WORST CASE SCENARIOS

[Voyager123]

Dear Frnds,

Wot are the worst case scenarios of not changing the Water in an aquarium for more than a month ?????

 

[tiddlywinks]

um.. dosnt seem that bad head hump srinkage ich maby duck lips. HIH
i dout it would happed exept fo hump srinkage tho unless ur under filtated

 

[ltvills]

they all die...

 

[Water]

Depends on how big the tank is, how many fish are in it/size of the fish, filtration unit on it, how often are the fish being fed and etc.

 

[FishFreak95]

they all die...

I went 3 months without without doing a water change(stupid I know) but they were really stressed and colors were not as good as normal. after i did a good water change they looked better and were more active so its better to just do water changes ever couple weeks or so.

 

[BIG_ONE]

No water change at all is very possible indeed. I know a few people who's water is top notch and never did a water change for half a year or more. It all depends how much filtration do you have in your tank in terms of chemical, mechanical, and bio-bacteria filtration. One of my buddy who never did a water change runs a sump, 2 sponge filters, and two AC110 on a 100 gallon tank.
So far, my water is as crisp as it can be and water parameter never swings at all including pH. I test them every single weekend with API Master Freshwater test kit(most accurate on the market that I've seen). One of my tank has been running for almost a month, I just recently took down my 60 gallon breeder and that tank has run for 4 months, and my other tank that has been running for 5 months.
The only time I would change the water is if I quarantine them in a quarantine tank or if I use medications in their tank and not the quarantine tank. Other than that, I just add more water to it when I see that the water level has dropped. And I loose about an inch of water in 1 week...which I find it amazingly fast(maybe it's just me).

 

[hamfist]

It needs to be added that it is generally accepted that it is only possible to go without water changing if you have some system to remove nitrates, which none of the "normal" tank filters will do. Nitrate filters do exist, but are large and expensive.
Probably the easiest way to do this is with plants, which use the nitrates for growth.

BTW, it is a bad idea to use tap or well water to just top up water that is lost from evaporation because you will slowly but surely be increasing the concentration of dissolved solids in the water. Water that is lost by evaporation will be pure (distilled) water, with none of the dissolved solids. These solids will be left behind in the remaining water. I'm sure you can all then see that this increases the concentration of these solids in the remaining water.
If you are topping up with RO or distilled water then that would be fine as you would not be adding dissolved solids to the system.

 

[hamfist]

So far, my water is as crisp as it can be and water parameter never swings at all including pH. I test them every single weekend with API Master Freshwater test kit(most accurate on the market that I've seen). One of my tank has been running for almost a month, I just recently took down my 60 gallon breeder and that tank has run for 4 months, and my other tank that has been running for 5 months.
The only time I would change the water is if I quarantine them in a quarantine tank or if I use medications in their tank and not the quarantine tank. Other than that, I just add more water to it when I see that the water level has dropped. And I loose about an inch of water in 1 week...which I find it amazingly fast(maybe it's just me).

Big_One ... if you are not using plants or a nitrate filter, how are you removing nitrates ? Just for info, I bought a brand new API master test kit which had a faulty nitrate test in it. It was telling me that my nitrates were virtually zero. It was my first test kit, so I believed it for a while. However, in reality my nitrates were getting dangerously high, and I only realised it when I bought a replacement nitrate test kit (again API).

 

[BIG_ONE]

Big_One ... if you are not using plants or a nitrate filter, how are you removing nitrates ? Just for info, I bought a brand new API master test kit which had a faulty nitrate test in it. It was telling me that my nitrates were virtually zero. It was my first test kit, so I believed it for a while. However, in reality my nitrates were getting dangerously high, and I only realised it when I bought a replacement nitrate test kit (again API).

Purigen takes care of my nitrates for me and I am having no issue with it. Other than that, yes I agree that API master wasn't accurate a while ago(and I am assuming that is when you first bought it - I had the same issue also). After several complaints from a lot of customers who bought API freshwater test kit to notice a failed nitrate test while the test at LFS reading is different(mine reading was different too when I took my water into my LFS to see if API is legit for the $$$). API master test kit is now functioning properly when I last tested my water at my LFS.

 

[hamfist]

Purigen takes care of my nitrates for me and I am having no issue with it. Other than that, yes I agree that API master wasn't accurate a while ago(and I am assuming that is when you first bought it - I had the same issue also). After several complaints from a lot of customers who bought API freshwater test kit to notice a failed nitrate test while the test at LFS reading is different(mine reading was different too when I took my water into my LFS to see if API is legit for the $$$). API master test kit is now functioning properly when I last tested my water at my LFS.

Cool.

Out of interest how much purigen are you using for, say, a 60 gallon tank ?
I tried one of the small bags of it once, in a little 5 gallon tank, and in my situation it got "used up" very quickly. I pretty much have not really investigated it any further since. It's good that it's working for you though !