When do you do water changes

I know we are some reason told you have to do water changes or your fish will die? It's gotta be 50% too. You have to add these chemicals too.

I have had tanks all through my life and I done water changes and haven't done them.The ones I didn't do any but did some maintenance the fish and plants just seemed to thrive better. No stress and when I did water testing wow, the tests showed no issues. These tanks the fish always outlived their lifespan. Tanks I did clean, the fish seemed stress and hated me fooling around sucking up the gravel, draining the water and put it back in. Back then we didn't have automatic water filling systems.

I like to hear your thoughts. I just like to learn and see what other folks do.


I found this YouTuber and he explains his opinion and I am not saying he is right or wrong but he makes a lot of common sense. He's also been in the hobby I think over 50 years and even had a successful fish store. I hope it's ok to place his link to his video. If not I understand.

 

I can see how large weekly water changes involving gravel vacuuming can stress out fish. I only do low stocked heavily planted tanks so the maintenance I do is minimum like you were talking about. I water change my tanks every other week and do about 25%, I have never vacuumed either, but they are well established, I did not do this when they were starting out. I believe this idea of minimum tank maintenance is only something you should be doing when a tank is established, low stocked, and planted to remove nitrates.

 

I try for weekly, but it rarely hqppens on the bigger tanks. Just the betta tanks. But small tanks tend to get fouled up a lot quickerthan the bigger ones.

There is a school of thought out there about not vaccing tanks with a deep enough substrate, especially with sand, to build up more BB in the substrate. I haven't looked into it for some time though.

 

For me it's pretty simple. Not everyone runs planted tanks. Not everyone has anaerobic bacteria. Not everyone runs deep substrate. Not everyone has adequate source water. Not everyone has a self sustaining ecosystem. For those that fall in those categories, water changes are needed.

 

I change 50-60% weekly. There was a time when I had the same view as him and 'aged water' was a valued commodity. But those views are now outdated.

 

I change water, when I need to. I try to set my tanks up similar enough to *need to* at a somewhat similar rate. I change the amount based on how much need there is on that given day. If that's not enough, I will extrapolate:

I know *my* water. My tanks are moderately to heavily stocked, my planting is moderate to extremely dense, my lighting is very high and close to true equator daylight cycles. I do not add any phosphates or nitrogen in the in the form of fertilizers, I do have extremely soft tap water and cannot keep plants without adding calcium, magnesium, sulfates, iron, and potassium as bicarbonate etc. I am not the average, or normal fish keeper, I keep tanks as ecosystems, not just fish. If I change too soon or too much the plants suffer, when the plants are thin the fish suffer; if I change too late or too little the fish suffer, if the fish are thin, the plants suffer. If the roots are getting bound, I might trim, flush and turn some sand simulating storm/surge water and stimulating new growth, usually I draw the water from the middle of the water column and balance the amount of change with the testable, available, nitrogen and phosphorus in the tank, adding the appropriate amount of minerals in the stock solution to match (ish) the biotope of the tank I'm working on. I keep a very specific ratio of phosphates to nitrogen, I found it by experimenting, then researched and found some studies backing my theory, it just works.

Depending on the tanks (too many of them...) moods, and whether or not they are in sync enough to group the changes, I hope to do %40-%60 in all the tanks every two weeks. If one is off schedule (you can only fudge so much before something suffers) I break out the gear on an off week and do what needs to be done, but would rather use that time to plant/trim, cull and move fish, or just take a few photos. I test everything (too many tests) every month or two, pH and TDS weekly, if I make big stocking or planting changes I'm not above testing and charting everything daily to figure out the needs of the system. Guess it depends.

Know your water.

 

I keep a very specific ratio of phosphates to nitrogen, I found it by experimenting, then researched and found some studies backing my theory, it just works.

Is it around 1 to 10? That seems to be the general consensus online.

 

Is it around 1 to 10? That seems to be the general consensus online.

