old school aquarium keeping (Not the way we do it now!)

[koop171]

Ok so I was at my parents house this weekend and my mom and I were talking about water changes and she thinks i'm nuts for doing big water changes every week. She Used to own a small fish store the would more then likly still be around if my parents had not got a divorce. So back in to day she knew what she was doing. I told her you need to do water changes to keep your fish happy and to keep the water perameters in check. She then proceeded to tell me that they had a 90 show tank that the NEVER did a water change on and the water was crystal clear. Then I told her that your water can be clear but that doesn't mean that the water quality is good. Long story short we got into it over old filtration and water changes for a good 10 min.

So can anyone here back me up on this. That you need to do water changes to keep your fish as healty as possible. Or back her up by saying why it's ok to not do water changes on big tanks.

either way support your opinion don't just say do water changes or don't plz

 

[chesterthehero]

remember that stuff they once made paint and water pipes out of.....
and that stuff they use to use for insulation.....



(lead and asbestos)

 

[dmopar74]

build up of nitrates and hormones and lack of trace elements in "old" water.

 

[koop171]

remember that stuff they once made paint and water pipes out of.....
and that stuff they use to use for insulation.....



(lead and asbestos)

LOL

I told her that what they did in the 80s compared to what they do now is like conparing paper airplanes to spaceships.

 

[geeimatree]

what was in the 90?
i keep my 29 with no filter, low - medium bioload but its heavily planted and the water parameters are always ammonia: 0 nitrate: 0-10 nitrite: 0
i know this is a bad thing to do, but i never do water changes on it (only replace evaporated water), and drop in some food

 

[Jfitz]

I have this 20 Gal with like 8 feeder goldfish that ive had for about a year. Ive only cleaned it once and the water is crystal clear and when i did the all around test for the water the amonia and nitrites read zero but the nitrates read about 5, the only thing off was the Ph, it was around 7.6ish..

 

[koop171]

what was in the 90?
i keep my 29 with no filter, low - medium bioload but its heavily planted and the water parameters are always ammonia: 0 nitrate: 0-10 nitrite: 0
i know this is a bad thing to do, but i never do water changes on it (only replace evaporated water), and drop in some food

If I remeber right it was a couple of oscars and a clown knife. But if it wasn't that then it was the one in the house that had angels and discus. But I was very young so I could be totally off.

 

[invisyblegypsey]

remember the old days when you said you was sick and couldnt got to school, amd mom got that magic green bottel of codliver oil out?and how fast you wasnt sick anymore

 

[Zoodiver]

I won't usually tell people to do what I do...

But I run most of my tanks on minimal changes. My 90 gets topped off only. I have a circulation pump and a power head on it. No 'real' filter other than naural process.

 

[Fishermoe14]

my tanks can go months without a waterchange and still be clear... the nitrates will be through the roof but the water will be clear til my fish die..

ive done it before when i first got back into fish... my ryukins were fine (as in swimming and eating properly) in a 29 that didnt have a water change for over 2 months..


my grandmas tank is stocked with guppies and has some live plants and we dont change the water unless im really bored (usually 1x every 2 or 3 months) .. they still breed prolifically..