if i went 2 weeks and then did a 25% wc 2 days ago would it be ok to do a 50% or should i do another 25% wc i dont know my levels but i have been overfeeding and water is looking dirty
water change
- Thread starter vnzlnboardguy
- Start date
wait, you did a 50% 2 days ago, and you want to do a 25%-50% today?
you should check your water parameters first. 2 days isnt really much time to accumulate ammonia/nitrates if your filter is cycled.
you should check your water parameters first. 2 days isnt really much time to accumulate ammonia/nitrates if your filter is cycled.
i did 25% 2 days ago and dont think it was enough. my tank it fully cycled
i wanna do today 25% or 50% ???
i wanna do today 25% or 50% ???
If you think 50% is necessary to get your tank looking the way you want it I say go for it. It won't hurt the fish as long as the new water is the same temperature and is dechorinated. I've done 100% water changes and it never seems to bother my fish unless I get lazy and don't take the time to get the temperature exactly right.
Oh and the only other problem I look out for is the time it takes to do the water change. I need to shut off my pumps and heaters when i w/c so the tank temperature drops quickly and by a lot, especially if theres not a lot of water left in the tank, so I need to do it quickly so I don't stress my fish.
The majority of the beneficial bacteria live in your filter, so doing water changes won't disturb it, unless you don't dechlorinate your water.
You should test your water, or at least have your LFS test it for you.
If the water is looking dirty after two days, even if you are overfeeding, you really need to examine your filtration. If you're not sure that you have enough for the stock you have, you can list for us the fish and their sizes, the filtration, and size of the tank, and what you're feeding/how often, and we can give you some ideas.
You should test your water, or at least have your LFS test it for you.
If the water is looking dirty after two days, even if you are overfeeding, you really need to examine your filtration. If you're not sure that you have enough for the stock you have, you can list for us the fish and their sizes, the filtration, and size of the tank, and what you're feeding/how often, and we can give you some ideas.
The temp of the water being put into the tank should be similar temp to your tank water. If the temp drop drasticly, your fish are going to get ick.
I think there isn't much bacteria in the water. The nitrifying bacteria form a slime and stick to your filter media so as long as you do it quickly and don't shut off your filters for long, and dechlorinate your new water, you shouldn't kill or remove very many. I've never had an ammonia or nitrite spike no matter how frequent or large the w/c unless i started messing with my filters or shut them off for more than an hour.