No, I actually keep a significantly different ratio of what most fertilizer users keep. Some common fertilizers put you in a 1:4-1:10 phosphate rich ratio, nitrogen or light limited system. Some methods put you from 4:1-10:1 nitrogen rich ratio but non p limiting. I keep a larger than 16:1 nitrogen rich ratio, phosphate limited system. To me, anything less than 12N:1P would be relatively phosphate rich (but acceptable) and more than 16N:1P would be nitrogen rich(but acceptable and preferred). The middle area is the no go zone. I don't remember the exact gap of ratio (though I'm sure if you search me and that ratio here you will find some stuff with links to ncbi or some other library of research) but I know it's upper limit, which applies to me, coincides to the redfield ratio(a ratio discovered in the marine environment but that applies in concept to much more). I believe the ratios to avoid according to research, and my own experiences are between 12:1 and 16:1, this window tends to grow algae at a significant rate faster than others as it makes up the most basic ratio suitable to simple organisms. My ratio tends to be ~18:1 up to ~24:1 You could also hit a Google search for "nitrogen phosphorus ratio in lakes" to find some legitimate publicly available statistics and research. The challenge is that I only adjust one way or the other by varying food, some are 0% phosphorus, and the highest I can find is ~3%.

In nature, and in our aquarium, N will always naturally accumulate faster. This is why I stay in the nitrogen rich side. The problem comes along if you set up P rich (using ferts etc), then nature over comes and you flip without monitoring (and I know most do not have a phosphate test kit, but should if you mess with plants), or run out of fertilizer etc. As that ratio changes balance, plants uptakes will be disrupted, and if you pass through the window, algae blooms are very very common. Adding p rich fertilizers to a nitrogen rich system can also cause the same imbalances to occur.

There are some issues running N rich, cyanobacteria thrives in nitrogen rich systems if there are other deficiencies. Additionally it just takes a little more effort to set up an aquarium to support life the more natural way. I call my systems "running depleted"; first you would need to understand your source water and what's different to match your target biotope, and what compromises will accommodate your goals. Then, the fish, bacterial colonies and plants have to use (deplete) significant KH and mineralization to lower the pH, once bottomed (or at the bottom of the isotope range) there needs to be enough remaining nitrogen and phosphorus to allow the removal and dilution of the tank water. There needs to be enough water removed that a stock solution (basically a mineral concentrate) can be appropriately mixed to re-mineralize the biotope appropriately without causing precipitation of dissolved solids/minerals or other accommodation issues. Not all minerals are used evenly every change cycle so I feel most comfortable with larger water changes, getting a handle on all this, after first figuring out what your source water can give you can be a task but I think it's well worth it in the case of my water and goals.

With some other people's water, there are enough minerals already present to support a rift lake, in others, just enough for common south American species, in others yet, near blackwater or even RO softness. I have near RO softness, just one or two degrees of anything and a very low pH. When I started, all my snails turned white and plants got holy quick, nitrogen build up and conversion was inconsistent due to pH crashes every couple days, the fish store I was working with had a very different set of parameters and didn't know my area was so soft. Funny enough I had harlequin rasbora breeding parameters within a month or two and was confused when my tetra species all started egg scattering on the regular. I had to learn and now this is where I'm at lol. I keep two very distinct biotopes lately, Tanganyika and "generic soft water", both are fun and use their own mixes to keep right.

 

I had to learn and now this is where I'm at lol. I keep two very distinct biotopes lately, Tanganyika and "generic soft water", both are fun and use their own mixes to keep right.

A bit like me back in the mid 2000's I kept Tanganyikans and I lived in a farmhouse that only had a rainwater supply.

Despite large water changes by the end of the week my phosphates are often around 2ppm though my nitrates only get to 10-15ppm. I think that ratio might be why there's always a bit of BBA in my tank. I think it's quite likely that I overfeed my fish.

 

You could also hit a Google search for "nitrogen phosphorus ratio in lakes" to find some legitimate publicly available statistics and research.

And you most likely find results based on deep Northern lakes, summer period, deprived of macrophytes/plants.

Redfield ratio reflects life on earth in general, especially the beginnings (cyanobacteria). When it comes to algae, algae seem to require very little C, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, and don't seem to care much about ratios. P was, and still is, much less present in nature than C and N, so algae and plants are more attuned to P.

Fill a vase with any tap water, place it under strong light, and algae will appear more sooner than later. Fill a vase with RO water and remineralised with a Tenso cocktail, and algae will appear more sooner than later.

