thanks everyone i knew i was right haha and ultimate jay i use bucket it takes alot longer but i can add the conditioner to each bucket so i get no cloudyness
help me win an argument
- Thread starter thechief
- Start date
I agree. Which is why I think frequent water changes are a good idea, but not massive amounts of water at one time. Water changes are your best friend as long as you do them right. A 100% water change would be great in theory, but would cause a lot of problems.
Your tank can be "too clean" too. However, it takes a lot of work to get to this point. But I have heard of some people who take their gravel and decor out everyday and clean it. Needless to say, they had a difficult time getting nitrifying bacteria to grow.
With the stock that thechief has, I would do a 30% water change once or twice a week.
Now a drip/auto fill system like F1 VET mentioned...
If only my water bill allowed for it...and she still doesnt believe me i had a peacock bass die yesterday and she says its because of the water changes an i think its because i have only done one and my nitrates are a little on the high side she also said that non of these people are "professional fish people" hahaha 
i had try try and explain most of you have 20+
years experience (guessing) haha and have huge tanks and know what your doing she is very stubborn and she says because shes had oscars which i told her are very hardy fish and she never did a water change that its that water changes haha oh well i guess ill never win i told her peacock bass and arowanas are very different the oscars and catfish and cant have high nitrates i told her go get a peacock bass put it in a tank of your own and never so a water change and see how long it lasts hahah
i had try try and explain most of you have 20+years experience (guessing) haha and have huge tanks and know what your doing she is very stubborn and she says because shes had oscars which i told her are very hardy fish and she never did a water change that its that water changes haha oh well i guess ill never win i told her peacock bass and arowanas are very different the oscars and catfish and cant have high nitrates i told her go get a peacock bass put it in a tank of your own and never so a water change and see how long it lasts hahah
Are you testing the water? You say nitrates are high. What is the test reading?
As for your mom show her a nitrate test on old water. It doesn't take a professional to understand that!
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
As for your mom show her a nitrate test on old water. It doesn't take a professional to understand that!
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
damn thats awesome how much that set up costing you i love your stock your getting 100% in like 3 weeks then right? thats is awesome haha once i get my 300 i might want to look into one haha
i checked it last night ammonia 0 nitrites 0 and nitrates were like 80
im gunna do a water change when i get home from school later and hopefully that gets it down i dont even think she knows what they are! she never cycled any of her tanks hahawell i was looking in the tank for the other peacock bass and he was dead now also could high nitrates really kill off two fish that quick they were acting different my arowana and other fish are acting fine i really need tio do that water change hahah
Also tell your mum that the fish will be used to you doing water changes and it wont affect them at all. They wont mind it one bit
Yea I know how u feel, my parents tell me the same thing everytime a fish dies. Their most effective argument is that before I started doing water changes I almost never had dead fish in years! and I have to say it's true. Another thing they say is : Before u started reading about fishkeeping on the internet and listen all those "so called experts" all our fish were fine and now we only have problems. Which is also a true statment. I used to change water once a month or more and everything was fine. So obviously smth is wrong. Regular water changes r good only when donne right. If u don't add dechlorinator u'll have problems, if u have ammonia or nitrates in ur tap water or if ur tap water is not good in any way then it is very much possible that ur harming ur fish rather then helping.
Another thing is 80 ppm of nitrate is too high, u need to keep it under 40. Try the following: get a photos plant, stick it in the tank with only the roots inside the water and stem and leaves out, it will suck up ur nitrates and help controling them in between water changes. Hornwort aquatic plant also helps alot with sucking up nitrates. I'm just saying that it is possible that ur tap water is harming ur fish and this way u will be able to keep ur nitrates under control and lessen the water changes and see if it works out better for u. Good luck.
Another thing is 80 ppm of nitrate is too high, u need to keep it under 40. Try the following: get a photos plant, stick it in the tank with only the roots inside the water and stem and leaves out, it will suck up ur nitrates and help controling them in between water changes. Hornwort aquatic plant also helps alot with sucking up nitrates. I'm just saying that it is possible that ur tap water is harming ur fish and this way u will be able to keep ur nitrates under control and lessen the water changes and see if it works out better for u. Good luck.
