For me, it's usually the wife that says that... followed by... "Or are you going to ruin another...." I should make a video titled, "Top Ten times I overfilled my aquariums." I'll edit out the part where my wife hits me over the head with a shillelagh of course... she's running out of room to add notches...
*New, uncycled tank:* 50%, 2-3 times a week. *New, cycled tank:* 30% once a week *Established tank with healthy plant growth and bacteria-rich substrate and healthy filter:*
@@tbates4938 mainly because hardness will accumulate and reach a high plateau. Short term effects will be unnoticeable. But softwater fish will use out their liver and other organs and die earlier rather than of old age. Unless his water is RO, distilled, or very low.
I change about 25% of my water once every two weeks. I base it off of my water test results and they seem to get close to spiking every 3 weeks and I also keep an eye on fish behavior. But like you so greatly explain in your video there are so many variables and setups that would make every ones schedule different. Thanks for another great video!
During spring and early summer I use a lot of fish water to grow my vegetable seeds for my garden. This makes about 30%-50% daily water change. It makes my seedlings grow like crazy :D.
Great information. Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to provide the entire who, what, when, where and why behind the issue at hand. Keep them coming.
I do a 10-12% water change on my tank once a week. I like to slightly understock and slightly over filtrate and that seems to give me nice stable parameters in my current Nano tank. I also like to do my water test 3 days after the water change as I've learned how my tank 'behaves' and where the parameters should be at that point. How do you manage water testing on that number of tanks?
20-25% weekly. Thanks for the info! I bought a 65g two months ago and this type of video which explains the REASONS behind the advice for water changes really helps, especially when receiving conflicting advice.
Thank you for sharing!! We do 50% water changes every 3 days on our 65 gallon goldfish tank, along with heavy filtration. They are happy and healthy and it's worth the effort to keep them that way. I so appreciate your videos!
Hello Rachel! I do 30% water changes once a week on my 20L, 29, and my 75. I lightly vacuum the substrate that I can get at and I make sure to vacuum my plants. I did notice that my java fern collects a lot of gunk. Vacuuming schedules do vary greatly per tank type. Great advice as always from you Rachel! 😁
i do a partial water change once a week on my 3 gallon betta tank, i'm new to this so i did a lot of research before getting my betta, he's a lively little guy and seems to be doing great
My heavily planted, low stocked 30 gallon gets a 25-30% water changes every 7 to 10 days with a good vacuum.. plants and fish are growing and seem happy😊 Thanks for the info!
Classy lady! Dissolved organics is why we do water changes folks. Nitrates are why and indeed how we grow plants. In a well planted tank we will often not have enough nitrates and need to add them via ferts - so it makes little sense to demonize them and make them THE reason to change water as so many less well-informed aquarists suggest. Well done Rachel - a class of your own as per normal :)
I'm thinking now that might be half right. NO3- testing on its own won't give a full picture of the water health where plant growth is occurring, but I think measuring it in any system is one of the best ways to ascertain whether that system in general is coping with its current nutrient input. e.g. Plants are thriving but NO3- keep rising, so the owner then has a reasonable excuse for either an early or larger water change in order to dilute the problem. They wouldn't be aware of such an issue if they weren't testing. On a related note, I've been reading through Walstad's "Ecology" book (up to the bacteria section) and unless my memory is failing me the gist I have so far is that organics aren't by themselves harmful to most fresh aquatic life, but the NH3 and NO2- (not so much NO3-) resulting from those organics being nitrified by bacteria most certainly are. To your point though, I do assume that high enough levels of organics being allowed to collect in various forms could trigger nasty bacteria or parasite blooms irrespective of how much or little free nitrogen is being left in the water, but I'm not entirely certain how much other factors besides the presence of "high" organics would affect the likelihood of such events. Anaerobic conditions maybe? I also feel compelled to note that a lot of reef aquarists now days are using plants as a, and in some cases only, form of nutrient export with good results. They do watch and reactively supplement a slew of parameters from Ca and alkalinity to PO4 and NO3-, but by my understanding, water changes for them are a stopgap means of dealing with excess nutrients, a problem that so happens to reliably manifest in the form of rising PO4 and *NO3-*. Now reef aquaria certainly do not play by the same rules as freshwater counterparts, but I think there's definitely things FW people can learn from them. I'm thinking along the lines of harvesting plants for nutrient export and informed elemental supplementation (Alk, K, Ca, etc.) for scenarios where relying on water changes to keep the balance is too volume or cost prohibitive.
One of the things I've learned in my years in the hobby is to make sure I'm getting my information from solid unbiased sources. Far and away the most helpful of these have been professional scientists who also happen to be aquarists and far and away the least reliable is anyone trying to sell you something, no matter what pseudo-science they may use to push their product. The advice I've been given by a chemist who also happens to be aquarist is to fundamentally distrust all hobbyist level test kits. This is simply because of the cheap reagents used and the over-simplification of the process. If on the other hand you've spent £150+ on your nitrate test kit, or have taken a sample to a professional lab (not your LFS who are just going to use the hobbyist kits they sell) then you can get accurate results. Not otherwise. Far better to use your water company's published water parameters as your base line and figure out your working practice from there - at least in the UK. I had to learn the hard way as my nitrates are 40+ppm out of the tap. So I grow a lot of plants! I'm not saying test kits don't have any use - just that they are over used and that people tend to make decisions assuming an accuracy that is highly suspect. For e.g. assuming them capable of making fine distinctions between 10, 20, 30 and 40ppm. And to what purpose? There is very little research that is tropical species specific, but what there is clearly shows that inorganic nitrates themselves don't begin to become toxic until you're counting in the 100's of ppm! One trial on guppy fry showed an LC50 (half of them died) when levels of NO3 got to around 875ppm. N.B. Only half of them died! And this turns out to be only indirectly due to nitrates as the actual toxic mechanism involves the fish's physiology turning the NO3 back into NO2 and its the NO2 that does the damage. People using Estimative Index ferts dosing have tripled and even quadrupled the amount of inorganic nitrate they are adding to their high tech tanks per week and observed that fish continue to breed and thrive. So when people jump up and down about nitrate levels they are making a series of assumptions and I would always advocate that people buy more plants rather than replace the stocks of the test kits they've been obsessively over-using, as those plants will soak up the nitrates AND the nitrites AND the ammonia, especially if they are reasonably fast growing and not carbon limited - i.e. floating plants such as frogbit, duckweed etc. The same cannot be said of the much slower growing plants such as anubias and java fern that are typically pushed to beginners as they grow too slowly to provide adequate nutrient export. From what I understand, as explained by a professional biologist involved in the study of water treatment, far and away the most critical factor to aquarium health is something almost nobody mentions: Oxygen. (Probably because they can't flog a cheap oxygen test kit!) But understanding that the entire nitrification cycle is using up available oxygen is a pretty key concept as it then follows that we evolve practices that maximise the availability of oxygen to our plants and fish. Obviously plants are net producers of oxygen so long as they are growing, but otherwise, providing there is plenty of oxygen (trickle tower filter) then eventually sufficient microorganism colonies will develop to nitrify what ever dissolved organic compounds are there. But the limiting factor is oxygen and unless this is abundant to the archaea and to a lesser extent bacteria, its a safe assumption that the dirtier the tank the more likely there will ammonia and nitrite present. Again, people are far too quick to do a weekly ammonia test or nitrite test and then either be complacent when its good or freak out if its bad, without understanding the whole picture. Lastly, while I'm sure you are right that we can learn much from the salty side, there's also been a lot of misinformation in the cross over because some things that are true for salt water simply don't apply in freshwater. For example people obsess about pH when their water is actually far too soft for a pH reading to be meaningful as its a ratio not quantitive.
