Water Quality - Maintenance

[thecoolguy]

so, a general question for those of us obsessed with maintaining "pristine" water conditions

scenario: tank filtration is adequate - barebottom - and a large (80-90%) of waste accumulates in a certain part of the tank

this probably happens to many barebottom tank people - where waste goes and piles up in 1 part of the tank

now, there are basically 2 situations that can happen here:

1) add current (adjust current) to make sure waste gets sucked up into the filters/cannister intake/etc....

2) leave things as is, and siphon out the waste every day (every 2 days, etc..)

now, i pick to do the second, and go through the 5 min process of sucking out 90% of the waste every day, i do this because i believe by doing this i am greatly increasing the quality of my water - and the longevity of my cannisters.....especially the mech portion of the filtration...

am i wrong in believing that by doing this every day - my water conditions are being greatly improved?

 

[Volenti]

I'd do 2) as well, it also naturally encourages water changes since you have to replace the water you syphoned out with the waste.

I wouldn't say the water conditions are being improved, their just not deteoriating as quickly as they would otherwise.

 

[thecoolguy]

I'd do 2) as well, it also naturally encourages water changes since you have to replace the water you syphoned out with the waste.

I wouldn't say the water conditions are being improved, their just not deteoriating as quickly as they would otherwise.

that is a great point - because the amount you actually siphon out each day is quite small so i suppose it doesn't necessarily improve.....

so, the next question, how much does it help in the category of deterioration?

given that you are removing the majority of fish waste (solid waste) before it has time to convert - are you drastically slowing down the nitrate build up in the tank?

would it be "safe" to say that large (40-60%) per week water changes are not necessary?

 

[philhawk]

i would deffinatly not recomend 40-60% water changes anyway

about 20% is good per week unless you have a heavy bio-load

i would expect that the second method was good because hopefuly it is taking out a lot of the waste before it can become nitrate.

as a science experiment you could do multiple water changes until nitrates are about 0 then start your normal routine and test the water every other day or something and see how the parameters change. be interesting to find out what happens

 

[Volenti]

that is a great point - because the amount you actually siphon out each day is quite small so i suppose it doesn't necessarily improve.....

so, the next question, how much does it help in the category of deterioration?

given that you are removing the majority of fish waste (solid waste) before it has time to convert - are you drastically slowing down the nitrate build up in the tank?

would it be "safe" to say that large (40-60%) per week water changes are not necessary?

Removing the solid waste before it can be broken down is a plus for sure, but it's probably only ~50% of the waste that contributes to nitrate build up, the rest is excreted directly by the fish (don't drink water, fish pee in it)

So at best you could reduce the required water changes by 1/3-1/2, subject to bioload, tank size ect.

Some expremental testing would confirm how much effect it has.

 

[CHOMPERS]

I'd do 2) as well, it also naturally encourages water changes since you have to replace the water you syphoned out with the waste.

I wouldn't say the water conditions are being improved, their just not deteoriating as quickly as they would otherwise.

 

[vanimate]

I do the same. I siphon out the waste every other day before its taken up by the cannisters. This saves you from cleaning out your cannisters as often, and before the waste if fully broken down. I also do a 50% wc every week.

 

[sirasoni]

it just pisses me off looking at the poo pile so i definitely get at it pretty often.

 

[apistomaster]

In commercial aquaculture, every effort is made that is practical to remove settled fish waste so it does not have to be handled by the biological filters.

This is a scientifically sound practice. Choosing the actual volume of water changes is directly related to the degree of bioload you impose on the system.

I run a small commercial tropical fish hachery and I normally change 75% of the entire volume of water twice a week because I do overcrowd my tanks compared to normal fish keeping and also because I raise a lot of Discus. It is just a fact of Discus breeding that frequent large water changes are benficial to their well being.

 

[tonymofo]

Nobody wants to look at fish poo-poo, get rid of it as soon as possible!!!!!!!