water change

hunt

hunt

Active Member
I was doing small water changes daily for a week untill last sunday to get rid of some disease, it went away, anyways ho long should i wait before doing normal water changes again?
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
no idea, my valentini puffers fins got all cloudy or something, i wasnt really trying to get rid of a disease i was trying to lower nitrates wich i think were the cause of what was wrong. Anyways my fish are healthy and doing well. I have no idea what was wrong because my nitrates are still around 80ppm. I figured the nitrates would go down quicker doing large weekly or so water changes. My question is how long should i wait untill i do a large water change and how often should i do it?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
WELL...You really need to get the trates down....I think you need to do larger w/c's less frequently
like 2 large a week (not 7 small daily)
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
how large of a water change and how frequently? I have a 29 gallon tank(not sure if i metiooned that)
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
On my 29G...I do 4g's every other week...that is my "normal" schedule
if I had an issue...I maybe would do 7g's...test after 24 hours, and depending on the results...well that would depend on my next...maybe another 7g's within a week....
What's in your tank (livestock) what do you have for filtration? What do you feed?
The BIGGER question here is WHY are your nitrates so high...figure that out...and you can control them
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
as far as fish a Have 2 False percula clowns and a valentini puffer. As far as coral, i only have a few purple mushrooms. Foe inverts i have a 2 turbo snails and a hermit crab. I feed one forth of a cube of mysis shrimp with a drop of kents marine garlic and a pinch of ocean nutrition prime reef flakes. Filtration=2 penguin bio filter (150, and 100). Dont really know why my nitrates are so high, My guess is its been like that for a real long time without me testing thewater (i know, i know i should check my water at least weekly but i just never got to it, dont worry ive "changed" Thats all, if you have a suggestion tell me.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Hunt
http:///forum/post/3222355
about monthly.
OK...I know the Penguins...Do you use the bio-wheel?? (if so toss it)
Also each one takes one "carbon" cartridge....I think you should change them more often...change one each week NEVER both at the same time
so today change the 150...next week...change the 100....then the 150...etc...etc....
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by westwind77
http:///forum/post/3222364
Hmm... I had a few people tell me to KEEP them in the past as they help reduce nitrates, specifically.

Depends on your maintenance I guess
Originally Posted by Hunt
http:///forum/post/3222371
why through the biowheels out? arnt they a good thing?
I have heard that they will just collect junk
I do not use them with SW (only FW)
I can't say 100% though.....Some people will say they are good....some will say they are not
ALL depends on you in the long run
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Are you cleaning the biowheels of the accumulated junk that gets on them? How often and how are you doing it?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Hunt
http:///forum/post/3222740
i dont really clean them, should i?
If you are going to use them...YES, you need to clean them...BUT not at the same time....Like I mentioned with the filters....One this week....the other next etc
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
And don't scrub them, do one at water change time. The water you remove from the tank, use it in a container that you can put one of the biowheels and swish it around to get all of the accumulated gunk off. Then the next water change do the other one. Keep rotating back and forth like that. This gunk (detritus) can be a direct cause for an increase in nitrates. You want to get it out of the tank before it has a chance to become broken down into ammonia by the bacteria. Once it starts breaking down the end result in the tank is nitrates.
Capeesh?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3222745
And don't scrub them, do one at water change time. The water you remove from the tank, use it in a container that you can put one of the biowheels and swish it around to get all of the accumulated gunk off. Then the next water change do the other one. Keep rotating back and forth like that. This gunk (detritus) can be a direct cause for an increase in nitrates. You want to get it out of the tank before it has a chance to become broken down into ammonia by the bacteria. Once it starts breaking down the end result in the tank is nitrates.
Capeesh?
I have to learn to be more thorough with my explanations
 
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