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this. Sorry about the late reply; work got in the way. I know what you mean about info sources. Whether it's twisting the science behind hardness testing to sell a certain calcium/magnesium block, or inferring to potential koi keepers that their fish will be just fine in a pond with a gravel bottom, no drains and scant maintenance because they're "working with nature", there is always someone waiting to pounce on a misconception to make a profit. I've definitely seen a number of "bad reagent batch" type anecdotes on the internet. I would not be too surprised if most hobby-staple reagents available gave misleading results to some degree, which makes matters more complicated when someone like me can have trouble making a visual link between the color of a solution and what's on the card. I wonder if Hanna's colorimeter "checkers" can bridge that gap between budget and accuracy? In any case they still haven't got a checker for testing nitrate... I like the premise you noted about oxygen being the limiting ingredient for nitrification. I recall coming to a similar conclusion when learning about planted aquaria... and then fretting over how O2 is so great for just about everything worthwhile, yet aggressive water agitation being used to bring it in would also in theory off-gas much of that precious (for lush plant growth) CO2 until its level in the water equilibrates with the atmosphere. It made me feel like I needed to pick a side hmhm. I guess the question I have for you (one that Rachel didn't seem to go into) is; which indicators, if any, would you feel most comfortable using to decide when to do a water change in a freshwater aquarium?
I guess the reason Rachel didn't go into it is that there are so many factors to weigh and evaluate when making this decision. Tank volume, bio-load, planting density (assuming there's any plants), light intensity/duration, species/feeding frequency, fertilisers (type and amounts), CO2 etc, etc. Also, perhaps most importantly, plant growth, assuming we're talking about planted tanks for the moment. If I'm seeing lots of plant growth and the TDS (or conductivity to be more accurate) is stable or falling over the course of a week, then its pretty safe to assume that whatever is dissolved in the water, or breaking down in the substrate, is being exported into plant biomass. I can then choose to actually remove it (frogbit, duckweed etc.) or cut and replant with stems. As I've learned, so long as you recognise that a TDS meter does NOT tell you WHAT is dissolved it remains the one repeatably reliable test at our disposal. Nearly all my tanks have TDS readings and dates sharpied on the side. Is it definitive? Absolutely not, but I find it useful. I may possibly misinterpret a TDS reading, but the actual reading will not be wrong, unlike a dodgy test strip or cheap liquid test kit. When I see stable TDS and plant growth it doesn't mean I won't change water, but on the other hand seeing an elevated TDS or a lack of plants thriving will probably prompt me to change more water more frequently. I will also examine how I can get the plants to grow better. I should add that all my tanks (nine of them) are low tech with moderate lighting. I use plants to filter water and have zero talent or interest really in 'aquascaping' - I love creating environments in which fish indicate they're happy and thriving with behaviour and breeding. At the moment I have about 40+ Ancistrus Rio Tocantins fry growing out with their parents in situ in a 20 G long planted tank, with a bunch of corydoras trilineatus and rummy noses. Because I ran out of a veggie repashy right now I'm feeding these fry green beans and courgette, which makes a hell of a mess so I'm changing about 20 to 30% every other day at least. When they're back on repashy there will be less mess, less waste and I'll probably drop the water changes to every third day . . . it's just a fine weighing up of a bunch of factors and I couldn't honestly tell you what's intuition and what's just erring on the side of caution. Hope that helps :)
I have 40g breeder, 75gallon, and a 35g tall and I do a 30-50% water change every single week and use a gravel cleaner on the substrate as well. And dose stress coat/chlorine binder with aloe in it when I replace the water. I use a marina aqua vac too do this.
Always look forward to your video's Rachel! I change 25% 2 times a week, it's planted so I'm regularly pulling out dead leaves and/or unsightly growth. I prefer to clean often anyway I find it therapeutic :) thanks for recapping the basics, you truely inspired me and i'm sure a lot more people to get into this hobby.
The best video on water changes I've seen. I do 95% every two weeks. As I add more tanks to the fishroom, we'll see if I can keep this up. This works for my style of fishkeeping. By style, I mean stocking density, filter type, filter maintenance, fish choices, my tap water, work ethic, and probably another half a dozen things that escape me at the moment. Learn with test kits, and then learn to read your aquarium and your fish. Yeah, I've been doing this awhile - over 40 years since my first tank... and watched my Dad and his tanks before that. Never too young or too old to be in this hobby.
I love and appreciate your videos. I am new at this "fish thing". There is a lot of information out there and not everyone agrees..lol. Sure makes it challenging to figure out the best way to care for my fishies. Thank you!
I have a 46 gallon bowfront planted. With 2 rubberlip plecos, 7 zebra danios, 12 red eye tetras, 1 gourami, 4 mollies and 2 angels. Along with a few snails. What I try to do is a 40% water change weekly.
I also use a box filter and a hang on the back. Since I've started using both filters I don't have issues with my nitrates or ammonia levels anymore but I still do my water changes.
I've got a 19gallon aquarium with 10 Corydoras, 1 Siamese algae eater 1 Cardinal Tetra, 1 Peacock Gudgeon and 4 small, long fin Rosy Barbs. I do a 35-40% waterchange each week. (Yet I'm waiting to set up a second aquarium in about 3 months, it'll be 48 gallons.) That's when I'm going to add some friends for the long lost lonely group fishies I guess I will change about the same amount by then... Digging your tattoos btw! Oh and keep up the amazing work, I've learned so much from you already! Thank you for all the effort you put into this!!
I'm only a couple months new to keeping African Cichlids in a 75g tank. One of the big-box stores advised 10% weekly or 25% monthly water changes. Though my dozen fish are still small, the tank isn't overstocked, and the parameters look darned good, I'm bumping up to 20% weekly; 50% monthly. Thanks, Rachel, for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm.
I do water change maybe 40% every three weeks. I'm going to try to do it more frequently. I have one of the aquarium with big over 15 yr old silver dollars. I know they're not amazing fish but I've had them forever and love them so much.I do a maybe 10 % every week they flip out and some times jump out if I do anything more invasive. I try to do as little as possible to not stress them!
Hello Lady.. I do 25% weekly (175 gallons).. I also have a 75 gallon sump with 1800gph return pump, and 2 Fluval FX Canisters. I have all returns strategically placed as well as large Jebao wavemakers that eliminate nearly all dead spots. I usually clean glass during draining of old water.. Great Video !