Regarding water changes.

1. Water changes are a cheap way to refill minerals/nutrients.
2. Water changes are an easy way to remove organic waste.

Why do some tanks hardly need water changes?

Because minerals and organic waste are part of the same cycles.

In low energy, heavily planted, few fish, tanks, you can benefit from this cycle and let it run its course for a relatively long time, because the cycle is regulated, within limits, by plants. Plants regulate through growth and sacrifice, growth and sacrifice, growth and sacrifice.

In an average fish tank with strong light, heater and only few plants as decoration, this will not work and much more frequent water changes are required.

 

The down side to doing fewer water changes is that you find out you're not doing enough when your fish get sick. I'm the laziest person you never met and would love to do less work but don't want to risk changing less water.

 

In the 70s through early 90s I did not change water very often, maybe once a month or less, I can't really remember. But since I started keeping fish again a few years ago I have tried to do weekly water changes. Usually I manage this on all the tanks, but occasionally it is a few days late. On the biggest tank (about 220 gallons) that is not very heavily stocked, but has some fairly large cichlids, and has a lot of water lettuce and a few struggling Vallisneria plants, I usually do about 40-50%, even though nitrates are rarely above 5ppm. That tank has a sand substrate, but as I use almond leaves and other leaf litter that cichlids chew up and play with quite a bit of mulm accumulates and gets stirred up easily and makes a mess, so I do usually try to vacuum the surface of the sand. My two smallest tanks (about 63 and 47 gallons) have more and healthier plants, and only small fish. I do change water every week but often only 25-30% and I do not vacuum the substrate. My other tank is very heavy planted and is about 152 gallons. I used to have 6 big angelfish there as well as Laetacaras, tetras, pencilfish and otos, and I would do 40-50% a week to 10 days. But a couple of months ago I had an accident and lost the angelfish and most of the tetras, I have gradually been restocking but so far only with small tetras. The plants seemed to suffer somewhat after the fish loss and I decided recently to change water every two weeks, and just top up water lost to evaporation between times. The plants have since recovered nicely. Incidentally I have very soft water but do not usually add any minerals and most of my pants do fine, though some species don't work for me. Sometimes I add potassium and very occasionally an all in one fertilizer. The nitrate to phosphate ratio is interesting and I don't usually achieve the desired 1/10, because my nitrates always very low, especially in the two smaller tanks, and phosphate about 0.5 out of the tap and usually the same in the tanks (not checked lately).

Anyway, about the water changes. I do remember in the past having more incidents of disease (ich, fungus etc) in my early fish keeping days, whereas in the last few years I have had hardly any diseases. Whether this has to do with water changes or general water quality that suits the fish I keep I don't know.

 

If the water was any harder where I live, I'd be able to walk on it.

I wish I had soft water cause so many cool fish require it and cause I'd like to have a tank with plants growing out of it without the mineral deposits.

 

Thing is things have changed. 50yrs ago when I started water changes were rarely done. Maybe once a month. Or just to top off. Thing was as your fish grew in the tank they adjusted to your water. Everybody kept their fish this way. Many fish were still wild caught so just stronger. Now 50yrs later most fish are factory bred. Bred this way for growth most change lots of water. Fish grow bigger faster. So water changing now just seems for healthy fish. This is just for the regular fish keeper. More experienced keeper can regulate their tanks for less changes.

 

This "no water change" issue comes up from time to time. Of course there are some very rare situations where just topping off the tank with soft water works.
Lightly stocked w/small fish, heavily planted, deep substrate, quality filtration, all contributing factors for success.
There are a few Fishlore members that are advanced enough to pull something like this off. I'm not one of them, Lol.
Here's advice from an aged fish keeper, do a 30% - 50% weekly water change. If not done, your Betta is going to die. Your Oscar is going to develope Hole in the Head disease. Your Corydoras are going to go belly up. Your very expensive Tiger Severum "I want one" will get bloated & die. These are just cold hard facts based on my experience as well as from the testimony provided by countless fellow fishkeepers.
Oh well, it's Sunday, my water change day. Got to grab the siphon & bucket. Lol.

