WATER CHANGES ????

[Greg31]

VOYAGER. ALL YOUR QUESTIONS CAN GO INTO THE SAME THREAD. THANK YOU

 

[hamfist]

The amount of filters you have has no effect on the frequency of water changes or the amount of water that needs to be changed.

ABsolutley true.

All the organic stuff (food) you put in the tank eventually gets turned into nitrates in the water (which normal filters cannot remove). THus, as you have a heavy bioload for your tank, you will probably feed them more than a lighter bioload, thus ultimately producing more nitrates as the end product thus requiring a greater water change schedule than a tank you put less feed into.
You would do best to get a test kit that includes nitrates. Do water changes that keep the nitrates down to at least below 40 ppm (many folks would want it below 20 ppm (it all depends how much effort you are prepared to go to for your fish).

 

[honda237]

TEST NITRATES. When they get over 10-15ppm, do a 50% water change. Whether it be once a week, twice a week, or every other week. The nitrates should dictate the water changes IMO.

FIsh don't need nitrates, so why not keep them low and make the fish happier, healthier.
I do 40-50% every week, i try and keep my nitrates under 5. I even do this on my 90g KK tank which is running a sunsun canister filter, an xp3, a 9w uv sterilizer, and a big sponge filter.
The amount of filtration does have a little affect the frequency of water changes, as in, if your filtration can't keep up with the bio-load and you are getting readings of ammonia, but in that case, you should add another filter and do more water changes. Other than that, filtration has doesn't really affect water changes.

So OP, you should be doing about 40%-50%. And if your buckets are around 5g, and they equal about 20% water changes, that means your around a 50g tank or smaller. Which you should upgrade your tank also.