Great video. I like how you made it very clear that you have a well; which makes your situation much different than others. New hobbyists will see this and not make the error of adding chlorine to their aquarium. I notice that you tend to have to clarify yourself that you have a well in the comments. I feel some viewers don't read comments; so good on you for clarifying that in the video. 👍👌
Hello Rachel I am just starting a new aquarium and have not had one since a couple of years I only have plants in there for now I will be putting guppies in there when the aquarium is ready so thank you for the refresher on water changes I need a lot of catching up to do on fish tanks and also I started watching your videos you have great information thank you so much for sharing.
Saturdays are my WC day. Usually 20/30% for my baby jewels, 50%+ in my 60 with my bigger cichlids. ~20% for my bedroom and tiny tanks get big water changes 2x a month. =D everyone is doing well and the big tankmates love the big water changes
50% once a week for mine. I have a 20 gallon high tank with a rated 40 gallon tetra whisper HOB filter. I always go double on the filter spec for the tank size. For example on a 40, I would go 80 or higher. Has worked well for me. I also use gravel vacuumes and use the same pump siphon to drain my tank water. 😁🐟
I change about one quarter of the water in each tank once a week, I don't have gravel but suck up any gathering mess as I go. I have a 30 LTR tub which I treat replacement water in and a spare heater to bring it up to the right temp before I top the tanks back up.
That was a great video 👌❤️. I’m going to add the chemicals and conditioner BEFORE adding the new water from the tap. My friend uses his own rain water collector. What’s interesting is the PH changes in my water in summer and winter. In winter it’s already the ph of 7 which I’m looking for. In summer it’s acidic. I’d love to see you do a video on this.
I lose a LOT of water in my big tank even with the lid on. I find that when my PH goes out of whack, it helps a LOT to change the water appropriately. I rarely ever use any PH chemicals. I change my water once a month. I also siphon my gravel every time I lose water because it's easier to do when the water is low. Thank you for the helpful tips and tricks! I also absolutely love your hair. 😍
I do 30% changes on my planted tanks twice weekly (Monday & Friday). That's my routine and I've been doing it that way for years. Is it the best way? I don't know. However, it works well for me.
I have an Oranda in a 29 gal. I've had him for about 1 1/2 years, and I have to do frequent water changes. I usually siphon once a week and give him about a 25% water change in between. For carp, it's a whole different world, because they are so messy. I try to watch how much I feed him. I net out the debris after mixing the gravel up, then I siphon. It works very well. I encourage anybody who has goldfish to give them at least 20 gal per fish and then 10 for every one added after that. and to do large frequent water changes. They'll love you for it! However, I recently removed quite a bit of the gravel in there, because there was WAY too much, and should not have done so all at once, so now it's having to go through a cycle again. While it's doing that, I've had to increase my water changes. The fish is doing well. He shows no signs of stress. I keep on testing my water chem, and right now the nitrites have started to go up and the nitrates, so now I've got to really makes sure to keep on it. Right now, while it's cycling...about 15 to 20% every other day. Ugh! It will eventually all pan out. My Oranda has really grown since I first got him.
Hey Rachel, I've been a zoologist forever, worked in fisheries, and wanted to say getting back into the hobby after DECADES away, I discovered your vidz through Joey and have really gotten tons of good stuff from them. Thanks! Keep it up.
Really like how you made it clear there is no formula for water changes and that you aren't afraid to explain the intricacies of different tanks. I also like that you aren't full of yourself and know how to communicate clearly :)
My 75 African cichlid tank 75% every Monday and my 40 breeder 50% on Monday and my 2 10 galllon fry tank 50% every other day thanks Rachel your vids are very helpful being a new subscriber
I live in an apartment so small tanks are all I can keep. I have 5 tanks: 30, 15, 2 10's and a 2.5. All are low tech, heavily planted. I keep small fish: tetras, corydoras and pencil fish, except for a breeding pair of Kribensis in the 15 gallon. I dose fertilizers with every water change and add nitrifying bacteria. Using buckets and a siphon I change 50% water every week. One time every month I do a 75% change. My fish thrive with this schedule. Thanks for the video. It affirmed my method.
I have a 120g with African Cichlids (about 40 of them, peacocks, mbuna, and tropheus ). I do about 25 to 30% changes weekly. I don't really care about the nitrate test readings because The tank is balanced, running with two FX6 filters (about 8 to 10 times turnover) and great water flow. I use holley rock, aragonite sand also have live plants. I do the water changes out of discipline to retrain the best conditions for my fish. I clean my filters every two months alternating the task. I haven't lost a fish in months and breeding is a usual occurrence. Doing this for over 50yrs (thanks dad for allowing and encouraging me as a kid). I love the hobby! Thank you Rachel for all your efforts.
Seymour Seamore. I am sorry you didn’t like my comment. the crap comment shows my lack or inability to articulate exactly want I want to convey. Not overloading in this case refers to Rachel being able to transfer an understanding to the layman. Or the beginner in the hobby. It was meant to be a compliment. I believe she explained perfectly what she wanted to get across. Instead of “overloading” with scientific terms she put out enough information and made it understandable for everyone. If a so called scientist was watching he could process and translate in his head all the reasons at a molecular level. Most without that knowledge, still understood the information put out. We can talk about friction and chemical reactions and heat and how the rapid loss of oxygen...., or we can listen to Rachel say strike a match.
I recently moved and decided that my living room needed a bit more life. So after 10 years I finally got an aquarium in my life again. I got an old 250 Liter aquarium from my parents that they haven't used in ages. So now I got a reason to rewatch all your educational videos and actually use this information to the benefit of my fish. So exciting.
Hi there thanks for for your nice vedios, how many adult discus do you think can live in 240 L tank with very small decoration, inside the aquarium there is internal filter, plus fluval FX 6 and also Eheim experience 250 external filter. Thanks
Hi Rachel, I too have a well. But it's liquid rock, no more Discus or Cardinals for me. I do changes of about 50 percent every two weeks on my 150 gallon....light bio load planted tank with easy care fishes....
The video was very informative! I have monitored my lightly planted 60 gal african cichlid tank for 3 weeks, and every week nitrates measured zero. I have 12 juvenile mbuna along with a bushynose pleco, so I was wondering why nitrates were undetectable despite having only a few plants in there. I think that there is no way that nitrates were that low for so long, so I'm planning to do a water change Should I do frequent, small water changes like you said in the video or just go with a 25% water change?
Hi Rachel! Thank you so much for this video! BTW do you keep a minimum of nitrates for your planted tanks? I have a 75g with 6 medium comet goldfish and do 50% water changes every week minimum because I am heavily stocked. However, my plants (various anubias and aponogetons boiv.) are doing such a great job that my nitrates are never higher then 5 ppm. Even with ferts my anubias bar. are simply not growing even after 5 months...should ease up and decrease to say 25% to allow the nitrates to increase a bit? Thanks!
Personally I love 80- 90% weekly or biweekly water changes. Granted I mostly keep goldfish who really don't mind if the temperature swings, but I've had more success with puffers, tetras and plecos with as big a water change as you can manage.
hi ray, i have 90 gallon with a sump , all nubias plants two driftwoods, and about 25 fish, congos, rainbows and one boss, angel, also five cats on bottom, my question is can i add more fish or is this tank stocked to its limits, its two years old also. i do thirty percent water change bi weekly, thanks for your channel your amazing
Just added 2 Angels to my 54 gallon tank. Cycled aquarium for 3 weeks before adding angels. When do I do my first water change? No other fish. When do I do my first vacuuming? Thank you!!
