# Other Aquarium Forums > Fish Care, Nutrition and Water Management >  How do you do water change???

## koolman

Hi all

I would like to create this water change awareness to correct some mistake that we have made in the past. Looking forward for more input. Still remember in the 80s when we were young, we were taught of changing 80-90% water only if water turns cloudy or dirty. After siphon the water, we open the tap to the maximun and then add salt with anti-chlorine into the tank. Do you still practise this method?? Through my fish learning, I have a different ways of water change and also water change are very important for our livestock cos ammonia built up and it lies beneath our naked eyes. I change my water 50-60% every week. First, I will use the magnetic to clean my tank and siphone the 50-60% of water out from my tank. Next I will add anti-chlorine into the tank without salt. Then, I will change away my top level filter which is the magic clean wipe and it will take me about 5-10mins for the anti-chlorine to react. Lastly, I will add the water slowly into my tank. Usually, it will take me about 2hrs to finish the whole water change but I really enjoy the process. 

Cheers
Koolman

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## Saiberg

Bro, you change 50% water every week? Tap water or mature tap water? Think thats a bit extreme to me...

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## griffinkid

Yeah, I only change 15-20% of water every week.  :Smile:

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## rainboy

For my 2ft tank, I tried changing weekly 1 pail (the common size type) - fish died, 1/2 pail - fish died, then finally quarter pail - no fish died.

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## coolgear101

For Discus, you need to WC daily 80-90% to achieve fast growth

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## icefire

to be honest for my rays etc and eartheaters tanks i did not change water... only top up when the levels get too low and of course i change magic clean paper and filter wool.. so far no fishes died  :Smile:

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## koolman

> Bro, you change 50% water every week? Tap water or mature tap water? Think thats a bit extreme to me...


I change with tap water but add seachem anti-chlorine first..

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## koolman

> to be honest for my rays etc and eartheaters tanks i did not change water... only top up when the levels get too low and of course i change magic clean paper and filter wool.. so far no fishes died


I use magic clean too but just afraid that nitrates will built up so water change every week to play safe..

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## Jimmy

i heard that the toxic will built up over time if no water change is done. the fishes will slowly adjust to it but it will reach a point where they may not take it anymore. that may explain why last time my plants or fishes started to die after maybe few months or even years. i may be wrong.

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## icefire

> i heard that the toxic will built up over time if no water change is done. the fishes will slowly adjust to it but it will reach a point where they may not take it anymore. that may explain why last time my plants or fishes started to die after maybe few months or even years. i may be wrong.


oh i see.. but then so far no fishes died and i've been doing that for almost 2 years... my friends said that its suicidal but then if fishes are ok to me i will just continue using the method  :Smile:

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## koolman

> i heard that the toxic will built up over time if no water change is done. the fishes will slowly adjust to it but it will reach a point where they may not take it anymore. that may explain why last time my plants or fishes started to die after maybe few months or even years. i may be wrong.


Yes, nitrates will built up and it is beyond our naked eyes.. Prevention is better than cure.. I would not take the risk so play safe is to water change at least once a week.. CHeers

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## griffinkid

> Yes, nitrates will built up and it is beyond our naked eyes.. Prevention is better than cure.. I would not take the risk so play safe is to water change at least once a week.. CHeers


I agree, once a week is a good time to do a routine water change  :Smile:

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## Emokidz

I do water changes twice a week. 15% each time. Using seachem prime too.

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## redfever

I do a 30% water change once every 2 weeks for my 3 ft tank. I fill up 2 pails of normal tap water. Pour a capful of anti chlorine into each pail. Then use an airstone to aerate the water for 3 full days before i do my water change. Not sure if its an effective method, but no fishes died thus far when i adopted this method.

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## mohgui

i changed about 40% of my 2ft tank on a weekly basis. straight from the tap into the pail with Seachem Prime and into the tank.

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## atanck

I actually used 7 X 500ml bottle, filled with tap water. So everyday I'll take 500ml water out, and pour 1 bottle in. I'll then refill e empty bottle and leave it to be used again 1 week later...

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## xXXXx13

I wc about 15% of my 1.5ft once a week with Seachem Prime and EasyNeo Freshwater.

