This subject has been beaten to death. It varies from tank to tank, no ones water or tank set up is the same. I have tanks that go 6 months without water changes. Why? Because the nitrates don't get close to 40 ppm by then. Heavily planted and stocked. Some need a water change every 3 months. One every 2 weeks. There's no set time or amount to change. My fish are breeding and healthy. Plants grow like mad. Fish live a long happy life. I test every 2 weeks so its not from lack of testing. 47 years in this hobby and I've learned that what works for you don't work for all. Test your water, if it needs changed, change it. If it don't then don't there's no one way period.
I've kept fresh and salt tanks nearly as long, and while each tank is different the science / chemistry is the same. I've encountered plenty of 'get off my lawn' types than insist on doing 50% changes no matter what every week, but what blows my minds are the younger guys who spout nonsense about KH and GH. Had to argue with a kid last week that distilled water can't have a pH of 8. Not sure what's going on in schools, but it's not science. Tik Tok skills I guess.
@@liam-n8098 imagine. Not your thing and that's fine. Like i said what works for one does not work for all. But when its a constant " YOU GOT TO DO THIS BECAUSE I SAY SO, or THE RULES SAY IF YOU DON'T CHANGE YOUR Water 50XS A MONTH YOUR FISH WILL DIE! " it gets old. Fish are more resilient than ppl realise. Most yes live in streams, lakes, ponds where fresh water is constant. But they still live in NON sterile environments. Plus i havent lost a fish in years and some are close to 6 years old. Must be doing something right, my way. It's not your way or his way or their way.
Thanks for emphasizing that one size fits all doesn’t apply here. We need to take responsibility for the maintenance each of our aquariums needs, and not what people believe they need, based on limited information.
I do a 20-25% water change every week for my 100 gallon Cichlid tank. Even though my tests on the water are pretty much the same every week, it’s just a routine thing for me now plus the care for my fish to give them fresh water. I do a 2 week water change on my community tank as routine as this is quite heavily planted but still a routine for the care of the fish. Great video as always. Happy New Year to you all.
Thank you much for this video. As someone new to the hobby this was superhelpful with cutting through all the different hook lines out there. You helped me understand more how the factors of each tank make a difference. I know for people long in the hobby this is old news but for a newbie it was superhelpful.
Hello Troy, I wanted to tell you and your brothers that I appreciate the content. The knowledge you guys have shared with me has definitely saved many of my fish over the 5 years I've been in this hobby. My puffer and I thank you!
I have always hated when I see videos that say "no more water changes" because it is all BS. We used to be told (in the late 70's) to think of water changes as this: not only do you have a build up of stuff in the tank, but you also have the fish using the minerals in the water. So a water change cleanses the water like a constantly moving stream does constantly and at the same time you replenish some of the minerals used by the fish. We are setting up an aquarium soon and I hope to have not only the usual setup but micro and macro fauna in the tank to have a more natural processor of bad stuff as well as natural food for the fish. But I still plan water changes. It is a must.
Thank you for this very informative video. I do 60-80% change every week or two but no matter what I can’t get the nitrate level down , however I’m not sure what the accuracy is, so I do need to get this test kit. Thanks again, your awesome and your tanks are amazing.