I’ve got a moderately planted 5.5 that gets a 25% with gravel vac once a week, but it’s fishless at the moment while I obsess over plants and get an algae issue under control. It’ll go up to 2-3 times a week once there’s a betta in there.
I also have a well, but have high nitrates so I pre-filter water for water changes through Nitra-Zorb and Activated carbon to remove and purify. I replace 20g weekly in my 60g heavily planted tank.
Hi Rachel. What do you think about using aquarium salt in an Oscar tank as preventative maintenance for HITH. I have a new baby Oscar and I want to be on the safe side since he's my first. He will be in a 90g tank once fully grown and I have hard well water with a PH of 7.5-8.
40% every 2 weeks in my 80gal Community and my 20gal Platty tanks and 50% once a week in my 5gal with a single betta. This can change depending on my stock levels. I test all tanks every week to make sure parameters are ok. My 80 gallon tank has quite a lot of fish in it (3 SAE, 6 Ottos, 12 Amano Shrimp, 1 bristle nose pleco, 4 Nirites, 40 adult guppies, a ton of fry, and a ton of pond snails). This is a well established tank with lots of plants. I think it all depends on filtration, stock level, bio-load, feeding(over feeding). I totally agree with you Rachel, it depends on the fish in the tank, the plants, etc, but never over 2 weeks. If you are unsure about water changes then all I can say is TEST TEST TEST your water! It would be interesting to see how often people clean their canister filters.
I dont have a well, will dousing my water while filling it up kill any beneficial bacteria while the water conditioner is taking effect? I have a 180 gal and its not practical to codition my water in buckets before hand.
I have two goldfish in a temporary 20 gallon bare bottom aquarium, so I do a 50% water change twice a week. I have a planted 90 gallon that I do a 25-50% water change weekly. I watch the fish behavior and they seem to maintain regular behavior before and after. In the 90 gallon I have a large common pleco and he makes a lot of waste.
hi madame, love your videos, if i may ask a question, i have 2 flowerhorn, small ones still, both are about 2inches long, they reside in 15 gall tanks, how much water change should i do, me and my fish are already 2 weeks in the hobby.. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, many thanks.. p.s. love the inks..
Thanks for this and all of your vids. I've got a veil tail betta in a 5.5 gallon with filtration and heater, of course, and a number of plants: 6 java fern, two moss balls, some frogbit, eel grass and java moss. I do at least 50% water change each week with conditioning (even though I am on well water also ... I figure some extra tannin with the almond leaf extract can't hurt) and fertilization. Do you think weekly liquid fertilizing is too much? I'm using Flourish Excel for carbon dosage and Plant Elixir for fert.
I plan on upgrading to a 20 gallon soon so all of that plant life can spread out a bit. Oh, I also have some driftwood and river rock. I am going to go on your recommendation and purchase from Tannin Aquatics when that time comes.
I have a planted aquarium, odd shape tank: 24x20x17 inches. I generally do 5 gallons per daily change out. The tank is fairly new and I used ADA Amazonia with power sand. I noticed the color water would become rather dark.... lots of tannins!!!! I found that at least 5 gallons per day helps here.
I love your videos and I thank you for your expertise. You are sooo knowledgeable on these aquariums. My problem is that I can't get plants to do well in my aquariums. I have a 29 gal with an Oranda and a 10 gal with just a rose barb left. He is about 10 years old. The other fish in that aquarium passed away within the past 2 years. They were old and lived quite a long time. I don't know what kind of plant I have in there, but it is doing well, but it gets algae growth on it all the time. Of course, that aquarium is right by a window, so that may be why. I also have plastic plants in there, and I am forever cleaning the algae off of them, too. My Oranda is doing well. I recently put some ferns and anubias in there.
Big tank: 80-90% every other week, and 50-60% in the weeks between. I also do 10-20% when needed. I don't know why I do this way, but it works. The big amount is because I got Goldfish and Plecos. The small tanks: 50% every week.
Is it better to do 10% water change twice a week compared to a 20% change once a week or does it make no difference? It's actually a serious question, my tap water is as hard as iron and partially salty and I do not own an RO/DI unit. I have to travel to collect RO water and there is a limit to how much I can carry. I can get enough to do a 10% change but not 20%.
BIG HELLO ! 25% (175 gallons) every Tuesday. I have a 75 gallon sump and 2 FX canister filters as well.. I clean glass at same time its draining. I also have very,very few dead spots because of large wavemakers and returns directions. Cool Video
i do usually 20 to 30 percent every 4 to 5 days on most of my tanks maybe sooner (depending), but i dont just change out the water i vaccum the gravel as well. but like u said it really depends on the situation how often and how much you change out your water.
Hi can you help me, I have a 55 gallon tank 4ft a site says 70 but I think it's wrong. i have 4 weather loaches 4 zebra danios and 6 cloud minnow 3 are gold colored, I do 25% water changes every week, planted tank no fert under substrate. bog wood, I have high phosphates but using removal bags in 2 x 1250 aqua one external canister filters. My minnows are starving one by one, they swim up to food and spit it out?? No ammonia, nitrates, I gravel vac as i empty, I use tap safe. what am i doing wrong? tank established October 2017
The life of a fish keeper:
12:50 - 12:52 "Oh, hold on. I gotta stop that tank from filling."
i meant to edit that out! OOPS and HAHAHA
For me, it's usually the wife that says that... followed by... "Or are you going to ruin another...." I should make a video titled, "Top Ten times I overfilled my aquariums." I'll edit out the part where my wife hits me over the head with a shillelagh of course... she's running out of room to add notches...
I never have that problem because I use a cup to refill
I've overflowed my tanks more than a couple times haha
*New, uncycled tank:* 50%, 2-3 times a week.
*New, cycled tank:* 30% once a week
*Established tank with healthy plant growth and bacteria-rich substrate and healthy filter:*
Your softwater fish probably don't live as long as they should.
@K P Why do you say that?
@@tbates4938 mainly because hardness will accumulate and reach a high plateau. Short term effects will be unnoticeable. But softwater fish will use out their liver and other organs and die earlier rather than of old age. Unless his water is RO, distilled, or very low.
@K P Ah okay. I used to have a similar routine many years ago, without any problems, but I used RO.
@K P I also grew a ton of plants, including floaters, and emergent pothos vines.
I change about 25% of my water once every two weeks. I base it off of my water test results and they seem to get close to spiking every 3 weeks and I also keep an eye on fish behavior. But like you so greatly explain in your video there are so many variables and setups that would make every ones schedule different. Thanks for another great video!
During spring and early summer I use a lot of fish water to grow my vegetable seeds for my garden. This makes about 30%-50% daily water change. It makes my seedlings grow like crazy :D.
Great information. Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to provide the entire who, what, when, where and why behind the issue at hand. Keep them coming.
seriously i just LOVE your informative videos. They are AWESOME!
I do a 10-12% water change on my tank once a week. I like to slightly understock and slightly over filtrate and that seems to give me nice stable parameters in my current Nano tank.
