General Care Discussion :: how ofetn should I refill my tank with water/clean it?

[cooleststan]

I have a 29 gallon tank with a biowheel filter by marineland (however, there is no wheel, I stepped on it and broke it)
How often do I need to completely replace all the water?
I use a turkey baster to fish out the poop and uneaten food at the bottom of the tank everyday.

Also, I bought a more expensive filter cartrdige with the bacteria growth because my bio wheel broke.

could I get any maitenence tips and advice on how often to compeltely change the water?
thanks

[untsmurf]

If you want to completely empty out the tank, there are aquarium vacuums that you can get at almost any pet store with an aquarium section. They look like this:



And if your tank isn't within like two feet of a sink, you'll need a bucket to empty the water into, then just dump the bucket when it gets full. It's a very arduous process, but it gets the job done.

[DavidY]

The Python units are very good for water changes. You can hook it up to a faucet (hoses come in 25ft to 50ft sections) and use it to both siphon the water out of your tank and then fill it back up again.

It's usually not necessary to completely drain and refill the entire tank. A partial water change done regularly is usually adequate. How much and how often depends on the amount of waste being generated, the volume of water in the tank and the efficiency of the filter. Usually a 20% water change every two weeks is a good routine.

[grey goose]

In all the time I've been raising turts, the MOST water I've changed out is 30-50% . The only time I would change all the water is if something got sideways biological-wise or if a turt was sick.......
But I've also always maintained my tanks with good filtration.

[octpusgirl8]

How often you have to do water changes depends a lot on the setup you have. If your filter is undersized, or if the tank is too small for your turtle, you will need much more frequent water changes than if you had a bigger filter/tank. I don't know how big your turtle is, or what size your filter is, so i can't really say how often. If the water looks dirty, that's a sure sign that you need to do more frequent changes. As others have said, it's not necessary to do complete water changes except in special cirsumstances. It's actually better to do lots of smaller water changes than one huge one, a total water change can upset the good bacteria in the tank/water that help to keep it clean and healthy.
I would really reccomend getting yourself a Python, i got one recently, and now i'm kicking myself for not getting it sooner! You can drain and fill without any buckets, it's a beautiful thing. They're a little expensive at Petsmart, but if you print out the page from thier online store and show it to the cashier, they will match that price, i saved about $15 with that little trick. If you can't afford a Python, the gravel vacs work well for draining and sucking up nasties from the bottom, they're just more of a hassle to use.

[Starchick]

In all the time I've been raising turts, the MOST water I've changed out is 30-50% . The only time I would change all the water is if something got sideways biological-wise or if a turt was sick.......
But I've also always maintained my tanks with good filtration.

Do you do that as a matter of convenience because more is unnecessary, or is there a reason it might be better to stick to just partial water changes?

[grey goose]

The way I see it, the water is part of the biological process too, along with the algae that builds up on the tank and decorations, hoses, etc. The only reason I change about 20 gals. out is to keep the nitrates/nitrites low. If you have enough filtration and good bio in the filter, full water changes are unnecessary....

[turtlesrock77]

I've only done a full water change once, and it's been a year since I got my turtles. I just fill up whatever evaporates away, and change the filter cartridges and all.

[DavidY]

Goose, what do you think about the slow accumulation of trace elements or compounds that are introduced from the tap water (ie: minerals, heavy metals, nutrients, etc)? For example, let's say your tap water had a concentration of 2ppm of copper. So when you initially filled the tank it would read 2ppm. But each week you lose one gallon of water to evaporation, so you add tap water to make up for it. The problem is that only pure water was evaporated, not the copper (or any other compounds for that matter). So as you add tap water to top off the evaporation, you are also adding more copper. Eventually the concentration will climb to dangerous levels.

Partial water changes will slow down this accumulation, but it will not stop it. Without a 100% water change, certain toxic compounds will eventually reach dangerous levels in a matter of years, or if the tap water is bad enough, months. Adding carbon to your filtration will remove a lot of these harmful products, but a 100% water change maybe once a year might not be a bad idea too. Perhaps filling a couple of barrels with fresh tap water and allowing it to sit overnight before doing the water change would also be a good idea to allow it to come up to room temperature and to allow an exchange of gasses.

[grey goose]

Every six months I completly break down the tanks, mostly to clean the things that don't need cleaning on a regular basis like hoses and airlines and such. I never actually measured how much water I suck out but I leave a few inches of water.
The "city water" around here gets the full treatment, ppm's are almost immeasureable. It would take many years for any concentrations of metals to do any damage. Plus I use high grade charcoal and floss between the sponges and bio-rings.

[DavidY]

Yea, that sounds like a good regimen for your situation. I was thinking in general terms though. So you'd agree that a 90% to 100% water change maybe once a year would be a good idea? The reason I'm asking you is 'cause you're a scientific guy and I've thought about this problem for a while, especially when someone posts a question saying they've had their tank setup for a year and all of a sudden it's got an algae problem or something. I wonder how much of those types of problems could be from an accumulation of nutrients or other compounds from the person's tap water that build up over time from topping off evaporation.

[Safdar]

Sorry for barging in

Do you guys know what i can use to suck up the excess poop and food on the aqursioum bottom

[N4784N R4613]

A turkey baster.

[DavidY]

You can also get a battery operated gravel cleaner that picks up the junk and collects it in a cloth bag but returns the water back to the tank. It also has a fitting that you can connect to a hose if you wan't to siphon the dirty water into a bucket. Here's a link to it...http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12753&N=2004+113164

[grey goose]

I've never really gave much thought to accelerated metals or other things building up in a tank. It's really has such a small amount that it would not be a problem (most water supplies, results may vary). Again, nothing beats a properly set up filter that is the correct size for your tank.....And some may argue that high quality carbon is just a luxury and only keeps the smell down but I believe it also adsorbs or at least binds up some of those compounds. In fact, if you have to treat your water with medication (for fish, ich comes to mind) you'd better take out the charcoal, it will "adsorb" it.