# infrequent large water changes or frequent small changes



## darkmatter (Jan 14, 2007)

What do you think is better overall? also which should i do to get rid of cloudy water fastest?


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## skubasteve! (Feb 14, 2007)

If *I* had to choose one over the other, I would say frequent smaller water changes. My reason: if something did go wrong, such as forgetting to take uneaten food out, it would build up for a long time and take over your tank. By doing small frequent changes you can minimize that risk instead of letting it build up over time.

As for your cloudy problem, it could be a bacterial bloom or just bad water conditions. You would have to give us more information in order for us to help you.

Did you cycle your tank?
What are your water params?
What size tank, what kind of filtration, and what are you stocking?

There are products out there that can get rid of the cloudy water, however that is just avoiding the root of the problem and will only be a temporary fix. Cloudy water usually means bad water conditions.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

darkmatter said:


> What do you think is better overall? also which should i do to get rid of cloudy water fastest?


What do you mean by infrequent more than a week or weekly ? Depending on the buffering capacity of your water will determine what you should be doing. What is your gH kH & pH in the tank as well as out of tap ? As far as your cloudy water goes need more info. Is it a milky white ? Green ? Do you have an algae bloom going on ? What are your nitrates ? Ammonia ? nitrites ?


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## darkmatter (Jan 14, 2007)

i havent tested the water lately (dont have a testing kit anymore) i did do a about a 20% about 4 days ago and about a 10% change yesterday. it is cycled. tank isnt overstocked. i think i caused cloudiness by overfeeding. the water is a cloudy yellow green color


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

darkmatter said:


> i havent tested the water lately (dont have a testing kit anymore) i did do a about a 20% about 4 days ago and about a 10% change yesterday. it is cycled. tank isnt overstocked. i think i caused cloudiness by overfeeding. the water is a cloudy yellow green color


Don't think it is related to a bacteria bloom since that is a "milky white" in color. Yours may be a combination of high nutrients including raised levels of phosphates fed by indirect or direct sunlight on your tank during the day. You need to test your water or take it to a lfs for them to test it for you but if they are very busy I wouldn't trust the result unless I knew the person doing it. For a quick fix keep the lighting off and if tank is by a window than the shades need to go down, reduce feeding, increase gravel vacs and water changes to 30 % every 3 days. Clean off any organic matter that may be in your filter and on the media in a bucket of tank water.


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