I also like to do my water test 3 days after the water change as I've learned how my tank 'behaves' and where the parameters should be at that point.
How do you manage water testing on that number of tanks?
20-25% weekly. Thanks for the info! I bought a 65g two months ago and this type of video which explains the REASONS behind the advice for water changes really helps, especially when receiving conflicting advice.
Love your chopsticks and rubber band trick for gravel vacuuming. It was ever so useful. Thanks. 🙂
Thank you for sharing!! We do 50% water changes every 3 days on our 65 gallon goldfish tank, along with heavy filtration. They are happy and healthy and it's worth the effort to keep them that way. I so appreciate your videos!
Excellent video!! As always!! It's good to remember the basics sometimes💚
I love the way you explain things. So glad I found your channel! Thanks
50% 3 times a week. feed my discus x 4 leopard eruptions heavily. love them. so therapeutic.
I really enjoy your videos Rachel! 😊
Hello Rachel! I do 30% water changes once a week on my 20L, 29, and my 75. I lightly vacuum the substrate that I can get at and I make sure to vacuum my plants. I did notice that my java fern collects a lot of gunk. Vacuuming schedules do vary greatly per tank type. Great advice as always from you Rachel! 😁
i do a partial water change once a week on my 3 gallon betta tank, i'm new to this so i did a lot of research before getting my betta, he's a lively little guy and seems to be doing great
Thanks for the info/tutorial. Love your nose ring, btw! 😻
Great Video! As Always! Loved it!
I do 75-80% water changes once a week, been doing it for over 2 years. Have tanks from 5 gallons to 125 gallons. Great video as always.
I try hard to do a 25% every week. Great info! X
i do that amount fortnightly but hav litly stocked tank[discus and plecs ]
I love your videos, I'm new to this and your making things very easy for me. Much appreciated ♡ from the uk
My heavily planted, low stocked 30 gallon gets a 25-30% water changes every 7 to 10 days with a good vacuum.. plants and fish are growing and seem happy😊 Thanks for the info!
Classy lady! Dissolved organics is why we do water changes folks. Nitrates are why and indeed how we grow plants. In a well planted tank we will often not have enough nitrates and need to add them via ferts - so it makes little sense to demonize them and make them THE reason to change water as so many less well-informed aquarists suggest. Well done Rachel - a class of your own as per normal :)
I'm thinking now that might be half right. NO3- testing on its own won't give a full picture of the water health where plant growth is occurring, but I think measuring it in any system is one of the best ways to ascertain whether that system in general is coping with its current nutrient input. e.g. Plants are thriving but NO3- keep rising, so the owner then has a reasonable excuse for either an early or larger water change in order to dilute the problem. They wouldn't be aware of such an issue if they weren't testing.
On a related note, I've been reading through Walstad's "Ecology" book (up to the bacteria section) and unless my memory is failing me the gist I have so far is that organics aren't by themselves harmful to most fresh aquatic life, but the NH3 and NO2- (not so much NO3-) resulting from those organics being nitrified by bacteria most certainly are. To your point though, I do assume that high enough levels of organics being allowed to collect in various forms could trigger nasty bacteria or parasite blooms irrespective of how much or little free nitrogen is being left in the water, but I'm not entirely certain how much other factors besides the presence of "high" organics would affect the likelihood of such events. Anaerobic conditions maybe?
I also feel compelled to note that a lot of reef aquarists now days are using plants as a, and in some cases only, form of nutrient export with good results. They do watch and reactively supplement a slew of parameters from Ca and alkalinity to PO4 and NO3-, but by my understanding, water changes for them are a stopgap means of dealing with excess nutrients, a problem that so happens to reliably manifest in the form of rising PO4 and *NO3-*. Now reef aquaria certainly do not play by the same rules as freshwater counterparts, but I think there's definitely things FW people can learn from them. I'm thinking along the lines of harvesting plants for nutrient export and informed elemental supplementation (Alk, K, Ca, etc.) for scenarios where relying on water changes to keep the balance is too volume or cost prohibitive.
One of the things I've learned in my years in the hobby is to make sure I'm getting my information from solid unbiased sources. Far and away the most helpful of these have been professional scientists who also happen to be aquarists and far and away the least reliable is anyone trying to sell you something, no matter what pseudo-science they may use to push their product. The advice I've been given by a chemist who also happens to be aquarist is to fundamentally distrust all hobbyist level test kits. This is simply because of the cheap reagents used and the over-simplification of the process. If on the other hand you've spent £150+ on your nitrate test kit, or have taken a sample to a professional lab (not your LFS who are just going to use the hobbyist kits they sell) then you can get accurate results. Not otherwise. Far better to use your water company's published water parameters as your base line and figure out your working practice from there - at least in the UK. I had to learn the hard way as my nitrates are 40+ppm out of the tap. So I grow a lot of plants!
I'm not saying test kits don't have any use - just that they are over used and that people tend to make decisions assuming an accuracy that is highly suspect. For e.g. assuming them capable of making fine distinctions between 10, 20, 30 and 40ppm. And to what purpose? There is very little research that is tropical species specific, but what there is clearly shows that inorganic nitrates themselves don't begin to become toxic until you're counting in the 100's of ppm! One trial on guppy fry showed an LC50 (half of them died) when levels of NO3 got to around 875ppm. N.B. Only half of them died! And this turns out to be only indirectly due to nitrates as the actual toxic mechanism involves the fish's physiology turning the NO3 back into NO2 and its the NO2 that does the damage.
People using Estimative Index ferts dosing have tripled and even quadrupled the amount of inorganic nitrate they are adding to their high tech tanks per week and observed that fish continue to breed and thrive. So when people jump up and down about nitrate levels they are making a series of assumptions and I would always advocate that people buy more plants rather than replace the stocks of the test kits they've been obsessively over-using, as those plants will soak up the nitrates AND the nitrites AND the ammonia, especially if they are reasonably fast growing and not carbon limited - i.e. floating plants such as frogbit, duckweed etc. The same cannot be said of the much slower growing plants such as anubias and java fern that are typically pushed to beginners as they grow too slowly to provide adequate nutrient export.
From what I understand, as explained by a professional biologist involved in the study of water treatment, far and away the most critical factor to aquarium health is something almost nobody mentions: Oxygen.
(Probably because they can't flog a cheap oxygen test kit!) But understanding that the entire nitrification cycle is using up available oxygen is a pretty key concept as it then follows that we evolve practices that maximise the availability of oxygen to our plants and fish. Obviously plants are net producers of oxygen so long as they are growing, but otherwise, providing there is plenty of oxygen (trickle tower filter) then eventually sufficient microorganism colonies will develop to nitrify what ever dissolved organic compounds are there. But the limiting factor is oxygen and unless this is abundant to the archaea and to a lesser extent bacteria, its a safe assumption that the dirtier the tank the more likely there will ammonia and nitrite present. Again, people are far too quick to do a weekly ammonia test or nitrite test and then either be complacent when its good or freak out if its bad, without understanding the whole picture.
Lastly, while I'm sure you are right that we can learn much from the salty side, there's also been a lot of misinformation in the cross over because some things that are true for salt water simply don't apply in freshwater. For example people obsess about pH when their water is actually far too soft for a pH reading to be meaningful as its a ratio not quantitive.
