General Care Discussion :: Water Changes

[ACF&RESLOVER]

How often do people do partial water changes in their filtered tanks?

What percentage of the water?

I tend to change about 25% - 30% weekly, but I am wondering if I'm actually doing unnecessary work. It takes me about 30 minutes per week to change the water.

My water quality is always very high. It's clear and always tests well. On the occasions I change a little extra I never have any cycling problems. I'm wondering if I switched to 50% - 60% every other week the water quality would remain high and I could reduce my work load a little.

Any thoughts?

[Vtolds]

Dont do more than 50% usually I think your probably fine with what you are doing right now.

[marisa]

What does testing the water tell you about it?

[RunninWideOpen]

What are you testing the water for? If it's a good complete test, you can probably cut back on the water changes a little. It also depends on the size of your tank and turtle(s). Smaller tanks need more frequent water changes.

[ACF&RESLOVER]

What does testing the water tell you about it?

I generally test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, but I also have the ability to test PH.

The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels tell you if your tank is "cycled" with good bacteria that is eliminating toxic materials.

[mikee]

ACF Lover -- What you are trying to accomplish is getting your aquarium balanced. Nature does a good job in streams and ponds. When dealing with small tanks, it is harder to do and all we can do is test and adjust and when it gets too far out of line. We make a water change to help natures process. It is called nitrification process. You test for Ammonia (NH3) Nitrite (N02) and Nitrate (NO3)
The nitrate is the least dangerous, but has to be kept in check.