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What exactly does weekly water change entail?

3K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  willow 
#1 ·
Hi all.

I was uinder the assumption that changing out 1/3 of the water in my tank (which includes siphoning the crap out of the gravel) was sufficient.

However, it seems that the majority of you change 10-25% of the water on a weekly basis. Can you share whether you clean the substrate each time or do you do that less frequently?

Also, do any of you use a buffer like strss coat when changing the water so the fish don't stress out as much? I haven't had my tank up and running for too long now so I'm learning more every day.

Thanks in advance for any input. There are a lot of you that have been at this fishy thing for a while and your advice is very helpful. Based on your tank pics. you know what you're talkng about.

Looking forward to hearing what you do. Or, if anyone has a thread link where you've discussed this before, I'd be happy to go there. I'm still learning on the navigation of this site as well.

Thx :)
 
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#2 ·
I change 50% weekly. I suggest cleaning the gravel during this time, you can do only 1/2 the tank one week and the other 1/2 the next week if you don't want to clean it all in one go. Usually I clean it all at once though. You need to use a dechlorinator to remove any chlorine or chloramines your water may have, Stress Coat will work for this purpose. I prefer the overall cheaper and more concentrated Prime, however I use well water so I don't bother adding anything to it at all. Goes straight from the tap to the tank.

I also clean filter(if they need to be cleaned) during a water change. Some get cleaned weekly others may go a month and a half. Depends on the filter and the tank.
 
#3 ·
hi
i see that changing the water being like a breath of fresh air.
i water change weekly about 40 % and gravel vac one half at a time.
i clean my filter once a month,just giving the sponges a slight squeeze in the
already removed dirty water,i add water conditioner to my tub of new water
befor i add it aback to the tank,however i very rarly heat the water first,except perhaps
in the winter time.
my corydora catfish enjoy the cooler water and spawn almost every water change.
:)
 
#4 ·
Thanks. I have been using API water conditioner to remove the chlorine before I add it to the tank. I clean the gravel each time but have only been doing bi-weekly water changes.

Didn't know if stress coat had anything more beneficial for the fishys other than removing the chlorine.

I have a bio-wheel and do the same with the filter cartridge. Just rinse it in the old tank water and clean the rest of the filter without cleaning the bio-wheel.

Have a great day.
 
#5 ·
stress coat is not buffer it is a dechlorinator and is 100% necessary. Water changes are very dependent on how you tank is setup. I leave my tank understocked so i can get away with a 20% change every 2 weeks. Over stocked tanks will require more frequent changes. Stress coat has an aloe additive that helps fish recover from nipped fins and helps them maintain their slime coat.
 
#7 ·
That's just what I needed to know I don't have an overstocked tank but it is rather deep because it's a hex. I'm working on getting a longer filter um...... tube (for lack of better word) so that it's closer to the substrate. Suction is pretty much mid-tank right now.

In the meantime, I'm going to do 25% (approx). weekly water changes. My LFS told me it was not necessary but by week two, I get some cloudy water in there.

Thanks
 
#10 ·
Not too new. Tank has been fully stocked for about 4 months now. It took just about two months to fully cycle and during that timeframe, fish were added a few at a time. I think Willow is right in that it's just going to take time for me to figure out what works best for my tank.

Note: I don't think I'll get another hex thank you very much. I can barely reach the bottom without a stool.

I did 1/3 water change yesterday morning and was happy to see that the gravel did not have as much gunk in it as the time prior.
I'm also going to stop giving the fish the O-nip disc treat (sticks on the glass) since only the corys and one or two other fish have actually figured out that it's edible. That was contributing to the cloudy water even though I only put it in there once or twice a week.

And last night, I threw in a cube of the frozen bloodworms. I hadn't feed them to the fish before. They went ballistic and there's no chance that any of those get into the substrate.

Thanks for letting me ramble...... Have a great day :)
 
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