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this. Sorry about the late reply; work got in the way. I know what you mean about info sources. Whether it's twisting the science behind hardness testing to sell a certain calcium/magnesium block, or inferring to potential koi keepers that their fish will be just fine in a pond with a gravel bottom, no drains and scant maintenance because they're "working with nature", there is always someone waiting to pounce on a misconception to make a profit.
I've definitely seen a number of "bad reagent batch" type anecdotes on the internet. I would not be too surprised if most hobby-staple reagents available gave misleading results to some degree, which makes matters more complicated when someone like me can have trouble making a visual link between the color of a solution and what's on the card. I wonder if Hanna's colorimeter "checkers" can bridge that gap between budget and accuracy? In any case they still haven't got a checker for testing nitrate...
I like the premise you noted about oxygen being the limiting ingredient for nitrification. I recall coming to a similar conclusion when learning about planted aquaria... and then fretting over how O2 is so great for just about everything worthwhile, yet aggressive water agitation being used to bring it in would also in theory off-gas much of that precious (for lush plant growth) CO2 until its level in the water equilibrates with the atmosphere. It made me feel like I needed to pick a side hmhm.
I guess the question I have for you (one that Rachel didn't seem to go into) is; which indicators, if any, would you feel most comfortable using to decide when to do a water change in a freshwater aquarium?
I guess the reason Rachel didn't go into it is that there are so many factors to weigh and evaluate when making this decision. Tank volume, bio-load, planting density (assuming there's any plants), light intensity/duration, species/feeding frequency, fertilisers (type and amounts), CO2 etc, etc. Also, perhaps most importantly, plant growth, assuming we're talking about planted tanks for the moment.
If I'm seeing lots of plant growth and the TDS (or conductivity to be more accurate) is stable or falling over the course of a week, then its pretty safe to assume that whatever is dissolved in the water, or breaking down in the substrate, is being exported into plant biomass. I can then choose to actually remove it (frogbit, duckweed etc.) or cut and replant with stems.
As I've learned, so long as you recognise that a TDS meter does NOT tell you WHAT is dissolved it remains the one repeatably reliable test at our disposal. Nearly all my tanks have TDS readings and dates sharpied on the side. Is it definitive? Absolutely not, but I find it useful. I may possibly misinterpret a TDS reading, but the actual reading will not be wrong, unlike a dodgy test strip or cheap liquid test kit.
When I see stable TDS and plant growth it doesn't mean I won't change water, but on the other hand seeing an elevated TDS or a lack of plants thriving will probably prompt me to change more water more frequently. I will also examine how I can get the plants to grow better. I should add that all my tanks (nine of them) are low tech with moderate lighting. I use plants to filter water and have zero talent or interest really in 'aquascaping' - I love creating environments in which fish indicate they're happy and thriving with behaviour and breeding.
At the moment I have about 40+ Ancistrus Rio Tocantins fry growing out with their parents in situ in a 20 G long planted tank, with a bunch of corydoras trilineatus and rummy noses. Because I ran out of a veggie repashy right now I'm feeding these fry green beans and courgette, which makes a hell of a mess so I'm changing about 20 to 30% every other day at least. When they're back on repashy there will be less mess, less waste and I'll probably drop the water changes to every third day . . . it's just a fine weighing up of a bunch of factors and I couldn't honestly tell you what's intuition and what's just erring on the side of caution. Hope that helps :)
Julian Morgan and Admiral Fryer; really interesting and useful discussion. Cheers guys.
Thanks so much for this! It helped me understand what I'm doing and why with much more clarity.
I love your hair! I have to watch video again so i can listen to water your talking about!
I have 40g breeder, 75gallon, and a 35g tall and I do a 30-50% water change every single week and use a gravel cleaner on the substrate as well. And dose stress coat/chlorine binder with aloe in it when I replace the water. I use a marina aqua vac too do this.
Always look forward to your video's Rachel! I change 25% 2 times a week, it's planted so I'm regularly pulling out dead leaves and/or unsightly growth. I prefer to clean often anyway I find it therapeutic :) thanks for recapping the basics, you truely inspired me and i'm sure a lot more people to get into this hobby.
Why so much?
The best video on water changes I've seen. I do 95% every two weeks. As I add more tanks to the fishroom, we'll see if I can keep this up. This works for my style of fishkeeping. By style, I mean stocking density, filter type, filter maintenance, fish choices, my tap water, work ethic, and probably another half a dozen things that escape me at the moment. Learn with test kits, and then learn to read your aquarium and your fish. Yeah, I've been doing this awhile - over 40 years since my first tank... and watched my Dad and his tanks before that. Never too young or too old to be in this hobby.
sounds like its time for an auto water change system so you can add way more tanks!
95%? Why?! How?! Wtf.
I love and appreciate your videos. I am new at this "fish thing". There is a lot of information out there and not everyone agrees..lol. Sure makes it challenging to figure out the best way to care for my fishies. Thank you!
I have a 46 gallon bowfront planted. With 2 rubberlip plecos, 7 zebra danios, 12 red eye tetras, 1 gourami, 4 mollies and 2 angels. Along with a few snails. What I try to do is a 40% water change weekly.
Good for you. But not helpful for us.
I also use a box filter and a hang on the back. Since I've started using both filters I don't have issues with my nitrates or ammonia levels anymore but I still do my water changes.
Thank you so much for this. Great info.
I've got a 19gallon aquarium with 10 Corydoras, 1 Siamese algae eater 1 Cardinal Tetra, 1 Peacock Gudgeon and 4 small, long fin Rosy Barbs. I do a 35-40% waterchange each week. (Yet I'm waiting to set up a second aquarium in about 3 months, it'll be 48 gallons.) That's when I'm going to add some friends for the long lost lonely group fishies I guess I will change about the same amount by then...
Digging your tattoos btw! Oh and keep up the amazing work, I've learned so much from you already! Thank you for all the effort you put into this!!
I change 1/4 my 100g every sunday. Ive planted out the back half now so not gravel vac so much now...but my tank is doing well.
I'm only a couple months new to keeping African Cichlids in a 75g tank. One of the big-box stores advised 10% weekly or 25% monthly water changes. Though my dozen fish are still small, the tank isn't overstocked, and the parameters look darned good, I'm bumping up to 20% weekly; 50% monthly. Thanks, Rachel, for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm.
Great feed. Love your work
Such a great video.
Just discovering your channel after getting back into the hobby. You are so helpful!!!
I am so glad!
love your video! thanks!
Excellent explanation with great tips! Thanks.
Once again, great informative video. 👍👍👍
I do water change maybe 40% every three weeks. I'm going to try to do it more frequently. I have one of the aquarium with big over 15 yr old silver dollars. I know they're not amazing fish but I've had them forever and love them so much.I do a maybe 10 % every week they flip out and some times jump out if I do anything more invasive. I try to do as little as possible to not stress them!
Hello Lady.. I do 25% weekly (175 gallons).. I also have a 75 gallon sump with 1800gph return pump, and 2 Fluval FX Canisters. I have all returns strategically placed as well as large Jebao wavemakers that eliminate nearly all dead spots. I usually clean glass during draining of old water.. Great Video !
