New 105 gallon...How often should I do water changes?

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peaches

peaches

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2005
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Hello! Happy holidays everyone!

Some people may remember me being the one with Oscar infected with HITH.... Well I am on the road to treatment with a better medicine AND a 105 gallon aquarium cycling for him at the moment!!!!!!!!! :headbang2

But for now (and while the aquarium is cycling), Oswald must stay in his 29 gallon for his treatment....Imagine treating a 105gal!! Cost wise.

My 105gal was just setup yesterday. I added some non-chemical beneficial bacteria that was recommended at the petshop. Plus a tad bit of old filter media from my other tanks (I plan to add more soon.) The tank is really lovely. Over 2 feet high, 48 inches long and 18 inches wide. It looks huge compared to my itty bitty 55gal. The best part about it was it was such a good deal. I didn't want to go that big for my Oscar and stick to at the most a 58-75gal or so. But a small little petshop around here with employees that we know really well had this used aquarium and we asked how much they would want for it.... Amazingly, with stand, top, lighting, tank of course, and Fluval Canister filter they sold it to us for about $250! It was such a good deal and when I compared the cost of a 75 gallon with having to buy the stand, filter, canopy and everything else, it went way over $250. So I settled with the 105gal. I just can't wait for my Oswald to have all of this room. I also plan to add my 2 big old severums and Tinfoil barbs. Probably not any other critter but maybe a big plecostomus if I could find one. Or just enjoy what I have.

I do have a question about this tank, however... When is the best time to add my barbs? I figured they could help the aquarium establish since compared to that tank size they are like little minnows! Oh and probably most important that I really need to know.......
How much and how often should I do water changes on this aquarium? I know it's hard to exactly know but with that huge of a aquarium, I highly doubt it would be possible for me to do my 3x a week that I do to all my other aquariums. At least at the most, how often????? This is if it housed two- 6 inch severums and two- 8 -9 inch barbs + my 12 inch Oscar.

Thank you all very much!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy holidays,
Peaches~ ;)
 
adding the bacteria to the tank via established filter media is pointless unless the bacteria have ammonia to feed on while in there. i would think it would be all missing in action within as short a period as a few days so if its not to late get some fish in there now. i would just put the oscar in there if it were one of my tanks. and carry out bi-daily water changes of about 10- 15% for a few weeks or until test show that your tank has cycled.
then after that just do a 30% water change weekly or at the very least i would suggest fortnightly. im sure people will have a few differing views but you'll probably notice all the rest of the answers will be near enough the same but perhaps with different percentages.

as for the HITH im not sure what you had been told previously but its not known the real cause of this condition but suspected to be related to bad water conditions. considering your lack of knowledge on water changes this was probably the cause.
 
Thanks Danny Boy!

So do you think the water is safe with the Fluval running and the heater going pretty well to just add my Tinfoil barbs??? I always read you should let a tank sit for a few days to a week before adding ANY fish.....

Thanks for any input!

Peaches~ ;)
 
if the tank is at temp put the fish in there. the whole 'run your tank for a week before adding fish' thing is probably related to old school guys that never had water treatments like we have now. if it were my tank id have a net in my hand right now,

you'll be cycling the tank with a fish so the water changes every second day are important. some say leave it longer but high ammonia will stress the fish and make it more prone to illness.
 
The "run the tank a week" bit is very old school and probably comes from getting rid of chlorine by outgassing, doesn't work on chloromine.
Danny boy is right that most of your bacteria will die off without fish waste.
I still am fairly old school in starting new tanks, I fill the tank and run the heater and filters overnight to let me double check for filter/heater failures and leaks, and to let any gravel dust settle. I them add my plants and wait another day or two so I can check for hitchhikers, I have found hydras, diving beetles, scuds, fairy shrimp, and even dragonfly larvae. the scuds and fairy shrimp were cool but the dragonfly would have been bad.
I also seed my filters then. After double checking temps and pH and ammonia, etc., I add just a couple fish, wait a couple days and add a couple more, and keep doing that until the tank is stocked the way I want. It takes a while but you only get small ammonia spikes as the bacteria growth catches up with the bioload. Just keep checking your ammonia levels before adding more fish and if the level is not zero wait another day.
I like to change 30-35% of the water every week but sometimes get lazy and cut down to every 2 weeks, especially if the tank is well planted or lightly stocked. Once the tank has been running a couple weeks keep a weekly water test log of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels for a while and you will get a good feel of what your tank requires.
I once had a heavily planted 55g that could go for months with no measurable change in any levels as long as I harvested enough elodea from it. It just got topped off and clean filter pads when needed. I don't recommend it but that tank went over a year with no water changes at all, I was a bit afraid to jinx it.
 
GUPPY, you mentioned dragon fly nymphs. I think theye are called hilgromites. You mentioned they could be trouble. They can be dangerouse to humans. When my father was young, he was bitten by one. It appearently festered very quickly. His mother didn't know what to do, so she just kept a clean bandage on it. He almost died from a kidney failure then. He died at 54 because of the original infection, and the resulting kidney damade.
Althogh, modern medacin could probably cure the infection easily today, There must be something to the bug. It may carry an odd, or agressive bacterium.
I am by no means saying fear what you don't know. But, you are right. Dragon fly nymphs are trouble.
 
Tony, I do not know about the bacterium but they have a tissue liquifying toxin that is very painful and in sensitive individuals can be immediately lethal due to anaphylactic shock. Because the toxin destroys tissue I can see how it could easily lead to a bad infection, diving beetles and giant waterbugs carry a similar venom.
 
Thank you all! :thumbsup: Well, I have added my two tinfoil barbs yesterday. Had a little tough time getting them to the 105 gallon but they are doing wonderful right now. They LOVE all the room and enjoy not having to get out of the way of my aggressive Severum.....Now I feel bad adding the cichlids I planned to add to this tank later, I know it will be a letdown to my freedom enjoying barbs! :shakehead Since they will probably be chased again with the usual "get-out-of-my-way" cichlid personality.
The tinfoil barbs are absolutely beautiful swimming closely together in their new tank. I Had some ammonia come up today as in the harmful zone so I did about a 30% water change and tested again, it was a little better but not in the harmful zone. Going to add Zeolite to help out with the ammonia. I was wondering----umm.... Is is possible for a Pacu to grow and thrive in my 105gal? Just wondering....

I have always loved Pacus.... :headbang2 :mwave:

Thanks, Happy holidays everyone!
Peaches~ ;)
 
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