Water Change Schedule

[Demo]

To start this, I am looking for a way to "maximize" my "efficiency/time". Right now i have VERY clear water, its brag-able, water in the fish tanks is clearer than the tap it comes out of! My question is that i do water changes alot(not too much) I more or less do it when i think it needs to get done, or i have some extra time. So far this has worked out awesome, but on the downside, i may be doing it more than i need to(not that the fish arent happy) I use NO additives (salt, declorinator, ect) The tanks all have the aqueon filter for their size 55,55,20 on a 15. I always read on here how people are changing water once a month, or sometimes even more than that, i THINK i average about 1 water change per week or 10 days. I can do 14 gallons (15 MAX)at a time with my buoy that i siphon into, i fill with a pitcher (time consuming) I CAN do more, but i try to do them 14-15 gallons at a time. I CANNOT get the sink siphon because none of the sinks can take them and parents wouldnt be happy if i called in a plumber to change their house I want to figure out a way to make a schedule on how i can do it to keep the cyrstal clear water, but be able to do all the tanks at 1 time a month/week/day. Right now, i have been doing them at "random" and it wastes my time that way, and potentially doesnt change anything.

I am looking for a "change 14G every 2 weeks and 5 every 2 weeks, on each sat morning" type of thing, help appreciated

Friend gave up the hobby and gave me this mess, 15 with a 20 filter.
STOCK
5 neon sized white mollies
1 2 inch yellow molly
1 clear petco catfish thing
2 baby petco "common" plecos
2 1.5 inch corries
1 1 inch corry
1 4 inch ghost knife
3 ottocats
2 kuhli loaches (tiny worms i have yet to see)

Diet of flakes, bottom feeder pellets, occasional algae pellet

Currently working on fixing the terrible water/algae problem i got this with

Aqueon 55 with 55 filter
1 6 inch RTC (growing fast) WONT STAY HERE
1 12 inch Gibbicepts pleco (measured by eye)
1 8 inch "perunno" catfish look alike (stopped growing a few months ago)

Diet of "massivore" every few days, and shrimp pellets daily(as much as they are willing to eat)

Aqueon 55 with a 55 filter

2 7-8 inch Lima Shovelnose
3 Baby pictus catfish
3 Petco "Common" plecos 4, 6 ,7
1 5" Frontosa
1 2" butterfly fish
1 5 inch Columbia shark

Shrimp pellets daily with occasional hikari carnivore pellet.



Sorry for the uber long post, but i think i can save alot of time and keep the same conditions with some help from you fellows, thanks for the time.

 

[Redearsunfish]

I can't go 3 days without changing 15-25 % water. I have to, its something I feel compelled to do.

I used to change 60 per cent of my discus water every day.

And I have filtration out the wazzo.

 

[eatingleg4peanut]

I cant really recommend you do less water changes, I would say you need more with that stock(your overstocked, really bad on that 2nd 55), I do 50% a week on my 3 55's, and mine are juvy cichlid grow out tanks. I change water by vacuuming gravel every week, and when I'm done it comes out to about 50% water removed. I found this actually works better for me and my back, since I get a break in between filling and emptying buckets to vacuum.

PS: you should use dechlorinator.

 

[Demo]

I cant really recommend you do less water changes, I would say you need more with that stock(your overstocked, really bad on that 2nd 55), I do 50% a week on my 3 55's, and mine are juvy cichlid grow out tanks. I change water by vacuuming gravel every week, and when I'm done it comes out to about 50% water removed. I found this actually works better for me and my back, since I get a break in between filling and emptying buckets to vacuum.

Respectable advice, The overstocked 55 actually seems to do the best with water quality, i only asked because i wasnt sure if i was changing water unnecessarily for no reason. I can play around with the stocks a little bit. I have them how they are, because the "empty" 55 has the RTC who has a tummy to him, and the "perunno" is supposed to get large. The "overstocked" tank doesnt act overstocked. Ill listen to recommendations.

 

[silent1mezzo]

Water quality isn't the only indication of over stocked...

Those Lima's, RTCs and Columbian are going to outgrow your tanks so quickly its not even funny. Where are they going in a month or two?

 

[Demo]

Water quality isn't the only indication of over stocked...

Those Lima's, RTCs and Columbian are going to outgrow your tanks so quickly its not even funny. Where are they going in a month or two?

When a fish gets to big for me, it either goes here or a LFS (a good one that wont kill it)

I had a lima for a year, never got over 10 inches, if these do, they will be gone.

I usually trade in the ______ for another baby one, they are fish i love to keep, but cannot keep them when they get to that size.

I feed VERY generously, and keep prestine water, but nothing but the RTC (and hybrid i rescued) grows for me, i am lookin at an inch (if that) for the C shark in about 2-3 months. Limas are "new" so i will see. I had a pictus for 2 years, maxed at 6 inches, although they say up to 10.

 

[Laticauda]

Okay, the reason you are not seeing growth in your fish, even with over-feeding is due to water quality issues. If there is not enough clean, fresh water and a good filter to clear out the waste, your fish will stunt and not grow. I highly recommend making your own water changer system, such as mine here http://thegab.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=22082

I had the same problem, my faucet does not suit the typical python, and I was tired of lugging buckets every week. It used to take me three days to change all the tanks in my house, once a week. So, half of the week, I was filling buckets and lugging them to different places in the house. Now, this may have done wonders for my upper-body strength, but I was tired of it, and decided that something had to be done.

Also, just because your water is "clear" does not mean that it is clean. Do you have liquid dropper test kits?

Also, you really should dechlorinate your water, chlorine competes with oxygen in the gills and can have lasting ill effects on your fish.

 

[Demo]

^ i know the water is "perfect" because of the test i have the LFS do (they know what they are doing) I wouldnt say that they are "stunted", they do grow, just not as fast as i read they can/thought they would.

FWIW the redtail cat i got from the store (that i fed massivore) is HUGE, his little buddies, are 3 inches, and not nearly as fat.(different diet?)

Not all the fish necessarily live that long either, When i get ick, i almost always loose a few fish, thats what did in my last lima and a pictus. Either have to half dose, and save the scaleless fish, or correct dose, and loose the scales-less fish. That always did me in in the past.

 

[Laticauda]

I normally use salt to treat ich, I know that scaleless fish don't fare well with salt, but I've found it to be much more safe and effective. Also, it's my opinion that almost every tank has the ich bugs in it, but stress caused by water quality is what makes the fish susceptible to it.

Have you found a common factor related to when your fish get ich? The only time I've had to deal with it, was when some yo-yo loaches came out of initial quarantine and infected the whole tank with Camallanus (those damn worms!) The stress of the new parasite load caused the smaller live bearers to first develop ich, then some dropsy'd. There are a lot of things that could cause ich, but from my experience, ich is normally a secondary problem that was triggered by something else.

 

[nes999]

ive noticed that lfs use test strips and are horribly inaccurate. your rtc outgrew that tank pretty much before you put him in it.