 

I first got fish in the 60's when I put a few goldfish in a bowl. From there I went on to have aquariums thru the 80's. It was not pretty, information had to be gained thru trial and error, mostly error.

 

I first got fish in the 60's when I put a few goldfish in a bowl. From there I went on to have aquariums thru the 80's. It was not pretty, information had to be gained thru trial and error, mostly error.

For me it was mostly library books and aquarist magazines.....

 

I first got fish in the 60's when I put a few goldfish in a bowl. From there I went on to have aquariums thru the 80's. It was not pretty, information had to be gained thru trial and error, mostly error.

Got to say all my info came from tropical fish hobbyists. First magazine I had subscribe to (well my parents). Use to droll at all the adds in the back! Found out about the aqua clear hob filter there, discus and wet/dry systems. Many years later I actually bought discus from thegreat Jack Whattley from that magazine. Had to pick them up from the airport freight area. An adventure in itself. Also my first wet/dry system. A whopping $125. A weeks pay! Got to say I just don’t remember about tank cycling talked about much. Maybe I just passed those over? Discus was where I learned of the value of water changes. Wow they needed the water changed weekly at at least 50%! Who does this! That’s insane! Lol now it’s twice a week for full grown daily for any under 4.5”. Yes things have changed!

 

Father Fish knows some things and it works for him. Everyone's situation is different and not everyone wants to keep a handful of little fish, some snails, and a ton of plants.

It can work, for a short time, for a long time, for a really long time, when its not working you need to know about it though. Most of the commenters on the video are new at not water changing to 6 months and honestly that's not when the problems appear.
He has built a confined ecosystem and has it established for years, the plants doing nitrate and nutrient removal the animals and food and plants doing the nutrient replacement, and still it's gonna fluctuate when he clears out plants, or loses or gains of fish, and that takes experience and knowledge to maintain the balance and adjust for what you need when you need to.

I find most of these youtubers irresponsible that tout "no water change" or "stop water changing" because they don't explain their method fully and usually encourage newbies to jump right in and stop maintaining their tanks and never actually Learn what to do which eventually crashes out.

Can be done if you set up a particular way, stay withing the boundaries of balance, and are on top of everything and making adjustments along the way. Most people don't keep fish like that, just hear "no more water changes" and go all in on it.

 

I subscribe to the 50% per week water change regimen. But since all my tanks are lightly stocked I go 2 weeks. I regularly gravel vac too. I don't keep live plants so there's really no reason to keep wastes in the tank.

 

Do 25 to 50 weekly minimum some tanks get twice a week (keep some heavily stocked tanks)

 

I weekly 50% water change. Why? Because I don't keep plants or snails or bottom feeder or most everything you'd find in a planted tank not even a detritus worm.
I keep bacteria, fish, and waste. (Yes I keep waste, it has nowhere to go so if I don't water change and vac, I'm keeping it)

I didn't water change my tank, for 5 years to be exact. What happened? Well, KH depleted, GH soared to 23dGH as did the nitrates to over 500ppm, and pH dropped out to at least pH5, maybe lower my tests don't go lower.
It didn't happen in one month or 6 months I didn't happen at 1 year, but as I grew more complacent, and stopped testing and just took it for granted, it just crept up and I tested and figured out when I went to add new fish and the went into shock and died. My tank water was literally killing grass and plants when I was doing water changes to recover it.

It won't happen over night, and the numbers will rise and fall and the fish, and I assume plants also, will acclimate slowly over time to it and keep on trucking. If you never add new fish, and never test, you'll never know how bad it really is. Some types of fish can be born under those conditions and you could have a perpetual tank that toxic as heck to everything not acclimated to it, but looks great and the fish live and reproduce a long time.

Is that what's going on with father fish's "no water change" aqaurium? Only one way to find out and that would be to add some new fish to it. Never seen him do that, or move fish in or out of it. And that was the thing with my tank, I could move fish out of it to better water conditions, they took to a good tank no problem, however, they could never go back to the bad tank again after the move, again they went into shock immediately and died shortly.

