Water Changes....Why?
- Thread starter Bderick67
- Start date
Bderick67;636105; said:Well my tank is not running on plant power alone. It has two filters an Eheim 2224 and a magnum 350 canister.
Completely understood the the whole freak thing. Sometimes being freaky is a good thing
Well, How often are you cleaning you filters then!!!???
your question was why do water changes if the parimitors are perfect mainly because your plants and fish need the trace elements found in fresh water such as calcium, strontium, iodine and ozone. These are replenished with partial water changes and i'm sure there is a few more just not coming to mind right now.
i change about 20gallons per week in my planted 240
nitrates stay around 5ppm - 7.5ppm
thats with 4 12inch fish and some smaller friends
i add KNO3 to most of my planted tanks so why remove it
i dont have a RO unit so big W/C's can do more harm than good (too cheap to treat water)
nitrates stay around 5ppm - 7.5ppm
thats with 4 12inch fish and some smaller friends
i add KNO3 to most of my planted tanks so why remove it
i dont have a RO unit so big W/C's can do more harm than good (too cheap to treat water)
Good water chemistry precludes the requirement for water changes. "If it aint broke why fix it?"
The only problem with this logic is that are we measuring all the important parameters? The short answer is that we cant. Who has the time and the resources to invest in all the test kits required to measure the ebb and flow of all the important elements in a balanced aqusarium. To be sure, nitrates, pH, hardness, and perhaps conductivity testing on a regualr basis will give us a good read on what is happening in the tank from 10,000 ft, but as we all know things can change rapidly in an otherwise healthy tank once the chemistry reaches the tipping point.
As other have rightly stated there are other trace elements in tap water that are absent in RO makeup water that are necessary for healthy fish/plants/aerobic bacteria that is not replenished in RO water and will be consummed into biomas over time. Having said that, introducing food and ferts into the tank will help replenish these elements.
The problem as I see it is in the eventual acumulation of trace elements that we dont want or that could over time act in concert with other elements and factors to create a problem. It is reducing these unknown and unmeasured elements that water changes will ensure. I recommend that you do conduct water changes on ocaision with either RO or conditioned tap water.
This is in fact what happens in nature anyway, and why mess with a system that works? "If it aint broke dont fix it"
The only problem with this logic is that are we measuring all the important parameters? The short answer is that we cant. Who has the time and the resources to invest in all the test kits required to measure the ebb and flow of all the important elements in a balanced aqusarium. To be sure, nitrates, pH, hardness, and perhaps conductivity testing on a regualr basis will give us a good read on what is happening in the tank from 10,000 ft, but as we all know things can change rapidly in an otherwise healthy tank once the chemistry reaches the tipping point.
As other have rightly stated there are other trace elements in tap water that are absent in RO makeup water that are necessary for healthy fish/plants/aerobic bacteria that is not replenished in RO water and will be consummed into biomas over time. Having said that, introducing food and ferts into the tank will help replenish these elements.
The problem as I see it is in the eventual acumulation of trace elements that we dont want or that could over time act in concert with other elements and factors to create a problem. It is reducing these unknown and unmeasured elements that water changes will ensure. I recommend that you do conduct water changes on ocaision with either RO or conditioned tap water.
This is in fact what happens in nature anyway, and why mess with a system that works? "If it aint broke dont fix it"
Potts050;636683; said:
very well said Potts! You still need to replace trace elements and remove minute toxins, even if the water seems perfect because over time, bioacculumuation will occur and your fish may develop chronic problems, along with being starved of nutrients they need that are almost untestable.
The level of nitrates is an indicator of how much dissolved organic solutes we have in our tanks. When we introduce plants or such devices that remove nitrates, then all bets are off. Although the nitrates are low, it does not mean the other dissolved solutes (that we cannot measure) are also low. Water changes are a must for the fish's health. It's that simple.
Thank you all for your input, I agree that water changes are the easiest, cheapest, and best thing we can do for the health of our fish. One thing that was not mentioned was the debree that can also be clean from the tank during a W/C.
I have been using this tank as kind of a test by not doing W/Cs I do plan however to do a monthly w/c of about 30g and also plan to reduce the number of fish in this tank.
I dont keep any saltwater tanks but am amazed at all the different type filter devices that are available to improve water quality. But I guess with the salt mix it is better to go this way than doing frequent water changes.
I have been using this tank as kind of a test by not doing W/Cs I do plan however to do a monthly w/c of about 30g and also plan to reduce the number of fish in this tank.
I dont keep any saltwater tanks but am amazed at all the different type filter devices that are available to improve water quality. But I guess with the salt mix it is better to go this way than doing frequent water changes.
