Water Change

kibe

New Member
I live in a remote area where help is zero.This site is the BEST.I have good water and change every 3-4 wks.A scheduled change has been postponed because of copper treatment started 2/14,stopped 2/23.I recently added 2 new fish (10 days ago).W/you recommend I wait another week, as I have been told, to do a water change, or should I change now? It's been 5 weeks since my last change. P.S. The aerator makes all the fish in the tank more lively. Thanks. I thought my 2 power heads and the prot. skimmer were all i needed for aeration.
 

imperator

New Member
Personally, I would wait. Give your copper time to do its job. Also remember that you want to keep that copper at a constant level for those 10 days. If not, you could have a relapse on your hands. The extra O2 will help them tremendously. My favorite piece of advise is, buy a good book. One that covers set up, health/disease, diet, maintenance, and individual care on fish/invert species. I have been in some cities to where the LFS stores had no idea what to do, or even what fish is what. Why trust some moron in a pet store who has no idea? If you don't remember what that fish needs, pull out your trusty book, and find out. When I first started I kept the book in my car, when I went on fish buying trips. Lets face it, when a national pet store chain employee(making min. wage+ commission) stands there and tells me that an Arc-eye Hawkfish is a Spotted Wrasse, why should I believe him? Well you would think that he would know what things were, wrong. He wants that quick buck, made from preying on a uninformed person.(The comparision above is very much true, I heard it about 4 weeks age!) Hope this helps you.
 

kibe

New Member
Many thanks for your quick response.I'm taking your advice.About "fish" stores, you would be amazed how little the local (Richmond, Va)saltwater retailers seem to know.The best store I have ever been to is one in Sarasota, FL.These people are really pros and have a huge selection as well as great knowledge.I call them when I need products, supplies, etc.Can you recommend a good book?I have a marine atlas (Burgess), Marine Fish Survival Manual, and an older book The Basic Marine Aquarium, Bower. One book suggests one method and another suggests something else.Who's the expert?
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
If you want to do a water change, then I say do it. You can maintain your copper level by using a copper test kit, and add the necessary copper that you lost from the water change. Remember copper diminishes the essential biological system upon which your aquarium is based, and the last thing you need is diminished water quality that result in creating problems that you are trying to resolve by using the copper.
 
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