water change
- Thread starter hle_81
- Start date
I generally do a 50%-80% water change on my tanks. Leave just enough water for the fish to swim around.
I take out about 20% twice a week but as my fish get bigger I'll probably do 50% water changes twice a week. 
There needs to be more options. It depends on which tank. 25% or less on tanks with fish that are easily stressed, but more frequently. 50% or a little less on most tanks.
My native tank and my tank with ropefish and other tough fish I may drain significantly more than 50% because they're just not stressed easily.
My native tank and my tank with ropefish and other tough fish I may drain significantly more than 50% because they're just not stressed easily.
25% daily on my smaller grow out tank and 25% every third day on my big tank.
That schedule works for me..and my fish
That schedule works for me..and my fish
Bogwoodbruce;1265582; said:
You remove an insignificant portion of bacteria during water changes. In fact most that are removed are probably either unhealthy or dead since healthy bacteria should be stuck to the surfaces of your tank and in your filters.
Doing frequent large water changes may slightly lower the amount of bacteria that reside in your tank since you're removing some ammonia and nitrites, but this won't cause problems in most healthy and well filtered tropical aquariums. You will still have a large enough colony that if water changes are abandoned for a couple of days they will quickly multiply to make up for it.
It may be more of a problem in a tank with very ineffecient biofiltration or cool water (below about 70 is where I've read you can really notice a difference) where your bacteria aren't able to convert ammonia and nitrites as quickly, therefore putting a little bit of extra load on the tank may cause a longer or larger ammonia spike.
You kind of have to apply it depending on the set up of the tank itself. Assuming that all tanks will be negatively effected by large water changes is false.
