Ok sorry if this question was asked many times before i couldnt find too much.. Is it really necessary to do 50% weekly water changes? I never had large tank only small ones so wasnt big deal... but now i have a 210 gallon.. so i would have to change 100 Gallons a week?! is this true? even with very good fileration?... my water bill is gonna jump through the roof!
Weekly water changes?
- Thread starter dangerhack
- Start date
depending on how busy i am that week i usually do either 2x 30% water changes per week or 1x 50% water change for my two big tanks.
Large tanks that are well stocked will have nitrates just like a small tank. You want as little nitrates in your water as possible--there are also other more "advanced" aspects of water chemistry going on in your tank like total dissolved solids and redox that are improved with water changes.
50% a week is a good starting point for a water change schedule. You may have to do more or less than that depending on your bioload and other factors. Filtration doesn't play into it as much as you might think--you could have 20 filters on your 210 but you will still need to preform water changes because filtration systems don't usually remove these things--mechanical filtration merely traps solid particles which remain in the system out of sight, and biological filtration merely converts harmful ammonia and nitrite into less harmful nitrate.
You can look into additional things to reduce things like nitrates (plant filtration is gaining in popularity) but you should still plan on doing water changes.
Water is not nearly as expensive as the power needed to run large setups (heaters and lights can eat up a lot of juice)--at least for me. Maybe this would be a good time to look into ways to cut your utilities in your house by installing more energy efficient lighting, lower flow showerheads and toilets, a better water heater, adding additional insulation to your home, etc.
50% a week is a good starting point for a water change schedule. You may have to do more or less than that depending on your bioload and other factors. Filtration doesn't play into it as much as you might think--you could have 20 filters on your 210 but you will still need to preform water changes because filtration systems don't usually remove these things--mechanical filtration merely traps solid particles which remain in the system out of sight, and biological filtration merely converts harmful ammonia and nitrite into less harmful nitrate.
You can look into additional things to reduce things like nitrates (plant filtration is gaining in popularity) but you should still plan on doing water changes.
Water is not nearly as expensive as the power needed to run large setups (heaters and lights can eat up a lot of juice)--at least for me. Maybe this would be a good time to look into ways to cut your utilities in your house by installing more energy efficient lighting, lower flow showerheads and toilets, a better water heater, adding additional insulation to your home, etc.
DMD123;5136101; said:
Prob gonna be 2 or 3 razor back musk turtles and 2 oscars an maybe Somthing else... 2 x Fx5's for filteration
dangerhack;5136187; said:
You picked the messiest of the messy to put in there! If the turtles require a basking area, realistically you will not really be using the full 210g of water volume. Large water changes will be essential to keep everything healthy. Good choice on the dual FX5's!
DMD123;5136319; said:
i just cant beleive i have to change 100 gallons a week?!?! lol sheesh how long does that take with python??
if u set up your filtration right u can reduce your need for water changes drastically. it will take some work, research, ingenuity/money but u can get it done. i would say canister for mechanical and sump for bio with a well made plant refugium for nitrate removal
dangerhack;5136407; said:
Takes me about 40 minutes to drain 50% and fill it back up. Would probably be faster if i hooked my water changer to the hose faucet instead of the sink.