# have i missed the point of water changes?



## Gooders (Feb 1, 2005)

ok,it seems everyone is doing water changes min of once a week,why?

why does the water need a part change,when you have spent anything up to or more than 6 weeks doing a water cycle?

seems silly to me!

ok so questions to answer to help me would be:-

do you have to?
why?
how much?
how often?
how do i go about doing it?

also have just read a post saying post up what the council say is in your water and the posters will tell the user what to add to the water duing the change to make it safe,i would,but we get our water from a borehole in the ground,3 miles from a main water line







so what do i need to do to make mine safe?

sorry for the noob posts im making but i would rather post noob stuff and get this right than look a "muppet" saying my fish have died cos i havent ask enoght questions!

hope somone can help


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## Zoo_Keeper (Aug 31, 2005)

The idea is to take out nitrate the end product of cycling. Although it is much less toxic to fish, it will still kill them in high concentrations. Age water overnight in a bucket that never had soap and suck out 5 to 10% of your water with a gravel vacuum. Replace your water and you're good to go.


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## Gooders (Feb 1, 2005)

Zoo_Keeper said:


> Age water overnight in a bucket that never had soap and suck out 5 to 10% of your water with a gravel vacuum. Replace your water and you're good to go.


im guessing the water im leaving over night is the water going back in to the tank?!?!?!?!

so i would need to do this midweek and end of week,for life?

o yeah thanks for getting back so far with info,

also with this cycle thing,i have a tank witch i use to bred and fatten up tench,kio,gold fish etc etc etc ready for the pond,

it has 2 powerheads in it,would it be better for me to put the powerheads into my p tank and then once the cycle is done stick em bk into the breader tank

or

do the above,with a load of cheap goldfish?

or

do a fishless cycle?

also when cycling do i set the tank up as if it was ready to stick p's in? add water and just add in the tap safe stuff? then after adding the tap safe do i:- wait a few days or just get on with the cycle?

thanks for the help


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## nick007x (Sep 9, 2005)

as mentioned nitrAtes can only be removed from an unplanted tank with water changes (planted tanks usually also need water changes, but sometimes not as many).

in addition to removing nitrates, you have to remove fish waste from the aquarium somehow. vaccumming while taking the water out kills two birds with one stone.

yes, you have to do water changes for life. 25% once a week is good also (more or less same as 10% twice a week).

using goldfish to cycle or using fishless cycling dosen't really matter ...it is up to you.

you don't need to wait to cycle after adding properly conditioned water. once water conditioner is added and the temp is the same, the water is safe. thats why its ok to pour conditioned water in the tank when doing water changes.


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## Gooders (Feb 1, 2005)

nick007x said:


> as mentioned nitrAtes can only be removed from an unplanted tank with water changes (planted tanks usually also need water changes, but sometimes not as many).
> 
> in addition to removing nitrates, you have to remove fish waste from the aquarium somehow. vaccumming while taking the water out kills two birds with one stone.
> 
> ...


thanks very much thats cleared up a few problems,now its to the other thread,to sort out about tanks and filters,thanks to the pair of you that helped me on this


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## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

Gooders said:


> ok,it seems everyone is doing water changes min of once a week,why?
> 
> why does the water need a part change,when you have spent anything up to or more than 6 weeks doing a water cycle?
> 
> ...


your right...i do water changes about every 2 weeks. i dont see the need for any more frequent changes.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

http://www.barrreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=395

I suggest reaing ^^this link if doing water changes are hard for you to do weekly.
The point of the article is, if you stock your tank to the hilt with plants, that could be the end of your weekly water change needs, because plants eat nitrAtes.

You have to find a balance between fish load and relatively healthy plant mass. 
Hope that helps


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## kingsnar (Nov 17, 2005)

basically when a fish eats food the waste breaks down into ammonia, the ammonia is then converted into nitrItes by the bacteria established by cycling. The Nitrites are then converted to nitrAtes by the bacteria. (nitrAtes are less toxic but still not good for the fish) The Bacteria cannot eat NitrAtes so Water changes must be done to remove them from the water.


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## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

yeh agreed, water changes are needed but not so frequently


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> You have to find a balance between fish load and relatively healthy plant mass.


Yes, so many hobbyist forget or ignore this and they all end up having problems with water or algae.

BTW kingsnar,
There are denitrifying bacteria that use up nitrates (NO3) and produce nitrogen gas (N2). For example Tetra water treating product EasyBalance works this way. Bacteria eats the granules (zeolite) and consume NO3 for this. You can also put a zeolite bag into an external filter to remove nitrogen.
Anyway this is only for curiosity, the main nitrogen cycle goes like you wrote.

Regards,


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## kingsnar (Nov 17, 2005)

yeah i never liked zeolite, ill stick to the old fashion fishless cycle myself


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## Guest (Dec 19, 2005)

Water must be changed, -without exception. Unchanged water accumulated nitrates and other fish waste products that will stunt the growth of your fish.

Also, water that is high in nitrates has a much higher bacteria concentration of bacteria than clean water. This high bacteria count stresses the immune system of your fish and kills some outright. This is why some fish, such as stingrays and discus, have zero-tolerence for dirty water.

So, if you want big, healthy fish, you need to perform routine water changes.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

alan said:


> yeh agreed, water changes are needed but not so frequently










Would you tell someone who has water with a low buffering capacity this. I hope not.


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## Joe5688 (Dec 2, 2005)

jerry_plakyda said:


> yeh agreed, water changes are needed but not so frequently










Would you tell someone who has water with a low buffering capacity this. I hope not.
[/quote]
Why do u need to add water conditoner? On the bottle it says to take our cholorine and stuff, but my water doesn't have any cholorine.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Joe5688 said:


> yeh agreed, water changes are needed but not so frequently










Would you tell someone who has water with a low buffering capacity this. I hope not.
[/quote]
Why do u need to add water conditoner? On the bottle it says to take our cholorine and stuff, but my water doesn't have any cholorine. [/quote]

The only time you do not need conditioner is if you have "well water". If your water is "city water" just because it does not contain chlorine does not mean it does not contain chloramines which in reality is a combination of ammonia and chlorine because it is more stable than chlorine alone. Remember water districts will dump higher concentrations during certain seasons to combat contamination whether its due to a high fish die off in the resorvoir or rain runoff.


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