I'm not certain about the "no water change tank" honestly, it worked for me, but it didn't really work at all as far as putting new fish into it. The fish I had, I had a long time, nobody died, water always looked pristine but new fish always died.
Now, if you have your own little self sustaining populations that are spawning and dying and you aren't adding new fish, I'd assume as long as you never test the water, you'd never know how bad it really is and think everything is awesome.

No idea how he replenishes KH, and when KH goes, pH goes also. Acids will be created..... but if everyone there is alive, plants growing, no water testing, yeah looks and performs great..... plants removing nitrates and nutrient build up helps on GH though. No idea how he combats acid creation, KH depletion and pH fallout. It's what I don't understand from everyone's "no water changes" methods....

The video above for instance he almost gets there and the rambles about "sympatico" and harmony as a concept instead of calling it adjusting and acclimating over time to bottomed out pH he gets there than he goes off to concepts instead of science. Very clear he says fish do fine in their water, but take them out and put them in different water and they aren't likely to survive.
So, starting to think that he's basically alluding to a bottomed out pH and not being able to add new fish but the tank self sustaining without KH and with that low pH with no water changes.... hmm. Yeah. The fish in there will live and everything looks great. Still couldn't add new fish that didn't live through the drop out that happened slowly over years...

 

I'm not going to play the devil's advocate, because I see water changes as the easiest way to keep any tank healthy and add all the minerals, but perhaps sharing my maintenance routines helps those that run planted tanks with few small fish. If not, skip this post .

I run about 10 tanks (7 steady).

Every week I look for critter populations as a very crude bioassay for water quality and also because they are a food source for the few fish I have per tank. Small crustaceans as bioassays is nothing new, except to the fish keeping hobby. I try to maintain the populations by adding dry leaves from time to time. I don't clean or disturb the substrate.

I used to check the clarity of the water surface, but nowadays I apply tiny bubblers on each tank, with a low bubble rate, to keep the surface clean. Works like a gem. One modest air pump delivers bubbles to 6 of my tanks.

The goal I have with plants is to prevent them from dying. This seems like an act of incompetence, but it is actually a deliberate approach to run my tanks "low energy/low intervention".

I keep an eye on chlorosis (yellowing of leaves), particularly with floating plants, as these plants have access to atmospheric CO2. This way you take CO2 out of the health/growth equation, when it comes to dosing minerals to all plants, not just the floaters.

I probe the contents of my water with a TDS meter. I bought one to keep and breed Taiwan bees, but I find myself using it for all my tanks nowadays. Partly, because it is so incredible easy, fast and cheap to perform.

Obviously, you don't have a clue of telling what a value of 110 is made up from, but I do know it's not 500 ppm nitrates. Plant health and growth inform me that it's not made up of 110 calcium ppm either. A range of 80-140 is what works for me. The blackwater tank with emersed plants is around 30.

My knowledge of the contents of my source water is based on reports from the water supplier (we're a bit spoiled in the Netherlands regarding the quality). It might deviate from time to time, but I use the TDS measure to probe my tap water also, and it always shows 145 +/- a few points.

I use a 2 gallon wine jar to change water. For most tanks, weekly. For larger tanks, monthly. I've done less in the past, but nowadays I enjoy the routine.

Along with cultivating some extra live foods for fish, and adding some extra minerals for plants, my total maintenance of 10 relatively small tanks, is about 30 minutes per week. A bit of plant trimming on the go.

My toolkit consists of a wine jar, a towel, a TDS meter, plant scissors, a small RO unit, dry powder (minerals), a Hobby dish for cultivating Artemia nauplii and 2 bottles for cultivating vinegar eels.

 

I've enjoyed Father Fish's content. And I don't doubt that he has success doing it his way.

But his method isn't for me. I have yet to see any of his tanks that I actually like. Don't get me wrong, they're cool in a YouTube sort of way. Something I enjoy watching for about 15 minutes at a time. But I've never seen anything that I would want in my living room. I went through a short phase with these types of tanks. And I quickly discovered that I really don't like them. Recreating the bottom of a pond doesn't appeal to me.

That's not to say that all my tanks are gorgeous. I'm certainly not the greatest aquascaper out there. But I always try to make them look good. When I put the effort in, I'm usually pretty happy with my result.