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## Peanut8787

For me, every week I changed 20%. And my method of using mature water is that I will fill up the pail right after I done a water change so my water will sit for 1 week. Very effective for shrimp as there's not even 1 died

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## chazrt

> For me, every week I changed 20%. And my method of using mature water is that I will fill up the pail right after I done a water change so my water will sit for 1 week. Very effective for shrimp as there's not even 1 died


Thats what I've been doing too. 20% WC with mature water. Make sure you use anti-chlorine ya

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## Peanut8787

And I recommend Nutrifin brand mix with seachem.

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## IAMTHOMAS

For discus I have a 25% water change and they seem to thrive on it

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## blackgf

For weekly wc - 20%

1) siphon the waste 
2) clean the tank
3) siphon the waste residue etc water shld drop by 20%
4) top up pail (1st) from tap water add medicate & anti chlorine. The rest of the pail only anti chlorine (one cap of Prime).
5) add some salt
6) pour water from pail into the tank till fill up the require level.

Throughout the process with live stock.

For major wc - 50 to 60% 

1) remove live stock
2) dismantle the OHF setup, medias & filter pump. After that use tank water for washing & cleaning the medias & equipment.
3) Repeat above steps 1) to 6).
4) put the live stock back to the tank.

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## sungod666

i scrub the tank first than i pump some haloex or nutrafin into water, add on the hose, as i have a overflow, sump and a direct connection to drainage, i on the tap at full blast until i see water is clear, than i add some more haloex or nutrafin. i also change the sera soft wool at my sump drawer. oh yah, i turn off the UV when i change water as well. Now i wait until it is night time and after 6 hours has pass, i will add in my 3 steps bacteria. usually i change the water every 5 days if the computer register all the conditions readings as normal. bacteria put every 5 days or 10 days depending on the plankton i have in my water or whether i over feed. once in the morning i will on my UV back. 

never change water at night, cost me an arowana many years ago. apparently chlorine is automatically added to water source at night.

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## pingapple

How do you change water? 

Background Discussions
Assumptions: No problem with good filtration.

This question depends on (1) the tolerance level of the fish to the peak nitrate concentration (2) the tolerance level of the fish to the fluctuation of water parameters (3) the water quality.
Factors (1) & (2) depends on: (i) the ammount of waste produced by the fish per day (ii) the ammount of feed added per day (ii) how often water changed (iii) how much water changed each time, measured by gallon, not by percentage of tank size.
I have done some caculation before and found that factor (1) does not depends on tank size but factor (2) depends on tank size. This is an interesting thing. And because of that, modern fish farm can rear a lot of fish in a small pond but it is easier to keep fish in large tank. Let's say we have 5 fish and change 5 gallon of water each week. After sometime, say 6 months, the nitrate concentration just before water change is the same no matter these 5 fish are kept in a 10 gallon tank or 100 gallon tank.

What do the fish shops do?
I have asked 3 shops. Shop (1) change 25% every 2 weeks. Not sure whether he adds anti-chlorine - forgot to ask. Shop (2) change 25% every week, no anti-chlorine, add water directly from the tap, add a spoon of salt. Shop (3) change 25% every 2 days, use anti-chlorine, water directly from the tap.

Shop 3 uses 5 gallon tanks. Each tank has lots of fish. Shop 3 told me that the more often you change water, the larger amount you can change.
My observation is that the more frequently they change water, the healthier their fish.

It is good to mentioned about Lucky discus farm. They change almost 100% of water each day for their adult discus and for their fries, they do 100% water change 2 times a day. Water has been conditioned in huge storage barrel.

What I do?
(1) Add anti-chlorine which is supposed to take care of the chlorine and chromate into a bucket (2) add water (3) Leave it for 24 hours (4) change 30% of water daily. I didn't see my fish shows any difference after changing water. 


The fish I have kept: Angelfish, betta, clown loach, serverum, neon tetra, serpae tetra, glass catfish, cory cat, cherry barb, goldfish and zebra danio.
The tanks I have used: 1 gallon, 5 gallon, 10 gallon, 30 gallon.

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## stormhawk

Water change once a week with Seachem Prime, about 20% off. Top-up water every now and then to deal with loss via evaporation. Do not add salt randomly without careful thought. Several freshwater fishes are sensitive to the addition of salt, which may or may not affect their slime coat. You cannot compare a Discus farm with a home aquarium. Not everyone has the space nor time to age tapwater for use in fish tanks. All we can do is to condition the water, or use an Reverse Osmosis unit and then add minerals to change the pH/TDS of the purified water.

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## y26tan18

> I actually used 7 X 500ml bottle, filled with tap water. So everyday I'll take 500ml water out, and pour 1 bottle in. I'll then refill e empty bottle and leave it to be used again 1 week later...


