Maxing out Oscars in a 125

[MCHRKiller]

I just do about a 40-50% change on my tanks every 10-14 days...everything is crystal clear and have never seen ammonia or nitrite and nitrates have never been much to write home about either. I think that careful feeding and filtration is the key...my giant danios are about the most awesome clean up crew ever for large messy cichlids. They dont really add any bioload and the big fat cichlids cant catch the little fast danios in my densly decorated tanks Perhaps Im a lazy fish keeper(likely) but I just dont have the get up and go to change my tank water that often I suppose if there was an actual need for it I would. I have bred discus successfully in the past and kept them on the same waterchanging routine as my other tanks...they are much hardier fish than credited for IMO. I had a salad plate sized pigeon blood that I had to move out of the main discus tanks(he hated other discus) but he held his own and was boss of a 50G community with a severum and a firemouth. Not that I recommend that or anything

 

[DasArab]

Why is that better? If the water going in matches what came out what difference does it make except that it's cleaner? I have been doing 50-70% water changes on all my fish since I started in the hobby and never lost a fish from it.

IMO Its better because you are not flooding the tank with so much raw tap water in one go as you would by doing 1 75% water change, and doing 2 smaller wc's twice a week is less of a shock to the fish as theres less change in the water peramiters in one go.

 

[twhittle]

If you use a chemical such as Prime then there is no increased shock to the fish from the tap water. It detoxifies any harmful tap water elements that are harmful to fish if used correctly. IMO, the fish are already "shocked" when you are in their environment changing things. It's less of a shock to do it once than twice in a week. It is as simple as this. There is a certain nitrate level in the tank. The more old water you let out and new water you put in the better. If I did a 25-50% WC instead of a 75%, I would have to change the water every 2-4 days instead of 5-7 days to keep my nitrate below 20 ppm. The nitrate reduction increases the more you dilute the old water with new.

 

[twhittle]

I just do about a 40-50% change on my tanks every 10-14 days...everything is crystal clear and have never seen ammonia or nitrite and nitrates have never been much to write home about either. I think that careful feeding and filtration is the key...my giant danios are about the most awesome clean up crew ever for large messy cichlids. They dont really add any bioload and the big fat cichlids cant catch the little fast danios in my densly decorated tanks Perhaps Im a lazy fish keeper(likely) but I just dont have the get up and go to change my tank water that often I suppose if there was an actual need for it I would. I have bred discus successfully in the past and kept them on the same waterchanging routine as my other tanks...they are much hardier fish than credited for IMO. I had a salad plate sized pigeon blood that I had to move out of the main discus tanks(he hated other discus) but he held his own and was boss of a 50G community with a severum and a firemouth. Not that I recommend that or anything

Filtration is key to crystal clear water, but has little to do with nitrate levels in a tank. You can have crystal clear water and have 50 ppm of nitrate. In a tank that is not stocked to the brim, what you are doing is fine IMO. With mine, I have to maintain as much as I do or I will have disease hit very quickly.

 

[DasArab]

If you use a chemical such as Prime then there is no increased shock to the fish from the tap water. It detoxifies any harmful tap water elements that are harmful to fish if used correctly. IMO, the fish are already "shocked" when you are in their environment changing things. It's less of a shock to do it once than twice in a week. It is as simple as this. There is a certain nitrate level in the tank. The more old water you let out and new water you put in the better. If I did a 25-50% WC instead of a 75%, I would have to change the water every 2-4 days instead of 5-7 days to keep my nitrate below 20 ppm. The nitrate reduction increases the more you dilute the old water with new.

Ok we'll beg to differ on this one.

 

[xEchOx]

IMO Its better because you are not flooding the tank with so much raw tap water in one go as you would by doing 1 75% water change, and doing 2 smaller wc's twice a week is less of a shock to the fish as theres less change in the water peramiters in one go.

What part of the parameters are you referring to? The only thing that should change is the nitrate level. Ph, Temperature, and Ammonia, NitrIte, should all remain the same coming out and going in. The only change is going to be your nitrate level from say 20ppm to 5ppm. Are you saying that that change is going to shock them?

I've heard people (lfs) say that if a fish is living in crappy water (high nitrates) and has been exposed to them for a long time, that if you suddenly remove the nitrates, or elimate a large portion of them, the fish will die. Why? Sounds like bs to me. The 'shock' of being taken from a high nitrate environment and introduced to a healthy low nitrate environment kills them? I don't think so.

 

[CHEMDAWG74D30X]

I have 4 full grown oscars 12-14 in, 4 other fish over 10 in and around 15 other fish between 1-6 in. I do a 75 percent water change every 2 weeks or so. I have 2300 gph filtration with a lot of media. My fish do just fine, the oscars are sometimes agressive but mostly get along. they never harm each other. I think your setup would be safe. my Oscars are buddys like baby pups playing very cool to watch.