, a marineland 350, two fluval 405's, and three giant 3600gph power heads to ensure no dead spots. Best power heads I've ever bought. Reaches a bit more than half the tank which is impressive. Heres a pic.

 

[Riftraft]

To gamerpond1 and riftraft. Your conclusions about be doing w/c's and being at 20-30ppm is incorrect. You dont know how I feed, how often I clean my filters, what types of filters I have, and even how big my jardni is. Aerobic bacteria which I have on that tank ex. bio balls pot scrubbers will always yield a high amount of nitrate which is around 80-120ppm. All filtration isnt equal and I have a feeling you dont know too much about about the nitrogen cycle. A tank running with a sump containing bio balls will thrive in aerobic bacteria which leads to a very efficient yet high output of nitrate. Anaerobic yields less nitrate due to a bacteria known as denitrifying bacteria which is present where oxygen levels are low.


gamerpond1/riftraft To achieve 0 everything you will need a drip that does roughly 75% of the tanks volume in one day and even if you have a drip that is 75% it will take weeks to achieve 0 ppm unless its straight new tap water and also feed light. I am not in a cycle I have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite constantly. I'm curious to why you think I'm at a cycle, knowing the cycle like the back of my hand you're missing information or have been told incorrect information of the cycle to think that I am in a cycle. A high nitrate level will ensure a thriving colony of ammonia detoxifying bacteria and also nitrate detoxifying bacteria. 90% water changes only removes a fraction of nitrates which is about. For me 90% water changes removes about 70% of the nitrate. Organic materials which give off ammonia and leads to the ending nitrates, it then dissolve in the water but water changes only removes the dissolved leaving the source of the ammonia which leads to never being at 0ppm. Knowing this to reach a 0 all across the board you will need to make sure you remove all of the organic material which ill the you right now is impossible in a regular fish tank. To remove organic materials to reach 0ppm of nitrates you will effectively be removing all the BB in the process. There's always a source, if its the actual fish producing, or the organic materials inside the tank such as uneaten food or waste. I think researching a bit more about the nitrogen cycle will help you get an understanding. 20-30ppm of nitrates on my tank is perfectly acceptable and normal. I do dose with rid-x to get it down to 10-15ppm but I'm currently working on establishing a strong denitrifying colony so I can do 20% water changes bi weekly to replenish diluted minerals and adjust the ph and also alkaline levels.

At the end of the day it's simple math and you're not making sense. If you have a 40 gal tank and the nitrates read 40ppm, if you were to do a 50% WC, you would be left with 20 ppm. That's just how it goes. You can continue wording me to death about all your BB and your anaerobic bacteria and your over filtration and all that, but the ONLY way to remove nitrates is to do WC's. Doesn't matter how big your filters are or how much BB is in them. So if you do a 90% WC how are you still left with 20-30ppm?


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