 This seems to be a really good method =D.
Currently my way of doing it is to siphon dirt, shit plus about 10% of my water out, and then just use a water hose to fill up the tank again. I don't put any anti-chlorine..as the last time I did it, all my fishes died ( i think I overdose ? ) so now kinda scare to use any kind of chemicals for my tank.

but the bottles, do you leave the cap off or on ? anyway within 7 days any chlorine would have dissipated right ?

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## tomaslee

As for me, keeping Fh, 20% of WC evety 3 days. Before change Seachem Prime is added first and salt. Please advice.

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## doraecell

I use 2 large Coke bottles. One filled, one empty. 
Siphon one bottle of waste every 3 days, and replace another bottle of water in..... Tank size is 2ft..

As for the filter media, I always do monthly replace. Been practicing this for past 3 years... So far my convict cichlids are doing fine and even have their offsprings. Offsprings doing well too... =)

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## marimo

Every month change filter media?
Not sure how long to change .. I just rinse them in aged water couple of times to rinse the slug stuff and put back.

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## polyho

If a tank is planted with nice plants on the gravel and dense plants like forest how to remove fish waste in the tank. I only use eheim 2004 filter kind hanging on glass panel. The filter cannot suck up the waste on the sand. Minimize the action to affect the planted plants. 

How often you guys clean the sand the the whole tank?

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## seahnc

Hi, I also weekly do 50% of WC for my 3ft tank but will only add anti-chlorine 1 week then another week nope. Have been doing it for 3 years and my fish all fighting fit.  :Smile:

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## seahnc

Btw, the week of WC with adding anti-chlorine . Is using aging water ( with bubble/current flow) for 1 day.

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## y26tan18

> I use 2 large Coke bottles. One filled, one empty. 
> Siphon one bottle of waste every 3 days, and replace another bottle of water in..... Tank size is 2ft..
> 
> As for the filter media, I always do monthly replace. Been practicing this for past 3 years... So far my convict cichlids are doing fine and even have their offsprings. Offsprings doing well too... =)


replacing the filer media : won't that means you've to grow the good bacteria all over again ? 




> never change water at night, cost me an arowana many years ago. apparently chlorine is automatically added to water source at night.


how you know chlorine is added at night ? and what time would that be ?




> Hi, I also weekly do 50% of WC for my 3ft tank but will only add anti-chlorine 1 week then another week nope. Have been doing it for 3 years and my fish all fighting fit.


the reason behind adding for one week and then not adding the next ?

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## edw7636

WC for me will be every 3 days or once per week. Also depends on the conditiono of the tank and fish.

Nobody knows what is really going on inside the tank unless you live in it ,lol. Something amiss I would do Wc right away. Haha.

Daily 2 hours inspection will be a good enough to detect any problems with the fish or plants in there.

Just my 2 cents  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

> how you know chlorine is added at night ? and what time would that be ?


There is no way of knowing when chlorine is added to the water, be it day or night, unless you work at PUB or the water treatment plants. There are times however, when the chlorine levels can be higher, and this gives the water a peculiar taste.

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## Shadow

sometimes it is also give chemical smell.

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## marimo

there is someone that tip off the chlorine adding days .. i rem its 3 time a week
simply sum up , sun is the safest to collect tap water coz the last day of adding chlorine is friday

side note : dont waste the water take out from tank during change, I use it to water plants .

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## stormhawk

Dang, I thought I was the only one affected Robert.

The addition of NEWater to our water supply is probably a bane for aquarists. I figure these days they dose more chloramine than anything else.

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## avex30

> Dang, I thought I was the only one affected Robert.
> 
> The addition of NEWater to our water supply is probably a bane for aquarists. I figure these days they dose more chloramine than anything else.


Notice it especially during this period year end that is....  :Smile:  Couldn't really figure out why at 1st until someone enlightenment than i realise but i just experience it so see the coming year cycle.

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## felix_fx2

Stormhawk, I do recall Newwater has been slowly introduced into the tanks for quite sometime.

Some folks who drink only boiled water won't notice this.

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## stormhawk

Yup, ever since they started recycling and going with NEWater, it's a 50/50 reconstituted mix with our natural tap water. This may explain why the water supply is low in some minerals.

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## felix_fx2

Ya. That was what I was informed too. Didn't know about the lower mineral content thou.

