water changes

mfishy · 08/27/2006, 08:59 AM

how often do u change the water a month

sir_dudeguy · 08/27/2006, 09:10 AM

Its recomended to do a 10% water change every week....so 4? But i only do a 10% every other week. I've found that my water is the same after one week as it is a day after i change it, so i dont do weekly changes. If you have something really sensitive to nitrate or something, then i would definately do once a week tho.

PatMayo · 08/27/2006, 10:27 AM

Most things in your water you would not be able to test for. Like elevated organics. I know of no test that you can perform at home that would indicate the level of those. If you do not run carbon and have a good skimmer then you risk the level of organics in your water rising. This leads to your sandbed then becoming clogged and loaded down with organics which causes a whole host of other problems. If your flow is not good enough to keep the organics suspended in the water column again your chances of having higher than normal organic load will increase dramatically. Organics will continually rise until one you have a huge outbreak of algae, your water turns green, your nitrate spiral out of control and then one day your critters start floating.

It's much safer long term to do at minimum 10% water changes weekly. I try to do what the experts say because well there experts and ultimatley you will have a tank that will be troublefree and beautiful to look at.

So with that said here is an article that wil help you with this conundrum.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...t2003/chem.htm

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Pat

Xerious · 08/27/2006, 11:35 AM

I do a 5 gallon water change twice a week (Wed. and Sat.) for my 80g, which is approx. 6% each water change, or 12% a week.

I like the 5 gallon changes because it only takes me a few minutes, it changes a lower percentage of the water on each water change, so its not a big change all at once for my fish.

How many times can you say "change" in a sentence?

srbball22 · 08/27/2006, 11:44 AM

15% every other week for me.

08/27/2006, 08:59 AM	#1
mfishy Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: cornwall uk Posts: 58	water changes how often do u change the water a month

08/27/2006, 09:10 AM	#2
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	Its recomended to do a 10% water change every week....so 4? But i only do a 10% every other week. I've found that my water is the same after one week as it is a day after i change it, so i dont do weekly changes. If you have something really sensitive to nitrate or something, then i would definately do once a week tho. __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

08/27/2006, 10:27 AM	#3
PatMayo Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Seattle Posts: 2,843	Most things in your water you would not be able to test for. Like elevated organics. I know of no test that you can perform at home that would indicate the level of those. If you do not run carbon and have a good skimmer then you risk the level of organics in your water rising. This leads to your sandbed then becoming clogged and loaded down with organics which causes a whole host of other problems. If your flow is not good enough to keep the organics suspended in the water column again your chances of having higher than normal organic load will increase dramatically. Organics will continually rise until one you have a huge outbreak of algae, your water turns green, your nitrate spiral out of control and then one day your critters start floating. It's much safer long term to do at minimum 10% water changes weekly. I try to do what the experts say because well there experts and ultimatley you will have a tank that will be troublefree and beautiful to look at. So with that said here is an article that wil help you with this conundrum. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...t2003/chem.htm I hope this helps. Regards, Pat __________________ 90 AGA Megaflow (Setup 1-24-06) 120 Lbs. Liverock EuroReef RS 100 Skimmer 2 X 150 MH 2 X 96 watt PC Actinic 2 Clarki Clowns (31 months old) 1 Niger Trigger (Owned 6 months) 2 Tunze 6055 PH Current Tank Info: 90 AGA Megaflow To Be Mixed Reef

08/27/2006, 11:35 AM	#4
Xerious Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: CA Posts: 57	I do a 5 gallon water change twice a week (Wed. and Sat.) for my 80g, which is approx. 6% each water change, or 12% a week. I like the 5 gallon changes because it only takes me a few minutes, it changes a lower percentage of the water on each water change, so its not a big change all at once for my fish. How many times can you say "change" in a sentence?

08/27/2006, 11:44 AM	#5
srbball22 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 268	15% every other week for me.