Reasons I Didn’t Change The Water.. (share Yours)

Just needing to vent I guess (it has been a long couple of days)... and hear other people’s valid reasons. Glad my tank is mature enough & stocked appropriately that my fish will be okay.

I didn’t do my weekly water change because...
3/4 of the people in our house have a nasty stomach bug. So all energy is going into managing that.

 

Cycled tank should be ok without one water change. I never missed wc if I have something that will make me not abble to do wc by schedule I will do wc one or two days earlier so I do it every 4,5,6 max 8 days. And if I come to problem like one you have now I would probably dose some ffm and add air stone for few days until I am better.

 

I missed the wc on my 5.5 and 10 gallon last week because I was doing yard work and collapsed when I came in the house *grin*. I did go ahead and do the goldfish aquarium, though. It doesn't have live plants (the others have a lot of live plants) and goldfish are so terribly messy.

 

I have severe morning sickness and have been in the hospital for dehydration. Sadly, I'm more than a few days off....I'm behind 2 weeks on water changes!

 

I was at my daughter's dance competition for 3 straight days and was so tired and sore that I simply forgot. Unfortunately it was my angelfish fry tank (5 days free swimming) and I lost them all. I was so mad at myself for that.

 

Life. Kids.

Luckily, like yours, mine is an established tank and I do changes every 2 weeks ( 95 % of the time ) but on the occasion that I don't, I know it can go at least 3 + weeks without as much as a difference.
Besides, I usually do 50% each time and rinse prefilter sponges EVERY time ( media gets rinsed once a month or so )

 

I have severe morning sickness and have been in the hospital for dehydration. Sadly, I'm more than a few days off....I'm behind 2 weeks on water changes!

Ugh - feel better soon! That stinks!

 

Ive been VERY bad many months ago. Now I do weekly water changes on my 6 tanks. I once went 3-4weeks with no water change on my 10 gallon tank. first I was busy, then sick, then forget and didnt feel like it... IVE learned now. I also I'm busy on weekdays from school, then working, makeing supper, then your so tired you want to sleep. I once did 7 tanks in one day and felt so tired and my back hurt so much

Oh and my mom does once a month water changes on her 2 gallon betta tank. I said that's just BS and have been doing every 2weeks.

 

Yesterday, I forgot to change the water on my three dresser tanks, which are my ten, and two fives.
I was out most of the day, from the early morning to the late afternoon, and simply forgot to do the water changes.

I did change the water on my 31 gallon right after breakfast before I left.
Today will be the day when I take care of the tanks.

 

I missed the weekly water changes on a few of my tanks last weekend. No reason other than simply I ran out of time and/or energy. Its hard to stay on top of 16 tanks. Especially when several of them need water changes every couple days (grow out tanks) I never let any tank go more than two weeks though. But I always feel so guilty when it does go 2 weeks!!

I actually do a lot of water changes on my lunch breaks from work. I go home for lunch every day and usually do a tank or two (fry tanks mostly)

 

I stagger the water changes on my 8 tanks throughout the week so I don't have to do them all at once.

There have been a couple of times where I was too tired or simply forgot to do them.

My tanks are stable enough to handle it.

 

Well good news here - I got my water change done & glued 2 Anubias plus a java fern to my fake log. My slow foray back into live plants after over a 6 month break. I hope those who haven’t been able to do their water change will be able to soon. No judgement from this corner ... life happens!

 

I have extremely busy weekdays so I the only time I have to change water is on the weekends; I only have a 29 and 10 gallon but since I have to use buckets and jugs (I don't have a python yet), it takes about 2 hours. Every now and then whenever I have a crazy weekend I have to skip my weekly water changes.

 

You're all going to be shocked. I only do water changes once a month.

I have a pretty understocked 60 gallon tank that is very heavily planted. It's been running for more than a year now. It seems to handle once a month no problem. I change 30-50% then.

 

You're all going to be shocked. I only do water changes once a month.

I have a pretty understocked 60 gallon tank that is very heavily planted. It's been running for more than a year now. It seems to handle once a month no problem. I change 30-50% then.

As long as you are making this decision from a place of knowledge then I see no problem with it.

I have to admit I sort of started this topic because sometimes posters forget that not everyone can do a water change without fail. Life happens - and I am learning not to judge people for that.

 

Honestly I can't even see how I would be able to do weekly water changes. I have 2 young kids (5 and almost 3) and my own business. My husband is in a band and on town council so he's gone a few evenings a week for practice or meetings. Life is busy. And my kiddos aren't even in sports (yet!) I can't even imagine families with extracurriculars on top of all the regular stuff. Or students who work as well. Everyone is so busy all the time.

 

Life does indeed happen. Most recently, I missed water changes for a goldie tank, a betta tank, and a reef tank after an unexpected trip out of state for a funeral. I'm also often a day or two behind on the freshwater tanks because I too have young kids and busy days. It happens, but after some time and experience, we know what our tanks can handle. Regular testing never hurts either, so I always know where my nitrates ride. It seems like a good time to mention that Salifert's nitrate test is easier to use, more accurate, and takes less time in both the preparation as well as the wait, which is 3 minutes instead of 5.