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## wilsonguppy

I will always keep a pail of aged water that has been left to stand for at least 24 hours. And I will make sure that there will be no chlorine smell by sniffing the water. Next, I will add anti-chlorine for sure together with the beneficial bacteria. The water change will be 100% for those small size tank and 30% for those big size tank. The reason because bigger tanks have bigger volume which allow it to have a more delay in wc than smaller tank.

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## y26tan18

> There is no way of knowing when chlorine is added to the water, be it day or night, unless you work at PUB or the water treatment plants. There are times however, when the chlorine levels can be higher, and this gives the water a peculiar taste.





> sometimes it is also give chemical smell.





> there is someone that tip off the chlorine adding days .. i rem its 3 time a week
> simply sum up , sun is the safest to collect tap water coz the last day of adding chlorine is friday
> 
> side note : dont waste the water take out from tank during change, I use it to water plants .


so solution would be to drink some tap water before choosing to do a WC or only change on Sunday? lol

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## felix_fx2

> so solution would be to drink some tap water before choosing to do a WC or only change on Sunday? lol


Are you saying if top up from tap directly? Cause some bros topup from a pail of aged water.
Imagine mom looking at me drinking water from a pail.

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## y26tan18

> There is no way of knowing when chlorine is added to the water, be it day or night, unless you work at PUB or the water treatment plants. There are times however, when the chlorine levels can be higher, and this gives the water a peculiar taste.





> sometimes it is also give chemical smell.





> Are you saying if top up from tap directly? Cause some bros topup from a pail of aged water.
> Imagine mom looking at me drinking water from a pail.


Yea I mean direct from tap. That is what I'm doing now. Add seachem prime into the tank, then use a hose to top up. slowly of course.

use a cup dude =D

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## Luc Tango

Just wondering since we are on the subject of water change.

Which would be better?
A. a huge water change >50% a week
B. two water changes 30% a week
C. 10% water change daily?

Please don't tell me 100% water change daily. its a pain and costs way too much for a >300 liter tank.

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## edw7636

1) 50% WC a week is for mature tank more then 6 months down the road. ( planted tank with established plants and no casualties of livestock ).

2) 30% WC a week is for tanks less then 6 months, maybe 3 to 4 months down the road. ( After tank is fully cycled and planted ).

3) 10% to 20% daily is for tanks going cycling stage to remove ammonia/nitrite buildup or spike. And by doing wc daily during initial cycling stage is manually doing partly filtering by sharing the workload of the filter as it have not build up enough bb to handle the ammonia/nitrite yet.

Dont ever do 100% WC no matter what happens. Unless you decom and resetup again. I would suggest using mature media and 50% mature water from another tank.

Just my 2 cents  :Smile:

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## Luc Tango

well, my tank is not a planted one. only hardscape and fishes.

I was thinking a constant change of water daily is better than a weekly change as it provides a constant new supply of freshwater and a daily removal of ammonia/nitrate and what not. (of course the water is aged) makes sense?

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## edw7636

If you dont mind the hassle of daily wc, by all means go ahead haha.

But if you already have a mature tank with mature media etc. You can cut down to wc every 3 days or so.

Daily wc I dont really mind. Its the anti chlorine that matters and that is not cheap :Sad:

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## Luc Tango

lol, i don't mind the hassle. used to do 20-30% daily for an apistogramma tank. they were healthy and a horny bunch. spawned almost every 2 weeks.  :Surprised:

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## pingapple

> Just wondering since we are on the subject of water change.
> 
> Which would be better?
> A. a huge water change >50% a week
> B. two water changes 30% a week
> C. 10% water change daily?
> 
> Please don't tell me 100% water change daily. its a pain and costs way too much for a >300 liter tank.


Short answer:
I think C is better for the fish but more work for you. C should give the best water quality.

