Water changes?

981 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Nreyes112, Sep 26, 2012

Nreyes112

Discussion Starter · Sep 26, 2012

Ok so here's the story, I have a 29gal tank, 5 white clouds and 1 platy, and one third of the tank cover with plants. I successfully cycled the tank for 4 weeks, fish less with plants, about a month ago, since then the fish have been living happily, plants have been growing and thriving, I have been checking my water parameters weekly with an API master test kit and every week everything has been perfect, nitrites 0, ph 7.5, nitrates 10, ammonia 0, my question is, do I HAVE to do water changes? My problem with water changes is that my tap water has nitrITES regularly present in it. I researched it and it does say that there is a low level of nitrITES in the water system which is safe supposedly, I still filter my water before drinking thanks to brita, so pretty much do I have to do water changes? Why fix it if it ain't broken right? I'm assuming my filter that's been in there for the past 2 months is doing its job, the plants are using the fish waste as natural ferts and converting it into good nitrates. So everything is cycling naturally. Any help? Ideas? Comments?

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R.sok

· #2 · Sep 26, 2012

I myself like you have very low readings in my tank. Even though my water is always clean & my stock is light. I still do 10% water changes once a week. I could be wrong but my lfs told me that water changes are beneficial because there are some things in tap water that are beneficial to plants.

I also use tap water straight from the sink. I have a couple spare 5 gallon buckets and what I do is I fill them up & leave the top opened for 2+ days then seal them & when a water change comes up I use them. then refill & repeat. Been doing water changes this way for the past 3 years with no fatalities.

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wkndracer

· #3 · Sep 26, 2012

talked about this not to long ago in another thread
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?p=2017049#post2017049
I have awful water, out of my well we won't use it untreated.
When NO3 rises >40ppm or TDS rises 100 to 150ppm above recorded clean levels I do a good WC of at least 50% to reset the tank water and start over. Tanks can be maintained with one water change a month or less using testing and metered dosing for those of us with bad water. I feel like TDS monitoring gives me the information needed.

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PlantedRich

· #4 · Sep 26, 2012

I would recommend doing a water change of like 25% bi-weekly. The bacteria we all depend on comes in two types. One does ammonia to nitrite. A second does nitrite to nitrate. So with this in mind, the small increase of nitrite after a water change will quickly be taken care of by the second group of bacteria.

I like water changes even when we can't measure and put a finger on a problem. Our testing is quite limited and I feel there are lots of small changes in the water which we may not see. Over time these may build up to be problems. Maybe only effecting breeding or small health issues we can't see. In nature there is always a supply of new water coming around so I try to do the same. I can't prove it but I feel it is good.
The cheapest and best medicine is good water.

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Hoppy

· #5 · Sep 26, 2012

From the description of the OP's tank I assume it is a low light, non-CO2 tank. You can eliminate water changes except for once every few months, and just do top-off additions of water. But, I don't think the tiny amount of nitrites in the tap water will do any harm if you do weekly changes.

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Nreyes112

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 26, 2012

Hoppy said:
From the description of the OP's tank I assume it is a low light, non-CO2 tank. You can eliminate water changes except for once every few months, and just do top-off additions of water. But, I don't think the tiny amount of nitrites in the tap water will do any harm if you do weekly changes.

Thank you!!!! Just the assurance I needed! But just to be sure, it is a low-mod light, liquid dosed co2 tank. I am going to just top off water and test weekly. I'll do 10-20% water changes once a month or so if needed. Thanks again!!

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