Multiple large tanks and water changes

jaysee

I use an azoo power head, model 1800? I think it does like 450 gph. It is a pump style power head, as opposed to the penguin and aquaclear style. I dont ever vacuum, but you could attach a vac tube to it very easily.

madyotto

with the large tanks u describe i really doubt they need weekly changes presuming they are planted

so lets say you have 4 50+gal tanks i would do one a week perfectly acceptable and less stressful for your fish

personally i never change water unless the nitrates get too high for my liking
other than removing approx 15 litre to clean my filters i dont ever change water without a v good reason

my tank is 150 litre (40 UK gal) with an extra 50 litre of water in my sump

also although plants enjoy neutriants from a water change they also feed and need nitrates

weekly changes on large tanks will leave nitrate levels extreamly low for your plants to thrive

even at work we dont change water just top the 1500 gallon system with ro water

jaysee

There's more reasons to do water changes than nitrates.....

eug

I'm also a Monday water-changer! Just did mine a couple hours ago. I add fertilizer right after the water change though (or even mixing it into the new water). Is there any particular reason why you wait until Tuesday to add fertilizer?

madyotto

each to there own
its just my opinion thats all

just a little tip but like me when you up-size a tank you can also up size your syphon equipment

a good example is my diy gravel vac which is just 19-20mm inner diameter tubing which fits very snug into the top of a normal 2 litre pop bottle chop bottle in half or just under and job is a good one this will massively reduce water change time

hope this helps

Byron

I use a conditioner that detoxifies heavy metals, and these include iron, copper, nickel, zinc and manganese which are plant nutrients found in Flourish. Seachem advised me that Prime (and similar conditioners) would detoxify these nutrients for about 24-36 hours at which point it becomes ineffective, so it is advisable to wait a day before adding trace elements. May be over-cautious, but waiting a day doesn't hurt if i can remember.

I would use a conditioner that does not touch metals, but can't find one i can afford.

jaysee

Water changes also remove hormones and pheromones from the water, which can be problematic depending on the stock. It also replenishes nutrients, again, depending on the specifics of the tank.

Byron

It is true that live plants do impact on this due to their natural water filtration capacity, but at the level most of us stock our tanks with fish, this is not a safe practice.

As jaysee correctly mentioned, there are important reasons for weekly water changes. Using higher nitrates as a reason is not advisable, since by the time the nitrates have risen the damage to the fish has been done. And contrary to what one may read elsewhere, nitrates do harm fish long-term.

Stress of not doing water changes is much more significant that any stress from a water change. As most of us have learned over the years, fish become used to them, and some will even "welcome" the process. If you are in the tank but not chasing after the fish, they learn that it is not a danger.

The stuff you cannot measure that accumulates in an aquarium from fish has to be removed, there is no other way to handle it. Those of us who have worked in sealed offices with "air conditioning" but no opening windows know what this is like compared to fresh air from an open window. In the closed aquarium this is magnified many times. Stale water is detrimental to all fish, and the daily accumulation of stuff worsens it daily.


While some plants will take up nitrates, most prefer nitrogen as ammonium which they grab from ammonia and plants can out-compete Nitrosomonas bacteria for the ammonia. Studies have shown that once the ammonia is insufficient, many plants turn to nitrite and then nitrate. Those with high-tech planted tanks dose nitrates since this is safer than dosing ammonia or nitrite, and the additional nitrogen is essential to balance. But there may be a toll on the fish.

bohmert

What is this python thing i am looking to make wter changes easier. Husband is disabled and i have been doing this by buckets and hard for me to carry.

madyotto

i struggle to get any nitrates if they are the tinyest bit over 5ppm i give fish a starve day if above say 8ish ppm i would change but they never get near that 2-4ppm at a guess is my avrg

and yes i use a api master test kit of the chemical kind