Long answer:
*Nitrate Level and Partial Water Change (PWC)*

Let d be the amount of nitrate produced each day
Let p be the number of days (period) for one PWC to be done
Let r be the ratio of water to be changed. E.g. r = 1/4, change one quarter tank
Let C be the tank capacity

In the steady state, Nitrate concentration just before PWC = dp / (Cr). Nitrate concentration just after PWC = (1/r - 1)dp/C 
When r=0.5 & d=7: Highest nitrate concentration = 14d/C. Lowest nitrate concentration = 7d/C. Average = 10.5d/C
When r=0.3 & d=3.5: Highest nitrate concentration = 11.7d/C. Lowest nitrate concentration = 8.2d/C. Average = 9.95d/C
When r=0.1 & d=1: Highest nitrate concentration = 10d/C. Lowest nitrate concentration = 9d/C. Average = 9.5d/c


If a curve is plot, it will be something like this. Initially, the nitrate level could be very high. As PWC is performed periodically, the nitrate level will be zig-zag down to dp/(Cr). From then onward, the curve will just swing between dp/(Cr) to (1/r - 1)dp/C.For the equation, peak nitrate concentration = dp/(Cr), we can see that if we only keep a few small fish in a large tank, the period, p, for water changing can be longer or the amount of water to be changed, r, can be less.

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## Luc Tango

you just made me hate math all over again!  :Confused:

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## stormhawk

You're not alone Luc. The 10% daily water change with RO water or just dechlorinated tap water might work, especially if you're keeping species sensitive to high nitrates etc.

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## Luc Tango

you meant math?  :Grin: 

let's hope i can keep up with the daily 10% change.

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## edw7636

Math for money is ok. The rest my tiny brain also can't adsorb. Lol. 

Sorry to ot abit  :Razz:

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## SeVenZ

o.o i didnt know that wc have so be so drastic... i have 2 2ft tank. what i do is have a 1ft tank that is fill with age water and a airstone thats always running. 

For the densely planted tank, all i do is top it up with water from the 1ft . seldom do even 10% change. its been awhile and all the fishes, shrimps and snails are fighting fit!
for the other tank its almost just moss and afew ferns. so i do around 2 litre change every week. 

so far 2-3 months. nothing wrong with my fishes or anything.

am using ketapang leaves and api stress coat for the aging of the water.

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## pingapple

Someone only changes 20% of water once a month and clean the filter once every few months. I guess that we can do so if the fish load is very low or the fish in the tank are the left over hardy survivors after some casualties.

However, from my read-up and my limited experience, the more guaranteed way is high maintenance. Every day, I change 20% to 25% of water and wash all filter media with tank water. Every weekend, clean up the power-head, filter box, water pipe or glass walls in turns. My fish grow fast and lay eggs regularly. But I must mention that I manage to do so because my aquariums are less than 5 gallons.

I would like to know your tanks do well in long run, a year or more, and I can learn from your experience too.





> o.o i didnt know that wc have so be so drastic... i have 2 2ft tank. what i do is have a 1ft tank that is fill with age water and a airstone thats always running. 
> 
> For the densely planted tank, all i do is top it up with water from the 1ft . seldom do even 10% change. its been awhile and all the fishes, shrimps and snails are fighting fit!
> for the other tank its almost just moss and afew ferns. so i do around 2 litre change every week. 
> 
> so far 2-3 months. nothing wrong with my fishes or anything.
> 
> am using ketapang leaves and api stress coat for the aging of the water.

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## SeVenZ

not sure if it matters but i have cherry shrimps and guppies breeding too... 
i dont think its a wise thing to change water everyday, imagine if your tank is those big 75gallons etc. how much water is wasted.

i guess having alot of plants makes sure that all the fishes poop is being recycled as ferts.. so in a way, its like a balanced system ?

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## ZackZhou

I did not change water for my setup since day1. I have a filtration system that reduces nitrates to nearly 0 ppm. Thus base on the assumption that WC is only to reduce nitrate, wc for my setup is not required. I have zero deaths on my crs.  :Smile:  

I cannot imagine if your tank is a 5 feet tank and you have to do wc regularly. Haga

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## pingapple

:Smile:  I also can't imagine doing large amount pwc everyday for a 5 feet tank. Won't do that lah. And I am interested in keeping fish-only-tank at the moment.

Do you mind sharing your experience in more details, so others can learn from you or take reference.
Is it a plant tank?
What is the capacity of your tank?
What type of fish? How many? How large?
How you do your filter maintenance?
Cost to setup and maintain your filter?
How long your aquarium has been running?
Have your fish ever got sick? If it happened, how you cured them?





> I did not change water for my setup since day1. I have a filtration system that reduces nitrates to nearly 0 ppm. Thus base on the assumption that WC is only to reduce nitrate, wc for my setup is not required. I have zero deaths on my crs.  
> 
> I cannot imagine if your tank is a 5 feet tank and you have to do wc regularly. Haga

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## ZackZhou

> I also can't imagine doing large amount pwc everyday for a 5 feet tank. Won't do that lah. And I am interest in only keep fish-only-tank at the moment.
> 
> Do mind sharing your experience in more details, so others can learn from you or take reference.
> Is it a plant tank?
> What is the capacity of your tank?
> What type of fish? How many? How large?
> How you do your filter maintenance?
> Cost to setup and maintain your filter?
> How long your aquarium has been running?
> Have your fish ever got sick? If it happened, how you cured them?