Great video. I like how you made it very clear that you have a well; which makes your situation much different than others. New hobbyists will see this and not make the error of adding chlorine to their aquarium. I notice that you tend to have to clarify yourself that you have a well in the comments. I feel some viewers don't read comments; so good on you for clarifying that in the video. 👍👌
Love your videos!
Rachel you’re awesome. Keep up these vids.
I do a 10-20% water change but I started checking my parameters and I think I can go 2 weeks at least.
Hello Rachel I am just starting a new aquarium and have not had one since a couple of years I only have plants in there for now I will be putting guppies in there when the aquarium is ready so thank you for the refresher on water changes I need a lot of catching up to do on fish tanks and also I started watching your videos you have great information thank you so much for sharing.
Saturdays are my WC day. Usually 20/30% for my baby jewels, 50%+ in my 60 with my bigger cichlids. ~20% for my bedroom and tiny tanks get big water changes 2x a month. =D everyone is doing well and the big tankmates love the big water changes
Wonderful as usual Rachel
50% once a week for mine. I have a 20 gallon high tank with a rated 40 gallon tetra whisper HOB filter. I always go double on the filter spec for the tank size. For example on a 40, I would go 80 or higher. Has worked well for me. I also use gravel vacuumes and use the same pump siphon to drain my tank water. 😁🐟
I always love seeing your 150 gallon tank!
Thank you for the info !
I change about one quarter of the water in each tank once a week, I don't have gravel but suck up any gathering mess as I go. I have a 30 LTR tub which I treat replacement water in and a spare heater to bring it up to the right temp before I top the tanks back up.
That was a great video 👌❤️. I’m going to add the chemicals and conditioner BEFORE adding the new water from the tap. My friend uses his own rain water collector.
What’s interesting is the PH changes in my water in summer and winter. In winter it’s already the ph of 7 which I’m looking for. In summer it’s acidic. I’d love to see you do a video on this.
I lose a LOT of water in my big tank even with the lid on. I find that when my PH goes out of whack, it helps a LOT to change the water appropriately. I rarely ever use any PH chemicals. I change my water once a month. I also siphon my gravel every time I lose water because it's easier to do when the water is low. Thank you for the helpful tips and tricks! I also absolutely love your hair. 😍
I do 30% changes on my planted tanks twice weekly (Monday & Friday). That's my routine and I've been doing it that way for years. Is it the best way? I don't know. However, it works well for me.
I really enjoy and learn alot from you :)) Thankyou for sharing
I have an Oranda in a 29 gal. I've had him for about 1 1/2 years, and I have to do frequent water changes. I usually siphon once a week and give him about a 25% water change in between. For carp, it's a whole different world, because they are so messy. I try to watch how much I feed him. I net out the debris after mixing the gravel up, then I siphon. It works very well. I encourage anybody who has goldfish to give them at least 20 gal per fish and then 10 for every one added after that. and to do large frequent water changes. They'll love you for it! However, I recently removed quite a bit of the gravel in there, because there was WAY too much, and should not have done so all at once, so now it's having to go through a cycle again. While it's doing that, I've had to increase my water changes. The fish is doing well. He shows no signs of stress. I keep on testing my water chem, and right now the nitrites have started to go up and the nitrates, so now I've got to really makes sure to keep on it. Right now, while it's cycling...about 15 to 20% every other day. Ugh! It will eventually all pan out. My Oranda has really grown since I first got him.
Hey Rachel, I've been a zoologist forever, worked in fisheries, and wanted to say getting back into the hobby after DECADES away, I discovered your vidz through Joey and have really gotten tons of good stuff from them. Thanks! Keep it up.
Glad that they help !
@@RachelOLeary Hi Rachel, Do you sell your fish on line…and ship? Thank you!
Really like how you made it clear there is no formula for water changes and that you aren't afraid to explain the intricacies of different tanks. I also like that you aren't full of yourself and know how to communicate clearly :)
+Daniel Costain thanks daniel
My 75 African cichlid tank 75% every Monday and my 40 breeder 50% on Monday and my 2 10 galllon fry tank 50% every other day thanks Rachel your vids are very helpful being a new subscriber
I live in an apartment so small tanks are all I can keep. I have 5 tanks: 30, 15, 2 10's and a 2.5. All are low tech, heavily planted. I keep small fish: tetras, corydoras and pencil fish, except for a breeding pair of Kribensis in the 15 gallon. I dose fertilizers with every water change and add nitrifying bacteria. Using buckets and a siphon I change 50% water every week. One time every month I do a 75% change. My fish thrive with this schedule. Thanks for the video. It affirmed my method.
That was very helpful!
This really helped. Thanks.
Rachel I love you lol awesome video!
I have a 120g with African Cichlids (about 40 of them, peacocks, mbuna, and tropheus ). I do about 25 to 30% changes weekly. I don't really care about the nitrate test readings because The tank is balanced, running with two FX6 filters (about 8 to 10 times turnover) and great water flow. I use holley rock, aragonite sand also have live plants. I do the water changes out of discipline to retrain the best conditions for my fish. I clean my filters every two months alternating the task. I haven't lost a fish in months and breeding is a usual occurrence. Doing this for over 50yrs (thanks dad for allowing and encouraging me as a kid). I love the hobby! Thank you Rachel for all your efforts.
Best and most informative video yet. Without overloading on scientific crap. Keep up the great work.
i almost spit my coffee at the "scientific crap" comment! Thanks for the chuckle!
Seymour Seamore. I am sorry you didn’t like my comment. the crap comment shows my lack or inability to articulate exactly want I want to convey. Not overloading in this case refers to Rachel being able to transfer an understanding to the layman. Or the beginner in the hobby. It was meant to be a compliment. I believe she explained perfectly what she wanted to get across. Instead of “overloading” with scientific terms she put out enough information and made it understandable for everyone. If a so called scientist was watching he could process and translate in his head all the reasons at a molecular level. Most without that knowledge, still understood the information put out. We can talk about friction and chemical reactions and heat and how the rapid loss of oxygen...., or we can listen to Rachel say strike a match.
I recently moved and decided that my living room needed a bit more life. So after 10 years I finally got an aquarium in my life again. I got an old 250 Liter aquarium from my parents that they haven't used in ages.
So now I got a reason to rewatch all your educational videos and actually use this information to the benefit of my fish. So exciting.
Awesome!
Hi there thanks for for your nice vedios, how many adult discus do you think can live in 240 L tank with very small decoration, inside the aquarium there is internal filter, plus fluval FX 6 and also Eheim experience 250 external filter.
Thanks
I enjoy your energy
Great info. I can’t wait to get my apistos from you tomorrow
Hi Rachel, I too have a well. But it's liquid rock, no more Discus or Cardinals for me. I do changes of about 50 percent every two weeks on my 150 gallon....light bio load planted tank with easy care fishes....
The video was very informative! I have monitored my lightly planted 60 gal african cichlid tank for 3 weeks, and every week nitrates measured zero. I have 12 juvenile mbuna along with a bushynose pleco, so I was wondering why nitrates were undetectable despite having only a few plants in there. I think that there is no way that nitrates were that low for so long, so I'm planning to do a water change Should I do frequent, small water changes like you said in the video or just go with a 25% water change?
