when a water change is due... nitrate levels

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
i have a 150gal ~ 566L tank and i do a 50% water change once every 2-3 weeks and i clean the take once every 3 months and never have problems with water quality .. i could not imagine having to do 3 water changes month.. let alone 3 in a single week

when it is REALLY sunny (since my tank gets a fair amount of indirect light) my nitrate lvl might climb a bit (maybe 40) but still never have to do more then 2 water changes in a month
 
Can't vouch for your other fish cos don't know their sensitivity but i change water once a week for my aro tanks around 30%. They are not stunted or anything.
 
my reasoning was that i feed alot
but i did a test this week.
did monday wc, nothing yet and will just test water.
i tested last night before lights out - was 25ppm ish.
fed heavy late afternoon yesterday. will test today also.

but yes, sounds like over kill.
my filtration is good, nitrates cant be filtered out
i have never gotten amonia or nitrite.... i can put a dead cow in there probably will be ok lol

my filtration is extreme,
fx5 with two trays filled with bio media
and a sump trickle filter with massive filter media also.
Never hav ei seen amonia in my set ups since my noob days

i guess i am changing water too much
2 maybe once a week should be sufficient according to all your stories and opinions and according to my testing....seems to stack up.
 
Howdy,

If your water quality deteriorates this rapidly you should either consider to reduce the fish load or to upgrade to a bigger tank. Or install a drip system (HERE) that care of your water changes alltogether.

HarleyK
 
yes, i have a drip system waiting to be comissionee when i move lol
i can calibrate it to change water constantly over a week to what ever %i want
but for now i mean.
but sounds like a once a week 40% wc sounds fine in my set up

i dont have the nitrate problem, i never really measure, i just change water.
but i started to test and chart the nitrate increases.
with my feeding regime, it tends to go up about 5ppm per day approx.

i tested 5 mins ago, last wc was monday.
it was about 30ppm
 
I agree with one 40-50% waterchange a week or 2 smaller ones. More than that IMO would be overkill. When you say water comes out of the tap at 15 degrees then you have to pay by running you heaters in the tank? Do you have a gas water heater that you could use warm water to fill the tank rather than let the electric heaters do the work? Just curious.
 
yes, but piping is copper - hot water and coper might leech into tank.
hence why i dont do it.

i have 3 heaters to heat up the water as quickly as possible.

i am not concernedabout the heaters really
more
is it required to do so many wc

apparently not lol
so i wont, i have been testing the twice daily
and doesnt look like its needed.

so i think 2x 25 to 20% wc weekly is more htan enough
 
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