I cannot conclude my idea is feasible yet as currently my bioload is still consider low. Do give me some time and ill definitely update here  :Smile:

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## Luc Tango

with all the tanks and different species of fishes or shrimps, what i can say is.

planted tanks will require less water change.
low bio load tanks planted or not, of course less water change.
predatory fish tanks need VERY regular water changes ( i am doing 10% to 20% water change every 2 days, as i previously had a bad bacteria attack going on in the tank due to poor water change/maintenance. what i did was 50% water change daily at that point, managed to save 80% of livestock)
sensitive fishes, regular water changes.

but i would say, do regular water changes and you will really see the improvement in the growth and the health of the fish.

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## morning breakfast eat

Hi all. I am a beginner and will like to check on a few things. 

1) what is mature water? why some pple leave tap water to stand for a wk before puttting in tank?

2) how long does it take for anti chlorine to react with tap water? 

3) i am using a 45 cm tNk (40 litres) i have heard that small tanks never cycle fully. Is that true? does it mean i cant vacuum the gravel or change my filter since i will be removing the gd bacteria?

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## morning breakfast eat

Also, why do we need to add salt to water? will table salt do? or must be aquarium salt?

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## pingapple

1) what is mature water? why some pple leave tap water to stand for a wk before puttting in tank?
Just to share what I know and doing. I would like to know the detailed experience from anyone. No matter it is a successful one or not.

Traditionally, people just age tap water overnight without airstone and anti-chlorine. I add anti-chlorine to a bucket of tap water before aging it for at least 6 hours. My fish didnt show any sign of discomfort. I keep angel, serpae tetra and danio. I have read somewhere in the web. Bad bacteria may grow if water has been aged for too long.

2) how long does it take for anti chlorine to react with tap water?
I have read in the web many times. It just takes about half a minute to a few minutes.

I have asked a few fish shop owners, about 5 shops. Except one shop, all add anti-chlorine into the tanks before adding tap water directly. 2 shops add salt. 1 shop emphasizes to add tap water in slow flow rate. Some years ago, I added tap water fast every time and my golden fish became not as activate as usual for about half an hour.

3) i am using a 45 cm tNk (40 litres) i have heard that small tanks never cycle fully. Is that true? does it mean i cant vacuum the gravel or change my filter since i will be removing the gd bacteria?
If cycled tank means almost zero ammonia and nitrite, the smaller the tank, the faster it cycles. That is what I read up and I confirmed this with a few tanks and testing kids. 

Most of the forums or write-ups talk about not to wash the filter media too often and too hard in order to keep the good bacteria. I only read from a couple of people, mainly in discus forums who talk about keeping the filter and the tank as clean as possible. Once the tank is cycled fully, the column of the bad bacteria is stable. They have hooks to stablize them on the filter meida. My own experience confirmed the latter view point. I have followed the first dominate opinion for a few tanks. Some fish got sick and died after the new tanks ran for half to one year. I have tried the latter opinion for one year plus. Fish became health.

Also, why do we need to add salt to water? will table salt do? or must be aquarium salt?
You may read about these links:
Salt in Freshwater Aquariums 
Salt in a Freshwater Aquarium - Using Salt in a Freshwater Aquarium
Frequently asked questions on using salt | Features | Practical Fishkeeping

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## pingapple

Sorry, a sentence need to be amended.
Once the tank is cycled fully, the colony of the GOOD bacteria is stable.

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## stormhawk

> Hi all. I am a beginner and will like to check on a few things. 
> 
> 1) what is mature water? why some pple leave tap water to stand for a wk before puttting in tank?


The standard term is aged water, and by that we mean water that is free of chlorine and chloramine, thus ready to be used in a fish tank. However, chloramine can take much longer to dissipate.



> 2) how long does it take for anti chlorine to react with tap water?


Within 5-10 mins, depending on the quantity. Just don't expect it to be instantaneous.




> 3) i am using a 45 cm tNk (40 litres) i have heard that small tanks never cycle fully. Is that true? does it mean i cant vacuum the gravel or change my filter since i will be removing the gd bacteria?


