Do I need to do water changes??
- Thread starter heatha
- Start date
But you can't test for DOC's and if planted heavily enough, the nitrates will be VERY low giving the very false impression that the water chemistry is good.
In the future, you will not be able to get away with one water change every two months. Your fish are far from full grown and as they get larger, they produce more waste and need more frequent water changes. Provided you have adequate filtration, you should never have nitrite or ammonia. Water changes do not remove these, your filter does. If you let your filter break down ammonia and nitrate for months without doing water changes the bacteria's waste (nitrates) will build up and slowly start to stunt your fish's growth and affect their behavior. Practically any realisticly stocked aquarium can tolerate missed water changes, and even can tolerate a few months without a water changes AT TIMES. But repeated late water changes will start to give you problems when your pH starts to drop (as your pH gets lower, your filter starts to fail) and you will get increased levels of nitrates.
As for how often you should water change your tank, right now I would say every 2-3 weeks but if you posted pictures of your tank it would be much easier to say, but as your rays reach their full size you will likely need to do weekly water changes.
As for how often you should water change your tank, right now I would say every 2-3 weeks but if you posted pictures of your tank it would be much easier to say, but as your rays reach their full size you will likely need to do weekly water changes.
for sure one thing i know if the parameters are good you can go quite a while without a water change ..But i will tell you is your fish will not grow and thrive nearly as much as a person who does the water changes on a regular basis somehow (fresh ) water stimulates growth more then anything ....Unrelated Qustion Is that really your Profesion Zoo diver ????
^^ yea that is his profession. There's also a post where he talksabout fish living in very high nitrates too in zoos. I can't remember where but it was an interesting read
Yes, it is. Been working for various gov't wildlife agencies and zoos/aquariums since 1997.
Rays are a LOT hardier than people give them credit for. Look at the water they live in in the wild. I've had leopoldi and motoro breeding in water with constant trace ammonia and nitrates that were in the multiple hundreds. I've seen facilities with 4 digit nitrate readings and very healthy rays. The flip side of that is I do like keeping good water quality for my animals. Do I think they need 0 nitrate all the time? No. But lower is better. That being said, water chemistry is only one aspect of dozens to keeping healthy rays. Being a good ray keeper means knowing how to balance them all out.
i think i'm in love, a fellow facepalmer. haha.
heatha, yes, i would advise getting your own test kit instead of taking water into the LFS at random times. you can keep on top of it and not be guessing.
i change about 1/3 to 1/2 of my 300g tanks water at least every other week, if not every week. while i don't necessarily "need" to do this much, why not give our fish the best life they could have in captivity? why make them swim in their own fecal matter, rotting food, nasty old water, etc. have you ever netted out ray poo? that smell is vile. would you want to be stuck with that all the time?
eventually if you don't do water changes, your tank readings will get out of control and your fish will be affected and die. this isn't a 100kg public aquarium, it's a 300g tank. it spikes alot faster with less water volume.
of all of your fish, i'm most surprised the discus are fine, as they're usually the first ones to go with crappy water conditions.
with a tank stocked with as big of fish as you have, yes, def do water changes. my tank only holds two 8 inch retics. you have a MUCH higher bioload than i do, and i'm even overfiltered and still do them near weekly.
your nitrate reading couldn't possibly be 0. if it is, then your tank isn't cycled, which it seems to be.
everything was perfect when we tested it. ill be getting the water tested again on tuesday so we'll see if no water changes in the first 2 months was fine. i will be getting a test kit and will start doing water changes. I am always adding new water cuz it evaporates very fast. and yea the discus are doing great, the only thing that has died in this tank is my pigeon blood discus (and the occasional angels that get ate) cuz one of the stingrays munched his face off
he was a little too friendly with the new stingrays cuz he was so used to the big female being so friendly