I do 50% weeksly water changes, as it just seems healthier to flush the tank with fresh clean water....also...if you dose dry ferts this is almost imperative so that stuff doesnt build up in the tank, correct?

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

20% water changes are usually best. I use the Happy Fish Water Changing System and add NovAqua Plus to the water when I am re- filling.

You can get your Happy Fish here. *********************** Wrightway Aquarium Products, LLC - Home

It seems like a lot of people are doing a lot of large water changes. I guess if that is what works for you or if you have a large fish load then go for it. I have never done more than 25% biweekly changes and rarely had a problem, and I would rarely ever pull out decorations or equipment for a scrubbing, you risk removing the good bacteria. Anyway this is just my two cents and I'm not saying that everyone should do it like me, I just can't believe that these large,frequent water changes are nessesary unless you have a heavy fish load.

As long as you leave the substrate alone, pulling out the decor and scrubbing it will cause no issues, nowhere did i state to pull out and scrub your equipment, though scrubbing your heater and outside of you filter unit will again cause no harm, just dont mess with the media

I dont have a large fish load, but due to me only water changing monthly, larger changes are needed. I dont believe large water changes are needed weekly thats for sure, unless you have a tank that overstocked or not running properly.

But like you the above is purely my opinion, like it or lump it

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1x350L Goldfish, 1x 286L Planted, 1x190L Cherry shrimp, 1x140L Feeders, 1x130L Planted, 1x119L Peppermint BN breeding colony

If you have a high-tech tank and dose ferts using the estimative index (EI) method, you do 50% water changes to reset your nutrient levels. EI is based off of not having any limiting factors for maximum plant growth and health. So you overdose the water column and then reset every week. Bio load doesn't always matter.

Well,there you go, I know nothing of high tech tanks. I stand corrected, I guess there is a good reason to do large frequent water changes. I've been out of the aquarium game for about 4 or 5 years. I guess a lot has changed.

Good morning...

Have been following this thread and it's amazing how tolerant and adaptable tropical fish are. I've read about tanks that get minimal water changes. My friend Dave, the "old water keeper" told me the old way to keep tanks was the older the water was in the tank, the better. Old water in undisturbed tanks meant the plants took over filtration and the fish just got used to unfiltered water. The only thing that needed to be done was to top off the tank periodically due to evaporation. Over a long time, the fish got used to infrequent, small or no water changes and the increasing quantities of pollutants, particularly nitrites. If that's the type of environment your fish have gotten used to, then a large water change could be deadly, even though the new water would be much better.

I've learned over the years that my tanks will basically run themselves if I just keep the water pure. I do my large, frequent water changes and don't have to spend a lot of money on heavy filtration, because the filters are just filtering water that's already clean. Another plus is, I never have to test the water chemistry, because I know there's no time for pullutants to build up before the next large water change.

Just an opinion. Above everything else, have fun!

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper