Are Large Water Changes Killing Fish? Small vs Large Water Changes -
- Thread starter tarheel96
- Start date
Getting tanks large enough for me to want, and then getting them to and on a ferry to the island is more difficult than I'd imagined, also buying any tanks on Panama's mainland is also a bit of a challenge.
Any cichlids I want, I will also need to catch. So I'm content with observing in nature so far.
Most of the fish I get, I eat.
Back to the OPs post above, I have never had a problem killing off ben-bacteria with any amount of water changes, even when I've forgotten to add a de-chloraminator
.
Any cichlids I want, I will also need to catch. So I'm content with observing in nature so far.
Most of the fish I get, I eat.
Back to the OPs post above, I have never had a problem killing off ben-bacteria with any amount of water changes, even when I've forgotten to add a de-chloraminator
.
There are a couple problematic occurrences to be aware of with water changes.
If water is cold coming from the pipes, it may be super satutated with gases (under pressure), and this can cause gas bubble embolism in fish, especially if new water is added directly to the main tank..
When I added water (especially in winter when water from the tap was below 40'F), I never added it directly to the tank, but instead, to a sump over a container of rocks, or into a bubble stream which sufficiently dissipates by agitation from cascading on rock, and going thru the plumbing before the embolism micro-bubbles get near the fish.
And if after only a week without water changes, pH, alkalinity, and other water parameters are be drastically changed, in a (especially over stocked tank), this could kill already stressed out sensitive fish.
To me the solution means more water changes needed to dilute the fish urine and other metabolism by-products, rather than less.
If water is cold coming from the pipes, it may be super satutated with gases (under pressure), and this can cause gas bubble embolism in fish, especially if new water is added directly to the main tank..
When I added water (especially in winter when water from the tap was below 40'F), I never added it directly to the tank, but instead, to a sump over a container of rocks, or into a bubble stream which sufficiently dissipates by agitation from cascading on rock, and going thru the plumbing before the embolism micro-bubbles get near the fish.
And if after only a week without water changes, pH, alkalinity, and other water parameters are be drastically changed, in a (especially over stocked tank), this could kill already stressed out sensitive fish.
To me the solution means more water changes needed to dilute the fish urine and other metabolism by-products, rather than less.
I am in the massive water change camp, as long as the water being introduced is of good quality and similar chemistry.
About water temp- I read somewhere a while back that when we heat our water with most common boilers that we all use, they release heavy metals into the water, which can in theory harm our fish. I forget where I heard this but since then I have been doing water changes with cold water- I just put the faucet on "C". Haven't had any problems with this so far. Been doing this for a few years now. I usually only do 30-50% water changes, so the temp drops a bit but not too drastically and is heated back up pretty quickly. My fish also seem to like swimming into the cold stream of water as I pour it into the tank.
Hello; I avoid this potential problem with a technique and some luck in the nature of my water source. I store the water for WC in containers for a few days before adding to a tank. This allows the water to both lose any gasses that may be pressurized and also to become room temperature.
The luck part is that my tap water is treated only with chlorine so I also can get by without using PRIME or SAFE or other treatments. Not a big deal as these chemical treatments could be used with the water storage practice at low cost if SAFE is used.
This also has the potential benefit of my having a lot of water on hand during some emergency when tap water might not be available for a long time.
Hello; This is also something I have stuck in my head from somewhere. Many if not most water heaters are glass lined so while the liner is intact it should keep the metal of the tank away from the water. The heating elements of electric water heaters (WH) and like the heating elements on an electric range so that metal has direct contact. There are also sacrificial anodes I think made of zinc in most WH.
Anyway I use the cold water tap for my tank water. I also store the water so it warms to room temp which is within 10 degrees of tank temp most of the time.
Hello; I also do less that 50% WC most of the time.
Regarding heavy metals from HW tanks ............
My cold supply line drops down into the 40's for much of the year, which kind of rules out just using the cold supply only with 80+% water changes. Never once had any issues mixing hot/cold lines to refill my tanks, even with 10-20 year old hot water tanks. Most of those exact same heavy metals are found in the parts per billion range in local rivers and lakes. For those concerned one can flush/drain their tanks once or twice a year to remove any potential build up. I personally don't believe even that is required, but it can add some years of life to your HW tank.
My cold supply line drops down into the 40's for much of the year, which kind of rules out just using the cold supply only with 80+% water changes. Never once had any issues mixing hot/cold lines to refill my tanks, even with 10-20 year old hot water tanks. Most of those exact same heavy metals are found in the parts per billion range in local rivers and lakes. For those concerned one can flush/drain their tanks once or twice a year to remove any potential build up. I personally don't believe even that is required, but it can add some years of life to your HW tank.
I started out doing 2 x 40-50% water changes, but eventually I adopted the single large 75-80% for several reasons. Mainly after getting into the dozen tank range I was always behind schedule with the 2x changes. It is more efficient for nitrate removal, cost (water conditioner), and time spent. It also gives me some wiggle room since most of my set ups can go 2 weeks before hitting 40ppm nitrate a couple of days extra is no big deal. I do believe that anyone who has not been performing these types of wc should increase the volume gradually and observe their fish for abnormal behavior before diving in head first.