I just shake my head at the whole "no water change" thing. Sure, you can do it. But why? What's the goal? Is is it really that much work to change water that we need to go months and years without doing it? I have 6 tanks going right now, and I've had up to 10 going simultaneously. I've never found water changes to be so arduous that I couldn't manage to change out a bit of water every month. If you can afford to have that many tanks in the first place, then you can afford to buy the equipment you need to make water changes easy.

We know for a fact that things build up in tank water that doesn't get changed. There are hundreds, if not thousands of things that accumulate in the water. And we only test for maybe a dozen... if we're super dedicated. We see a tiny sliver of the picture, and declare that everything is fine. But what about all those things we can't test? Water changes can avoid problems we don't even know exist.

In my opinion, an aquarium is made better by water changes. You can go without them for a long time in the right setup. But even in that case, the tank would be healthier, and look better with at least an occasional water change.

I personally do about 30% water changes every week for most of the year. In busy times, that sometimes drops down to once a month. I have never found water changes to be stressful for fish. Maybe because I do them frequently enough that the tank never has time to drift far from my tap parameters.

 

My fish also never seem particularly stressed by water changes. In fact some of them are too curious…

 

My fish also never seem particularly stressed by water changes. In fact some of them are too curious…

Same here. The chili rasboras in my heated blackwater tank seem to enjoy the sudden influx of cold, pure water. The chocolate gouramis don't, but don't seem to flee either.

We know for a fact that things build up in tank water that doesn't get changed. There are hundreds, if not thousands of things that accumulate in the water. And we only test for maybe a dozen... if we're super dedicated. We see a tiny sliver of the picture, and declare that everything is fine. But what about all those things we can't test? Water changes can avoid problems we don't even know exist.

Fully agree with this. There are too many parameters that we can't measure accurately. Or only get meaning in light of other parameters. A low pH itself, for example, doesn't mean a whole lot, unless we know the dynamics and underlying factors.

And this holds for professionals too. So what do professional do to assess water quality? They apply BOD (changes in oxygen concentration) and bioassays. We can't use both in an average fish tank unfortunately. But we can conduct water changes and try to raise oxygen levels.

 

Also, if I waited until nitrates or TDS were high, I think I would rarely do water changes. My TDS from the tap varies, but is always under 20ppm. Today it is 7ppm! Often around 14. My tanks today (6 days since last water change) measure 18, 22, 22 and 26ppm TDS. Occasionally the big cichlid tank is over 30. I never have nitrate readings higher than 5 and in two tanks they are usually 0 or very close - I think this is mainly because of the water lettuce.

 

I rarely ever test. By changing my water my water is always the same. Thing that bothers me about the no water change group is there viewed by many who don’t get the whole process. So many times here we get the “everything is dying and I don’t know why? The guy on utube said I didn’t need to change water”. I wrote this once before. If you don’t want to change water keep lizards!

 

I'm not saying there aren't times where I delay a water change a couple days due to being busy, but I actually enjoy water changes. I usually do some plant cleanup/aquascaping along with the weekly water change, and I find it to be a therapeutic stress reliever. Outside of feeding, it's really the only direct interaction we have with our aquariums.

I fully am in the camp that they are the best way to maintain a healthy aquarium as well, but I would miss them if I stopped anyway .

 

One of my regular takeaways in these types of discussions is that there are many ways to successfully keep fish. There is no One True Method that fits everyone and every situation. I actually find it interesting to learn how others do things differently than me.

If you are enjoying your tanks and your fish are healthy, you’re doing it right! Find your way...

 

no Idea what my TDS is or if I have or don't have ammonia, literally I've never tested TDS, and Ammonia I only tested for when cycling a long time ago. I didn't test when I wasn't water changing, and I don't test now that I am changing water really once I got it sorted out.

Just a given that I'm water changing more than enough each month to not have to worry anymore. I've always been a bit "old school" fishkeeper in that I monitor the fish activity and don't test really. and Lately my fish haven't ever really looked better, my tank has looked better as far as water clarity, but the fish aren't nipped or ragged or fungused, are displaying bright colors, not fighting among themselves, everyone looks really healthy and not stressed even though it's overstocked, and that's been my indicator I'm on the right path with my water changing routine. the fish looking right, healthy and calm and healthy appetites.

