Optimal water change schedule

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Michael6945c

Michael6945c

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 15, 2012
365
30
31
Dayton, Ohio
Just curious what the best possible water change schedule is for large CA/SA cichlids. For my managuense I do 10% daily and on Fridays I do 50%. The 10% is mainly for last nights poo and stuff. I've heard of people doing 100% 2x weekly, or even once a week.. Just curious what is the best for growth and general health of the fish.


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Michael6945c said:
Just curious what the best possible water change schedule is for large CA/SA cichlids. For my managuense I do 10% daily and on Fridays I do 50%. The 10% is mainly for last nights poo and stuff. I've heard of people doing 100% 2x weekly, or even once a week.. Just curious what is the best for growth and general health of the fish.


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Optimal water changes are going to depend on your feeding schedule. The more food a fish consumes, the more waste it produces. Of course with larger fish who can be more messy, more frequent water changes never hurt. :)

I do two small meals at morning and evening for my 125 SA cichlid tank and they get two 50% water changes a week. My 55 angel tank gets three small feedings a day and they get three 50% water changes a week.

I would say the water change schedule you have is good. By removing the poop every day, you are keeping it from adding to the nitrogen cycle and the 50% weekly change will remove any excess levels in the water column.


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Sounds to me like your doing fine. I do two 50's a week usually, sometimes if I'm lazy it's one 75% on Sunday morning. IMO you can't do too many water changes.

PS just noticed this is my 5000 th post!
 
If you can maintain water parameters within their acceptable limits, there is probably no need to change the water :) It is driven by what the water parameters are I suppose, more than anything else. The more food, the more waste, and hence need for frequent water changes.

The WC schedule might be OK for a large managuense in a 100 gallon tank. It might be too much for a 2" in a 400 gallon tank with nothing else to keep it company.
 
I do one 75-80% a week on most of my tanks. Unless im trying to breed summfin. Or feed something messy

Oh and i overstock up the ying yang
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Check your water parameters. I honestly think most on here go a bit overkill on the frequency and size of water changes. It doesn't hurt anything, but I think it's pretty unnecessary to do a water change every day unless your water parameters dictate it.

For example, I do 50% once a week, and my water parameters are always 0/0/0 (I have nitrate scrubbing plants, so nitrates are even negligible after a week). Anything more would just be gravy for my case, and pretty much unnecessary.
 
seedubs1 said:
Check your water parameters. I honestly think most on here go a bit overkill on the frequency and size of water changes. It doesn't hurt anything, but I think it's pretty unnecessary to do a water change every day unless your water parameters dictate it.
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agreed
 
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