great video; I have a 5 gal tank; fishes include one Otocinclus, 2 sparkling gouramis, and 4 ember tetras; also snails and a couple cherry shrimp; I replace a half gal of water weekly; seems to keep nitrates at around 20 mg/L
I did a lot of experimenting with the nitrate levels in a big 400 gallon lumber pond I built in my greenhouse. It was made to be heat storage device for winter, and thus wasn't filled with tropicals. Koi and weather loaches were the main fish and I tried some white clouds but they never got a foot hold or started breeding. The bottom was fairly complex as I has a number of crates in the water to be enrichment and hides for the fish and some crates boosted the emergent water plants, which ended up being mainly one big umbrella paparus. The bottom had sand and mud parts plus lots of muck from the koi waste, which I rarely syphoned out. The filter was a high output 150gph pump that had a skimmer on one end, and the other end of the pond had a stack of crates with layers if poly floss(top-physical filter) and expanded shale nuggets bio filter) in a wet/dry filter style. The fish did great and bred well and grew large and fast. I tracked the Nitrate mostly, as those other nitrogenous waste were always zero. The nitrate always stayed low, due to the anaerobic muck at the bottom with plenty of organic detritus to feed the denitrifying. This is the classic pond set up, where one usually doesn't worry about water changes, the natural bottom takes care of that. At one point, I noticed a pretty high algae load and couldn't figure out what was causing that with the nicely low nitrates but I got a phosphate test. The phosphates were super high, hence the algae. I thought it was the fish feeding waste, but I also checked by tap water and that water is pretty high in phosphates. This set up required a fair amount of topping up, but I didn't really "change" the water much. Cities often add phosphates along with managing the pH up around 8.3 with calcium to sequester lead in older plumbing from before lead was removed from solder in the 1970's I think it was. So I got some pillow phosphate filters to put into the flow stream for a while. Those got the phosphate down nicely, but after a while I notice that the nitrates seem to be going up. No other changes. It almost seemed that the denitrifying process also liked the phosphate, those bacteria. I stopped removing the phosphate and the nitrate levels went down. I'm sure the emergent Cyprus plant was helping a little with the nitrates, plus that algae, but fish mostly just ate the algae. This was a weird inter relationship between Nitrate/denitrifying and phosphate levels that I had never heard of. Running a denitrifying filter or set up in a regular tank probably isn't worth the other potential hassles, like it's hard to vacuum a muddy muck bottom tank, if your tap water is good and cheap. I was most interested where the tap is not suitable(high phosphates or TDS) like for soft water tanks and especially for salt water where the cost of water can be pretty high. I've made simple denitrifying filters out up just jars or small buckets of muck mud soil with some peat or organics covered with sand and then gravel to do slow denitrifying via diffusion. They work, but don't have a very high capacity and you have to hid them. Regular technical denitrifying filters I also tried with a long(25feet) coil of tubing inside a jar with a cotton cord pulled through the tubing and slow suction on one end from the big pump intake. In this the cotton supples the cellulose for denitrifying, the carbon source. Most commercial denitrifying filters require some slow injection of a liquid carbon source like methanol early in the intake stream; complicated and potentially dangerous.
All good points made on this video. Basically how I explain water changes is what’s the difference between a swamp and a lake? Swamp is stagnant due to no feed of fresh, clean water as in a lake is constantly being replenished. Fired Up Discussion that probably never be settled lol.
I agree with you💯... Out of my 7 tanks, only 2 get a 25-30% weekly water changes. My mosquito fish tank, 50 gallons btw, only get a water change every 4-5 weeks. It does have plenty of plants plus mosquito fish aren't that messy. Just like you said, test your water and determine what needs to be done. Great video explaining and hopefully putting a lot of those myths to bed.
Yesterday i just ordered some aquarium plant holders from Amazon.. All my tanks are african cichlids and im not thrilled about pathos growing everywhere but im growing a little tired of having to do big water changes every 2-3 weeks so ill give the pothos a try to help reduce my water changes
Theres some other plants that work aswell. Peace Lillies (Spathiphyllum), philodendrons, lucky bamboo all will do a similar job. Do not do actual lillies if you have cats, they are deathly alergic to true lillies but Spaths not really. Sweet potato goes crazy aswell but you have to be careful not to rot the potato part. Pothos can get absolutely massive though too. We have them in most tanks. But the biggest one was in our 5ft tank and its now 20+feet long on one runner and another 2 runners about 10ft long. Couple of others are 10ft plus too. Personally I'm beginning to switch to philodendrons as they are more manageable. P. Xanadu and P New Yorker seem to work well. As more clumping its also easier to maintain light on them.
