Water Change?

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knicks791

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 22, 2009
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yonkers ny
I do a weekly 50% WC on my 75 gallon tank and test the water prior.

Levels are always low (nitrates and nitrites, and no amonnia).

Would doing 2 WC in a week make a difference?
 
what exactly is low? if the tank is cycled you should not have any nitrites-just nitrates. i usually keep my nitrates under 20ppm or less- and i do weekly 50 percent waterchanges..

it also depends on your stocklist.
 
More water changes can never hurt as long as your not wiping out the BB, and may increase growth rate. At the same time, however, if you increase your water changes you have to do that weekly, as the BB colonies will adjust to the rate of nitrate/ammonia production. To me, if my tank is cycled, i try to do the minimum amount of work to keep my fish healthy, call me lazy, but waterchanges are a PIA.
 
knicks791;3852786; said:
Nitrite=0 and nitates are under 20ppm.

I don't want to be wasting my time doing WC if there are no benefits.
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IMO the only benefit would be faster growth, healthier fish and inducing breeding of some species. Id be more worried about wiping out BB and starting the tank to recycle again, which I think would be a huge cost compared to the benefit.

Unless you are overstocked, then things change.
 
We do a 25% WC on our 210G every 2 weeks or so. Has a little over 14' of cichlids and haps mostly 8" or larger. We also vac out ~ 5G a day or 2 to remove detritus off the aragonite.

This keeps the nitrAtes at around 10ppm after the WC. I think our fuge is doing its job. Our other tanks get 30% - 50% weekly but they are smaller than 75G, still a PITA though gives us something to do on Sunday mornings.
 
Water changes are cheap insurance. I change 50% to 75% twice a week. I have no nitrate, and the water is spectacular. I am a stikkler(spell?) and like the tank to be imaculate. If you dont subscribe to the large water change-bi-weekly theory because you dont want to spend the time, thats understandable, but the results I have seen in my 210 speak out loud for all to see. Dont believe me? Try it for just two weeks. Thats 4 water changes. Dont vaccum the substrate or clean the filter media(unless it really needs it), just 50%-75% on Sun, 50%-75% on wed, rinse and repeat. Trust me, the results will show.
 
If nitrates are low then why bother. You wouldn't take a shower twice a day unless you got dirty again or a clean freak.Same for a fish tank,either you feed LOTS and like to gravel vac and might as well do a WC or you want faster growth. Otherwise your wasting your time and water IMO. I know the shower thing was dumb, but you at least get what I'm saying.
 
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