# water changes



## gary007 (Apr 3, 2011)

i wanted to ask this, do u ever do a full water change? including washing gravel, clean filter and heater, use sponge on glass and clean decorations etc.. i never do full water change and was told not to wash gravel as theres goodness there but u can shuffle gravel to make bits float up to filter or for take out by cup. highest i have done is a 70percent change. i was told u need to keep some old water there but i find u can never have crystal clear water this way though.


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## `GhostDogg´ (Apr 22, 2010)

100% WC would cause PH shock not to mention cause your tank to become unstable.
If you want to know about large WC's talk to some of the discus keepers. 

I find sponge filters help cleanup what a HOB doesn't.
Sometimes I connect my spoge filter to the intake of my powerhead & it act like a vacuum.
You should see all the food bit & dust like particles it picks up.

I never "wash" my gravel unless it's new out of a bag or bought off a member. A good gravel vac can take care of get any detritus stuck in the gravel & decorations.

I finally setup my Magnum & it keeps my water crystal clean(so far), I didn't ad the bio wheels but I did connect my UV sterilizer to it. 
It's so damn quiet I wish I set it up earlier.


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

I do 50% WC about every 10 days and lightly vac the bottom gravel, I use a canister filter, hob and a sponge filter as well in my tanks, I think another great media to use is purigen in the place of charcoal in the hob. I like lots of filtration, keeps the fish happy as well. thumbnail shows my 37 tall.


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## Kei (May 4, 2010)

yeah doing 90%+ water change isnt so good... for normal fish/shrimps things like that doing a 10-30% water change and filter clean once a week should be more then enough.

my water stays clear..... before when i had guppies and shrimps with other fishes, i changed the water once a year( and it was only 50% water, ill stir the gravel befor removing water) and top up water that phantomed on me =)

i once had an aunt that did water changes 70%+ when the water was slightly dirty, and kept every thing bare to keep water clean, removed gravel, always clean the glass, her fish always died. i always tell people keep water too clean. and fishes dont like it and die.

expect for rays they need like water changes every few days... and like 80%+


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

no such thing as water being too clean, can cause ph crash or kill your BB if you dont use buffer/dechlorinator tho


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

i did a 90+% change once while changing the gravel to sand on my old tank, fish were fine, i think if you did it often it might stress em but for healthy fish, one time, it isnt really a big deal as long as the water you put back in is the same parameters (temp, ph, hardness etc etc)
also you wouldnt want to clean your filter at the same time or you'd end up with a ammonia spike and a mini cycle


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## oakley1984 (Oct 10, 2010)

i do 90% water changes weekly. it really depends on your water source and how constant your water chemistry is, as well as knowing the exact temp of the water your replacing with. as for washing gravel/ornaments/filters thats a bad idea to do at the same time as water changes, one or the other, Never both. just like with your biological media, if you feel its time and you want to replace it... you never replace all if it, only 50% so it can reseed. Now that noted, ive never had a SINGLE problem doing 90%+ water changes, and i do them regularly... i have run into issues with a water change like that when i ran out of hot water and filled up 1/4 of the tank with ice cold water.... had a tank full of floaters... they all made it however. no long term problems have been noticed. i took my gravel vac and modified it by cutting the tube open and putting in a splice, which i then notched out for the cable of a digital thermometer probe. by doing this i can see the temp of the water im putting back into the tank, accurate to 0.1 F <----- This, and this alone is the main basis for allowing me to do 90%+ water changes without issue!


as for someone previously mentioning the water too clean thing, thats total bs, the fact is fresh/new water is ALWAYS better. If that was truely the case than drip/overflow systems which constantly turn tank over with fresh tap water would be murder boxes, where as they are exactly oppisite of that being the absolute cleanest/healthiest contained systems in the hobby.#

now given there are exceptions to this, city water with chlorine and chloramine content is a different story, this water untreated, will nuke your biological side of your tank, you can still do the large waterchanges as previously mentioned
but to do it
you need a premixing bucket where you are mixing your water conditioner and water before adding to the tank, but as stated previously even doing this, the water temp Must be checked before adding if your doing 90% changes.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

heh awesome idea on the temp probe


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## Kei (May 4, 2010)

alright there is a little bit of miscommunication.
first of all the OP is asking for water change INCLUDING washing gravel, clean filter and heater, use sponge on glass and clean decorations etc. AND THEN i was talking about the water change after that!


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## joker1535 (May 23, 2010)

Now thats why I'm always on bc aquaria. Love those ideas. I never thought about integrating a thermometer when doing a wc. Makes sense but never thought of it.


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## gary007 (Apr 3, 2011)

how do pet shops keep their tanks crystal clear. i mean i look and they seem to use same filter as i and maybe 2 filters on their larger tanks with them oscars. theres no way i can keep tank like they do. my water goes cloudy after several days then by 1week its rather misty.


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## stingraylord (Jun 18, 2010)

gary007 said:


> how do pet shops keep their tanks crystal clear. i mean i look and they seem to use same filter as i and maybe 2 filters on their larger tanks with them oscars. theres no way i can keep tank like they do. my water goes cloudy after several days then by 1week its rather misty.


They hardly feed their fish! Less food=cleaner tanks! Plus they still do regular water changes like we do. I go to a lfs often and they are always cleaning tanks.


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## motoman (Feb 18, 2011)

25% water change 2x a week and vacuum the sand once a week. Only time I do MASSIVE water changes is when there is a crisis at hand. Fish love clean water but at the same time need stability.....some fish are more tolerant of drastic swings in water parameters....I keep rays so I want to keep it as constant and clean as possible. Doing huge, or complete, water changes can cause your BB to die off, a mini cycle, swings in PH....but then again all this is avoidable if done correctly


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

gary007 said:


> how do pet shops keep their tanks crystal clear. i mean i look and they seem to use same filter as i and maybe 2 filters on their larger tanks with them oscars. theres no way i can keep tank like they do. my water goes cloudy after several days then by 1week its rather misty.


Alot of stores have ton of filters rarely feed, and have sumps. Imagine my surprised look squatting down to look at some fish and seeing probably around 30 gallon sumps tucked underneath every stack of tanks at King Eds


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## Illbuyourcatfish (Jun 3, 2010)

I also use a thermometer during water changes. Suction cup it into my python and then start to fill. I can get the temp to match almost to .05 of a degree, which helps when doing 50% wc every 3 days. I keep rays that are very healthy and happy so the frequent large wc's cant be too bad.


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

I do a 70-80% change once a week. Changing all the water won't hurt your tank as long as the water you put back is matched to the parameters of the tank. Cleaning out everything, filter, gravel, decor, will reset your tank and start it cycling again. YOu need the bacteria to be there to support the tank. But knock yourself out with changing the water. As someone mentioned, discus keepers do massive water changes. There are some who do 3 x 100% changes a day when growing out babies.


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