Unnecessary arbitrary water changes?

[spiff]

The topic on another thread got into a question I was always wondering:

How many people do water changes strictly by following water readings?

It seems most people do a water change on a set schedule whether its needed or not. I used to do this too, until I actively monitor parameters. Then I realized I was changing water at least four times more than I needed.

I have a 140gallon with a medium to heavy bioload of goldfish and it takes at least a month for it to reach 20PPM nitrates. That's when I do a 50% water change. Though I honestly feel from this reading that I could probably wait for another month if I wanted to.

If anyone else does this, how long have you found you was able to go with out a water change?

 

[jcardona1]

i do 50% every week and i dont check my water parameters. one time i went about 2 weeks w/o a water change and the water was starting to get cloudy. i like doing frequent water changes to keep the water looking clear

 

[cenecker]

too many are better than too few . but you do have a point, honestly I guess I'm just too lazy to test every week. If I'm gonna haul out the maintenance stuff I might as well just do the changes, plus I like to keep the nitrates as close to zero as possible.

 

[dmed]

It certainly doesn't hurt anything, so why wouldn't you do it?

 

[spiff]

Because if its not needed, its just a waste of time and water and chemicals, not to mention an unnessessary stressing of the fish.

 

[djdlemma]

I do 2 25-30% wc's every week in my main tank, because I know the bioload is huge. I do less on the smaller tanks.

 

[jcardona1]

i dont think it stresses the fish. most of my fish like to swim through the stream of fresh water as its being pumped in the tank. i think theyve all gotten used to it, sort of like when i tap on the tank they know that means its feeding time. and its not a waste of time, its just regular maintenance for a healthy tank

 

[Freeze_Dried_Bloodworm]

a 50% per week is best from what I've tried, a little more won't do harm

 

[spiff]

So... no one does this based on monitoring then...? I guess I'll use my goldfish as guinea pigs then and see how much time needs to pass to get nitrates up to a worthy 40PPM for the water change.

 

[carcrazy]

I do 30% water changes every second day. It does stress the aro a little as the water height gets lower and the fish get more crowded (he doesn't like any fish at the same level) but the benefit of really clean water outweighs the stress. I have 2 rays that I hear are really sensitive to water quality as is the aro so I am taking no chances.