Hi Rachel! Thank you so much for this video! BTW do you keep a minimum of nitrates for your planted tanks? I have a 75g with 6 medium comet goldfish and do 50% water changes every week minimum because I am heavily stocked. However, my plants (various anubias and aponogetons boiv.) are doing such a great job that my nitrates are never higher then 5 ppm. Even with ferts my anubias bar. are simply not growing even after 5 months...should ease up and decrease to say 25% to allow the nitrates to increase a bit? Thanks!
Personally I love 80- 90% weekly or biweekly water changes. Granted I mostly keep goldfish who really don't mind if the temperature swings, but I've had more success with puffers, tetras and plecos with as big a water change as you can manage.
hi ray, i have 90 gallon with a sump , all nubias plants two driftwoods, and about 25 fish, congos, rainbows and one boss, angel, also five cats on bottom, my question is can i add more fish or is this tank stocked to its limits, its two years old also. i do thirty percent water change bi weekly, thanks for your channel your amazing
Rachel I have a 50G tank lightly stocked with a good external filter and I do approx 15% water changes once per week
I have a heavily planted fully stocked if not over, nano tank. It goes by very well with weekly 30% water changes.
I do about 20-40% per week on both my tanks. I just finished up a 50% on one tank, settled down and saw this upload!
Just added 2 Angels to my 54 gallon tank. Cycled aquarium for 3 weeks before adding angels. When do I do my first water change? No other fish. When do I do my first vacuuming? Thank you!!
I’ve got a moderately planted 5.5 that gets a 25% with gravel vac once a week, but it’s fishless at the moment while I obsess over plants and get an algae issue under control. It’ll go up to 2-3 times a week once there’s a betta in there.
you're amazing TY!
I also have a well, but have high nitrates so I pre-filter water for water changes through Nitra-Zorb and Activated carbon to remove and purify. I replace 20g weekly in my 60g heavily planted tank.
Very useful and informing video! Especially for beginners in the hobby I would say, so they can start off by doing it correctly.
Hi Rachel. What do you think about using aquarium salt in an Oscar tank as preventative maintenance for HITH. I have a new baby Oscar and I want to be on the safe side since he's my first. He will be in a 90g tank once fully grown and I have hard well water with a PH of 7.5-8.
40% every 2 weeks in my 80gal Community and my 20gal Platty tanks and 50% once a week in my 5gal with a single betta.
This can change depending on my stock levels. I test all tanks every week to make sure parameters are ok. My 80 gallon tank has quite a lot of fish in it (3 SAE, 6 Ottos, 12 Amano Shrimp, 1 bristle nose pleco, 4 Nirites, 40 adult guppies, a ton of fry, and a ton of pond snails). This is a well established tank with lots of plants.
I think it all depends on filtration, stock level, bio-load, feeding(over feeding).
I totally agree with you Rachel, it depends on the fish in the tank, the plants, etc, but never over 2 weeks.
If you are unsure about water changes then all I can say is TEST TEST TEST your water!
It would be interesting to see how often people clean their canister filters.
I dont have a well, will dousing my water while filling it up kill any beneficial bacteria while the water conditioner is taking effect? I have a 180 gal and its not practical to codition my water in buckets before hand.
I have two goldfish in a temporary 20 gallon bare bottom aquarium, so I do a 50% water change twice a week. I have a planted 90 gallon that I do a 25-50% water change weekly. I watch the fish behavior and they seem to maintain regular behavior before and after. In the 90 gallon I have a large common pleco and he makes a lot of waste.
hi madame, love your videos, if i may ask a question, i have 2 flowerhorn, small ones still, both are about 2inches long, they reside in 15 gall tanks, how much water change should i do, me and my fish are already 2 weeks in the hobby.. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, many thanks.. p.s. love the inks..
Hi, I am on well water too - is there any need for me to use Prime to condition the water? I keep discus.. Thanx!!
Thanks for this and all of your vids. I've got a veil tail betta in a 5.5 gallon with filtration and heater, of course, and a number of plants: 6 java fern, two moss balls, some frogbit, eel grass and java moss. I do at least 50% water change each week with conditioning (even though I am on well water also ... I figure some extra tannin with the almond leaf extract can't hurt) and fertilization. Do you think weekly liquid fertilizing is too much? I'm using Flourish Excel for carbon dosage and Plant Elixir for fert.
I plan on upgrading to a 20 gallon soon so all of that plant life can spread out a bit. Oh, I also have some driftwood and river rock. I am going to go on your recommendation and purchase from Tannin Aquatics when that time comes.
I have a planted aquarium, odd shape tank: 24x20x17 inches. I generally do 5 gallons per daily change out. The tank is fairly new and I used ADA Amazonia with power sand. I noticed the color water would become rather dark.... lots of tannins!!!! I found that at least 5 gallons per day helps here.
I love your videos and I thank you for your expertise. You are sooo knowledgeable on these aquariums. My problem is that I can't get plants to do well in my aquariums. I have a 29 gal with an Oranda and a 10 gal with just a rose barb left. He is about 10 years old. The other fish in that aquarium passed away within the past 2 years. They were old and lived quite a long time. I don't know what kind of plant I have in there, but it is doing well, but it gets algae growth on it all the time. Of course, that aquarium is right by a window, so that may be why. I also have plastic plants in there, and I am forever cleaning the algae off of them, too. My Oranda is doing well. I recently put some ferns and anubias in there.
Big tank: 80-90% every other week, and 50-60% in the weeks between. I also do 10-20% when needed. I don't know why I do this way, but it works.
The big amount is because I got Goldfish and Plecos.
The small tanks: 50% every week.
90% water change sounds like a good way to shock and kill fish..
Is it better to do 10% water change twice a week compared to a 20% change once a week or does it make no difference? It's actually a serious question, my tap water is as hard as iron and partially salty and I do not own an RO/DI unit. I have to travel to collect RO water and there is a limit to how much I can carry. I can get enough to do a 10% change but not 20%.
BIG HELLO ! 25% (175 gallons) every Tuesday. I have a 75 gallon sump and 2 FX canister filters as well.. I clean glass at same time its draining. I also have very,very few dead spots because of large wavemakers and returns directions. Cool Video
i do usually 20 to 30 percent every 4 to 5 days on most of my tanks maybe sooner (depending), but i dont just change out the water i vaccum the gravel as well. but like u said it really depends on the situation how often and how much you change out your water.
YOU ARE THE BEST!
Hi can you help me, I have a 55 gallon tank 4ft a site says 70 but I think it's wrong. i have 4 weather loaches 4 zebra danios and 6 cloud minnow 3 are gold colored, I do 25% water changes every week, planted tank no fert under substrate. bog wood, I have high phosphates but using removal bags in 2 x 1250 aqua one external canister filters. My minnows are starving one by one, they swim up to food and spit it out?? No ammonia, nitrates, I gravel vac as i empty, I use tap safe. what am i doing wrong? tank established October 2017
I always learn something watching your videos. Thank you!!!
+James Janecka I am glad!