That is not true. Small tanks can cycle fully. The only difference is that with small tanks, water changes must be frequent or else you run the risk of fouling the water. Unless your bioload is extremely low, and you have plants like mosses in the tanks to handle the nitrate build up, skipping on water changes for such tanks is a big no-no. The larger the tank, the less chance of fluctuating parameters.




> Also, why do we need to add salt to water? Will table salt do? Or must be aquarium salt?


You add salt only if the fish requires it, like in the case of medicating a tank for ich etc. Table salt is not recommended as it lacks other minerals. You should always use aquarium salt, or marine salt in certain cases. It is not a requirement to use salt in most cases.




> I have read somewhere in the web. Bad bacteria may grow if water has been aged for too long.


This is true. That is precisely the reason why a pump or an airstone is needed in such containers. Stagnant water causes the bacteria to form a slime on the inner surface of the container, if you leave it standing for too long. This is also why brine shrimp hatcheries should always be rinsed cleanly after use. A wipe down of the inner surfaces helps.

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## tetrakid

This is related to water changing. 

When I stir up the sediments at the bottom of the tank, the whole tank becomes murky with all the dirty, which will take the filter quite some time to clear up.

My question is will being in this murky muck too long affect the fishes' breathing apparatus, etc? 

Hope some seniors can enlighthen.

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## Kienke

I am also keen to know the above and it worries me everytime I stir the sand bed.. 

Assuming for gill breathing fishes, murky water would affect their oxygen exchange if for prolonged period (perhaps particle accumulation along the gills). Any senior like to share their experience?

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## tetrakid

I can only imagine that their gills will be quickly be clogged with dirt, not much different from the thick dirt acculumation on the cooling vanes of airconditioners after a period of time.  :Sad:

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## dinosauricon

Just curious, how do people with massive tanks (700L and above) do weekly water changes because aging that much water is just crazy. About to get a 5x2.5x2.5 ft tank w sump soon so I just want to know the maintenance required.

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## Shadow

I never aging my water, just put anti chlorine/chloramine. Some people run the water through water filter with activated carbon before reach the fish tank.

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## .Hack

My WC routine:
- Use a powerhead to pump out the water through a hose to the toilet.
- Remove powerhead and attach hose to tap connecting to tank.
- On tap at a slow flow, at the same time add water conditioner to the water outlet.
- Continue to add water condition at intervals till water is filled up.

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## dc88

Is it a plant tank? yes
What is the capacity of your tank? 2.5ft (86L)
What type of fish? How many? How large? 20 Cardinal Tetra, 1 golden tetra, 1 Octocinclus, 4 Cory, some Cherry Shrimp & Yamato Shrimp
How you do your filter maintenance? Eheim Classic 2213 fully loaded with Bio Balls & top with 1 coarse filter pad. Hardly clean, probably once a year. 
Cost to setup and maintain your filter? One time only, filter material <$20?
How long your aquarium has been running? This one since 2009; the 1 golden tetra is since 2006; the gravel & some of the plants in it since 2000 from a previous tank.
Have your fish ever got sick? If it happened, how you cured them? Not seeing sickness since 2009.
WC Routine :
- long tubing siphon 50% water from tank to toilet, do some gravel cleaning with a gravel cleaner pipe attached to the tubing. Clean glass with plastic scraper
- long tubing from tap to tank, slow fill and heres the fun part : ) cocktail recipe : 2.5ml Prime, 5ml Equilibrium, 2.5ml baking soda, 10ml Excel, 2.5ml Flourish. 
- Restart a DIY CO2 mix
- All set to go and do EI 3 times a week !

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## felix_fx2

Here is my version

 Use a U-Pipe to siphon out the water of tanks through a hose to the a pail. (until 50% remains)Clean tank walls if having GSA using a cardTake the walkway tank's water and water plant/clean floor.Refill the walkway tanks with indoor tank water Refill indoor tanks using hose from the toliet. On tap at a slow flow, at the same time add water conditioner to the water outlet.Enjoy fish and plant farmComplain backache

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## tetrakid

To enjoy this hobby, one needs to have a special affinty for fish, as much work and dedication is involved.

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## benjidog

> Just curious, how do people with massive tanks (700L and above) do weekly water changes because aging that much water is just crazy. About to get a 5x2.5x2.5 ft tank w sump soon so I just want to know the maintenance required.