I rarely ever test. By changing my water my water is always the same. Thing that bothers me about the no water change group is there viewed by many who don’t get the whole process. So many times here we get the “everything is dying and I don’t know why? The guy on utube said I didn’t need to change water”. I wrote this once before. If you don’t want to change water keep lizards!

Lizards need water changes also! So does the dog or cat.

 

I do bi-weekly changes - whatever a couple kitty litter pails of water works out to for each tank I currently own/run. Works out to 10-15 gallons depending on how dirty the water comes out with vac'ing. That'll likely change with the new 125 going in as I'll just have to measure in water level drop...not using buckets on that monster

*Tanks are planted so I can get away with this maintenance schedule
*I alternate weeks between filter maintenance and water changes.

Now the exception is the 54 gallon pond in the basement - that gets topped off with water when low. There's 5 fish in there with live plants and a fountain running. It's been running this way since about Oct/Nov and all the fish are healthy...my wife would say very healthy since one of the Shubunkin is about 7-8".

 

I choose to do 50-75% weekly, and with grow-out tanks of juveniles 2-3 times per week. It did become a chore when I was up to 6 tanks and 2 grow-out tubs.. Now down to just one tank.
Happy, Healthy fish...

 

The need for water changes stops me from putting an aquarium on every flat surface in my house.

 

The need for water changes stops me from putting an aquarium on every flat surface in my house.

Underrated comment xD same

 

The need for water changes stops me from putting an aquarium on every flat surface in my house.

You say that as if its not normal to have 9 tanks running and a 10th on order (pick up this week).... And Runnings is having a sales tax break this weekend so I may pick up the new tub for the patio pond (would make tank 11).

Yes I've attended the MTS anonymous meeting. They talked me into another tank.

Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated....~Borg

 

My question would be - why WOULDN'T you do weekly water changes?

As far as I'm concerned, there's pretty much no good reason not to do them. Just because your tank set up might not technically REQUIRE them to be done (which is another debate all on it's own, honestly I think that dude in the video is a quack and wish he'd stop spouting his way like gospel to people who don't know better). But, why NOT? What bad thing happens when you do a water change?

We keep fish in very enclosed containers that are much smaller than they'd be found in, in the wild, without all the natural elements that filter and clean. Other than being lazy, why not do one? New, clean water is almost always better for the fish. It flushes out toxins - just because they may be lower than what is considered acceptable, why not regularly give the tank a flush of them? New clean water is good for a fish. There's very few, if any, situations I can think of when doing a water change is not in the best interest of the fish. Now, I'm not talking situations where you have a regular water change schedule and something happens one week so you have to entirely skip that week - no, likely your fish aren't going to suffer from missing one because you were sick or something (but there are some situations where they might). Life happens and missing one now and then isn't usually a big deal. But what's the detriment to doing them?

I can feed my dog only every few days and technically he'd be fine...but he's super happier and healthier if I feed him every day.

I have done a minimum of 50% water changes on all of my tanks every week for most of my life. My entire family knows "Saturday is tank day, don't ask Alaina to make plans because she's busy". I currently run two 135gal, one 125gal, two 120gal, one 75gal, one 55gal, one 40gal, one 20gal and one 18gal. Water changes in my house take time, it's not a solo 10gal tank we're talking about. But it's in the best interests of my fish, and therefore mine because I want my fish to be happy and healthy and live their full lives and show their best colours; so I give up my Saturday. Every week.

 

My betta tanks don't get changes as often as my 75 gallon Community.

The former mostly self-sustain.

The latter would collapse without my interference.

I'm okay with that; I enjoy the maintenance. It's one of the most structurally important aspects of this being a hobby IMHO.

If I didn't have to do maintenance the fishtank would just be an overweight painting in my eyes.

 

Ok…..I’m gonna go out on a limb here and speak from my heart, decades of fish keeping, and from a perspective of my being a retired biology teacher. Some may disagree and that’s fine, but that video with a nice well intending man in particular is, simply put, full of errors.
1. He referred to WCs as a “madness” in the hobby.
2. He mentioned to never change water.
3. There was reference to “water memory”.
4. He dared to infer that setting up a tank with a pH of 7.5 will remain constant with no WCs.
5. A pail with dirty water can sit for days, become clear, and be ready to reuse.
6. He said that “old water is like gold”.

