# Water changes? change once a week?



## Fido (May 21, 2003)

OK so I was talking to a girl at Petsmart about water params and such. And she seemed really smart until she told me I am doing too much water changes. I always thought fish like it and once or twice a week 15-20% change is the norm.

She said : WHAT? That is WAY too much! Why do you change it so often?

me: to give the fish some fresh water.

her: Well I say cut the changes to 20% change every other week. You are stressing your fish by changing the water so much. Only change it that much if they make a mess of food, or there is lots of waste.

me: ok *leaves*

so what is correct? Change the water for fish health even if there isnt a mess? Or only do every other week?


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## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

ok... 1st of all... was she hot?









and remember we have piranhas which are messy eaters and create a lot of waste...

there is no "set" number of water changes... do however many you need to so your nitrates stay under control

i do 2-3 15% changes a week


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## Umbilical Syllables (Dec 16, 2004)

20% twice a week for piranha. Other fish might not need it as often, but the natural habitat of the piranha is in high flow areas, meaning lots of fresh water.

btw, Petsmart= knobs. Everytime I go to one the fish are improperly labeled. They were selling pacus as piranha for petes sake.


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## Fresh2salt (Jul 16, 2004)

PETSMART SUCKS! water changes are the fish best friend :laugh:


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

It's always best to check your water parameters to see if you need a water change.


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## Fido (May 21, 2003)

shutter13 said:


> ok... 1st of all... was she hot?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, if I were to do water change every OTHER week, I would kill my fish. And yes she was VERY HOT, when she got the aqua clear 500 from the bottom shelf, I could see the had a thong.


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## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

Water changes are best made with water that matches the existing conditions in the aquarium. Some experienced fish keepers, who are breeding fish, do 90% water change every day but they *match the water exactly*, like pH, KH, GH, and temperature. Since piranha are messy eaters, I don't think doing 20% water change twice a week will harm your fish. If your source water has big difference in pH then maybe a large water change wouldn't be so good. Also, some fish produce a hormone that inhibits growth and doing water changes will help remove it allowing the fish to grow larger.


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## Little Waffen (Mar 13, 2004)

i do 30gal water changes twice a week for my piranha's and i never had a problem with my fish getting stressed out or anything , my water is perfect,,i dunno i dont really listen to people from those kind of stores,i get alot of good info here


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## Fido (May 21, 2003)

smithgrind_who said:


> Water changes are best made with water that matches the existing conditions in the aquarium. Some experienced fish keepers, who are breeding fish, do 90% water change every day but they *match the water exactly*, like pH, KH, GH, and temperature. Since piranha are messy eaters, I don't think doing 20% water change twice a week will harm your fish. If your source water has big difference in pH then maybe a large water change wouldn't be so good. Also, some fish produce a hormone that inhibits growth and doing water changes will help remove it allowing the fish to grow larger.
> [snapback]819356[/snapback]​


Dont have piranhas. But I can match PH and TEMP.


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## Cobra (Sep 25, 2004)

I change 30-40% evry 2 weeks and do not have a problem.


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## AIM FOR THE HEAD (Nov 9, 2004)

i change my water 20% a week...never had a problem


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

I have changed about 40-50% of my tank's water on a weekly basis for more than 2 years - if it indeed would be harmful, I guess my fish would have already kicked the bucket.

A very large single water chance can be bad news though, as it may change the water chemistry and temperature too abruptly, causing shock. It's better to do 2 smaller ones per week than one large water change.


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2004)

I do 10% 3 times a week.

If I had the time I would do 5% daily I think but that is a bit much work. I would like to get good growth and would have considered some sort of drip system.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

Mellor44 said:


> I do 10% 3 times a week.
> 
> If I had the time I would do 5% daily I think but that is a bit much work. I would like to get good growth and would have considered some sort of drip system.
> [snapback]822739[/snapback]​










i second that
there is nothing wrong with lots of small changes (best imo)
but i wish i could set up a drip system in my current house


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## User (May 31, 2004)

Water like the fish in your tank, is really a pet and must be kept in good condition. There's nothing wrong with water changes twice aweek or more if you want the work. Some prefer small changes, others big - if your not messing with your filter media everyday than everything will be okay.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

All depends on your bioload and your KH results of your tank water. If you do one water change a week, your ph is stable, and your nitrates are under 40 ppm then you're doing ok. Otherwise adjust your water changes by either increasing the percentage or adding another water change weekly.


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## mypiranhas (Dec 28, 2004)

I try to do daily 6.67% water changes for my reds (it's 5 gallon bucket and 75 gallon tank!) if anything it seems to stimulate their appetite, I feed them some fish then clean their tank and then they tend to beg for more about 30 -45 minutes later.


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## WorldBelow07 (Dec 16, 2004)

i do 20% water changes once a week. twice sometimes


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## sccavee (Feb 11, 2003)

I do at least 50% a week in two water changes and I still fight high nitrate. It all depends on the bio load in your tank. I have four 9"+ in a 75 so my bio load is very high.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

sccavee said:


> I do at least 50% a week in two water changes and I still fight high nitrate. It all depends on the bio load in your tank. I have four 9"+ in a 75 so my bio load is very high.
> [snapback]823937[/snapback]​


Do you have live plants in your tank? They could help bringing your nitrAtes down a bit...









I have 5 reds (all 8 inches, give or take a bit), plus 2 Raphael Cats and 7 Pleco's in my 80 gallon tank, and on average I do 2 20-25% water changes per week - all fish are in perfect health.
I do have a LOT of live plants in the tank though, as well as a hugely overrated canister (intended for tanks up to 150 gallons) plus two internal filters (about 300gph combined).


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