Frequency of Water Changes?

[cr8on]

Hi all, I have a 5x2x2 with a 6cm RTGG and a 14cm Senegal Bichir, and since adding 3 8cm Uaru and a 12cm Pleco, the substrate is always covered in fish poo. I do weekly water changes and vacuum the gravel weekly, but after one day, the substrate is filthy again. Can I do more frequent waterchanges, say every 2 or 3 days?

 

[Bderick67]

You could do daily water changes if ya need to, as long as pH and water temp doesn't fluxuate.

 

[cr8on]

Would it be ok to vac the gravel every 2 days or so also?

 

[Wolf3101]

Personally I'd find another way to keep the substrait clear....like a modifyed cannister return or a powerhead angled down to produce a better flow pattern.

 

[Ianab]

You can pretty much change the water and gravel vac as much as you want. Every day if you are that keen.

But like Wolf says if you need that much cleaning then it's probably time to look at upgrading the filtering/flow so it picks up more of the crud and setting up a continous drip system for the water changes.

Cheers

Ian

 

[beeline]

Each one of your fish are ones that poop a lot. Get better filtration, coz it's gonna drive u nuts if you have to do water changes every day.

 

[cr8on]

I'm running a 1500lph canister and a 2500lph internal, should I upgrade to a larger canister, like an FX5? If so, could I just add a new filter and put all the old media into it?

 

[cr8on]

Should I use one large canister instead (recommendations please) or just add another canister of a similar output?

 

[DanProwse]

why not get a large canister aswell as the ones you already have

 

[guppy]

Yes, smaller ones. However if you add a powerhead angled to bounce the flow off the bottom (especially if you use a sweep attachment like reefkeepers use) you may be able to lift the waste into the water column where the filters can remove it.