Reply to 1. and 2. No where in the world, to the best of my knowledge, does a fish live in THE exact same water for years. Ponds, lakes, oceans, streams, and rivers all have water movement which is nature’s way of doing WCs. My take on this “madness” comment he made is that not doing WCs is fish keeping “madness”…….while doing WCs is fish keeping “gladness”.…………for the fish, that is.
Reply to 3. Water having memory is totally faulty. Water, or simply two atoms of H and one atom of O as he said, is merely a liquid medium that has things added to it or removed from it.…..nothing more.
Reply to 4. It is almost scientifically impossible to set up a tank, add life forms to it, never do a WC, and have the pH remain constant. The acids and minerals/carbonates in this water WILL interact and change concentrations of each thereby changing pH among other things. Even lakes and rivers etc have gradual changes in pH and more.
Reply to 5. Gravity works with particles in water just as in air and they merely did just that. If that water had ammonia, nitrites, nitrates or most any other invisible materials in it, they’d still be in that clear “ok to use again water”. If this was logically sound, we could all stop our filtration, bubblers, powerheads etc, let the tank sit still (like the bucket was) for a day, and the water would be ready to go again bc the particulates would have settled to the bottom making the rest of the tank water ready for reuse. Not so. Ever sat in a room wo ventilation or a musty basement? After having done so, windows/doors are opened and it smells SO much better and refreshing. You could probably survive in a closed up room, but I’ll bet you’d prefer a room with circulating air/air changes. Yep….I said air changes (ACs), for ACs are to us much like WCs are to fish…..plain and simple.
Reply to 6. “Old water is like gold”. If this were the case, we’d never clean our clothes, toilets, even car oil. We could park our car, let the oil sit and settle for a day, then run the car figuring the old oil is still capable of properly lubricating the engine.….that the oil and particulates have “become one”. We could wear the same clothes for years and figure that “old clothes” (not being laundered) is like “old water”(not being changed/cleaned). Our clothes and air around us would “become one”……and btw…..people doing this would, in fact, be the ones others would stay away from. When he had that old fish at the end and said that moving him to new fresh water would kill him, he was actually right IF it were done suddenly without drip acclimation or the like. Both my young and old fish enjoy WCs. I can see the difference in fish activity and in reduced illness. Incidentally, I currently have individual fish that I’ve taken care of for some thirty years.

In closing, I honestly think he should have said…..”Old water is like Pyrite” (fool’s gold).

Finally, I did, admittedly, answer this question with a dab of sarcasm. I did not mean or intend to offend anyone. I only did so bc I believe very sincerely that the biological details of this, the vast majority of literature in the field, and 95% or more of those fish keepers here at FL agree with the benefits/necessity of doing WCs. Thus, I’ll close by saying that this will likely be my last post regarding the encouragement/merits/reasons for the need to do WCs. When next this issue arises, as I know it will, I’ll let others respond and I’ll merely go do a WC and smile to myself all the while.

Respectfully, bgarthe

Note to moderators…..my reference to Pyrite was a simple transition from the word ‘gold’ to another form of matter. I was not using Pyrite as an adjective or a personal noun.

One of my regular takeaways in these types of discussions is that there are many ways to successfully keep fish. There is no One True Method that fits everyone and every situation. I actually find it interesting to learn how others do things differently than me.

If you are enjoying your tanks and your fish are healthy, you’re doing it right! Find your way...

KingOscar,

I agree completely…..with one exception, that being a newcomer to the hobby who views that video and never does WCs, treats old used water like gold, and takes away from the video that WCs are madness on the part of fish keepers.

 

FF's ideology is nothing new. In the early years of fish keeping "old" water was prized and water changes were uncommon. Several here can remember this mindset and books of the day were written advocating it. Fish grew accustomed this water and survived sure, but now we understand more and realize it's not the healthiest way to keep fish.

I've tried adding new fish to a tank that only had 30% WC every 3 or 4 months for several years. The old fish were fine but the new ones didn't last long.