This is what I do for my planted discus 6ft tank

1. Run out my water hose reel from tap to tank,
2. Attach power pump to end of hose,
3. Turn on power pump, water will drain from tank to be collected in my 200L blue drum for washing purposes, watering of plants. Turn off sump pump.
4. Remove power pump once 1/3 to half tank drain, 
5. Attach hose to tap, turn on.
6. Add nutrafin water conditioner.

No aging, as that means I have to get another 200L water drum to store water overnight.

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## zonkkie

Any suggestions on power pump to use to pump out water from tank into drain? Just need a cheap cheap dry pump right?

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## ciaossu

Hey, i've a 2 feet tank which is a planted low tech tank and two 1 feet biotope tank. what i will do is:

- water change every week for the 1 feet tank 30 - 50% and 2 feet tank every month about 20-30%
- drain water from the tank to a pail
- do some srubbing at the side of the tank
- rinse the media using the tank water that has been drain out 
- pour the tank water away
- fill in the pail with water straight from tap at the same time add in anti clorine.
- fill the tank back with the new water
- wipe the glass 
- lastly sit back and enjoy.

been doing this for about 3month so far so good. lost some fish though. :Smile:

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## benjidog

You will Need a pump that has enough power to push the water from then tank stand to the drain ?

At least 200 liters /hr or higher if better. 

Look in the marketplace or C328 for cheap deals!

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## mer2623

Just curious why need pump to drain water from tank?

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## tetrakid

Lol, I am thinking along the same lines. 

I have never used any pump to remove water from my tanks during water changes. The water always flows out through the hose on it's own without any pump, after the siphoning action is started, no matter how far away the drain is.  :Smile:  



> Just curious why need pump to drain water from tank?

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## mer2623

> Lol, I am thinking along the same lines. 
> 
> I have never used any pump to remove water from my tanks during water changes. The water always flows out through the hose on it's own without any pump, after the siphoning action is started, no matter how far away the drain is.


Agree...that is also my procedure

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## zonkkie

My tank will sit 2 inches off the floor. I am not sure if gravity can help with siphoning. Hence, thinking of a pump. Anyone tried before and siphoning still works?

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## tetrakid

Ideally, tanks placed very low eg. concrete tanks are best fitted with a drain outlet valve so that pumps will not be necessary. But for glass tanks placed low, the only way is to use a pump. Maybe it can be speeded up by scooping the bulk of the water out with a bucket.  :Smile:

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## pingapple

What happen underneath my UGF after 2 years?

Attachment 30846 Attachment 30844 Attachment 30845

Setup Info:
Tank Size: 5 gallon
Fish: 5 Serpae Tetra, less than 1.5" each. No plant
Filter: UGF + overhead filter with filter wool. (The HOB Aqua Clear was added in a few days ago.)
Maintenance: Vacuum gravel and change 40% of water everyday. Replace half of the filter wool every 2 weeks.
Water treatment: Add water & _Zero Chlorine & Chloramine_ from PET FRAN into a bucket. Season for half a day to one day.
Remark: recent half a year, I didn't maintain the tank that well because of some other commitments. The worst record might be haven't vacuumed for two weeks.

Result:
1) Fish are fine but didn't grow really fast.
2) Underneath the gravel filter is actually quite clean. Only some dirty was accumulated at one corner where water is pumped up through the "rising" tube. This is the only place cannot be vacuumed. All other parts of the gravel plates are clean.

Someone has set up UGF very successfully. You may like to check up the link below:
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index....-year-old-reef

Next Phase:
Bare bottom with Aqua Clear 20.
I have two Aqua Clear 20. One is very quite. The other one buzz a bit when covering up with its lid. They are very easy to maintain, well built and well designed. I may like to write about these filters 2 years later  :Smile:

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## noobass456

My tank is 422. 1 week 1 wc. 20% Just carry pails of water, put anti cholrine and pour in. 15mins done.  :Grin:

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## frankiefu

For my discus tanks, i change at least 50% and 90% on another day. Using tap water with seachem anti-chlorine solution.
For shrimps tank, i change about 20 - 30%. Using aged water of 1 -2 weeks.

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## SkengMan

> Bro, you change 50% water every week? Tap water or mature tap water? Think thats a bit extreme to me...


yeah i agree ... i think thats abit too much haha ..

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## SkengMan

Sounds damn weird to me that you enjoy the process haha. I personally think it's a chore.

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## prince

Someone recommend me to use RO water. Is that better?

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