Water Changes
- Thread starter dr_sudz
- Start date
Ever hear of nitrate poisoning? Less is definitly better.I think I see Dr_Sudz's point; if you change too much water too often, you deprive the bacteria its source of food (ammonia). If you "suddenly" hooked up a pipe and overflow to your tank that continously replaced the tank volume every few minutes; after a period of time, you may loose all (if not most all) of your areobic bacteria. If you "suddenly" removed the pipe and went back to weekly water changes; your fish would have a bad week or two.
The relationship of nitrates to filter bacteria, is that nitrates are the final waste after the two main filter bacteria have finished their consumption. If you don't have both micro bacter, than you may end up with no nitrates, but a mess of nitrites. I always go for 0 nitrates. I change my discus tank 50%, twice a day. I have a dedicated filter for just filling my tanks if i don't use RO water. It's a 'household' Omnifilter. I also have the same type of filter on my discus tank as the last stage of filtration. This might be a waste of money and a hassle in most tanks, but with all those water changes, it does really well. My TDS never get over 140. I've let that tank go without a change for two weeks once, and the TDS were only at 138! The Omnifilter thing was just an experiment that just went really well!
I would think that you have a sparse population of the two primary BB's in your discus tank given the twice daily 50% changes. In theory, an identical tank with the same fish, undergoing only weekly 50% changes, would have a more robust colony of BB; and generally a higher nitrate level. Zero nitrates could mean you have no BB and the constant water changes are preventing the build up of measurable ammonia and nitrites.
So the question is; given the environment we put our fish in, and our occasional deviation from scheduled maintenance (most out of our control); what is better:
- Very frequent water changes (multiple times / day) and sparse BB population
- Weekly WC's with robust BB colony and higher nitrates
In my case, given the work travel, many activities with the kids, and the size and involvement with my extended family, I favor the robust BB (w/ higher nitrates) that would be better at compensating for my erratic maintenance schedule.
So the question is; given the environment we put our fish in, and our occasional deviation from scheduled maintenance (most out of our control); what is better:
- Very frequent water changes (multiple times / day) and sparse BB population
- Weekly WC's with robust BB colony and higher nitrates
In my case, given the work travel, many activities with the kids, and the size and involvement with my extended family, I favor the robust BB (w/ higher nitrates) that would be better at compensating for my erratic maintenance schedule.