Thanks for tackling a heated topic head-on. I would love to keep more live plants, but I manage to kill them off more frequently than my cichlids do. Until I learn how to better balance light and plant nutrients, my fish and I are happy with 30-50% changes every 7 to 10 days.
I'm sorry people have been giving you crap for what you do. I watch both your channel and Father fish and everything you said is correct, context matters. From a personal stand point i've been trying to combine your 150 with a FF deep substrate set up. Best of both worlds i hope.
Nitrates are like cig smoke, doesn't kill fast, but sure isn't good for you. Doing a water change is like getting you out of a smoke filled room and into a room full of healthy fresh air. How is that possibly a bad thing??
very nice video, completely agree with you. I would just like to add, that it would be good to test the tap water beforehand. Then you can calculate far better, how much water you need to change (it is a big difference, if the water comes out of your tap with 3 ppm or 10 ppm nitrates). thanks and take care
Troy, Wow I love you got heated there for a moment. I have multiple tanks just like everyone else. All my tanks I do water changes on different schedules. My 120 gal CA SA tank I do water changes every 2 weeks. My planted 55 gal I do water changes every 4 to 6 weeks. That is just because I want to replace the minerals and ph and stuff. My 20 gal long planted tank I could get away probably every 2 months. I just setup a MBUNA tank. It’s 100 gal. I only have 12 juveniles in there so I don’t expect to do any water changes for a while plus I have to let the tank get seasoned. I am sure once I get it stocked up I will have to do once a week or once every other week. Every tank is different and for people to say never do a water change etc etc. is misleading. Because I can’t keep plants in two of my tanks.
Great information! I have been doing it the same way as you for years with my nine tanks. I have had great success. Now I am working on tank #10. A 75 gallon which will be an Amazon River theme.
I don’t care what anyone says I do 60-80 % water changes every 6-7 days I’ve never lost a fish nor stressed them, quite the contrary my fish get more energy and more food driven after every water change, thanks Troy for your inputs agree 100%
My peacock tank needs a 50% water change every week while my planted community tank only needs a 25% change every week four weeks or so. Like you said, all tanks are different.
I like your take on it. I agree with most of it. There are a few wrong facts in a scientific point of view. Only one is crucial for fish health. If one have not done water shanges for a very long time the buffer may be depleated. When buffer runs out ph drops, nitrification stops and all nitrogen build up as non toxic ammonium. If water changes is done in this case, ph will increase and the non toxic ammonium will convert to toxic ammonia. In this case fish will instantly die from a partial watershange. I have seen it happen several times. So it may make sense to pull back a little bit on the water shanges is always good and never dangerous message. I do not blame, you do the right thing and has never experienced this situation. You are totally right, understanding the concept and measuring the water is the key to success.....Even in buffer depleated tanks.😀👍
I appreciate you doing this. Might be a bit of a side tangent but I sometimes find myself unable to enjoy myself in fish stores as I often overhear beginners or families who just want to give their kid a pet saying the most incorrect or downright dangerous things about how they plan to set up their tanks. It's frustrating and it's hard to forget how many fish tanks in the world are unattended to. The amount of times I've heard "fish just die, I just go and buy another" when 9/10 times, a person who constantly loses fish soon after they buy them is usually the one doing something wrong. It's a crime to the hobby that a large portion of casual fishkeepers see their tanks as a decoration and rarely anything more. It's one of the biggest problems our hobby faces.
I completely agree. I have big cichlids and do regular 60% water changes every 5-7 days. No live plants because the fish eat them quickly. I feed lettuce 2 days before every water change because the fish shred the lettuce and make a mess. I like doing water changes more often than less. fish are always much happier after a water change. Also, as much fish influences say that Fluval fx6 filters can be cleaned less and show videos with longer time periods than 3 months between cleanings, I have found with big cichlids that this is not desirable and can lead to unhealthy conditions which can promote diseases such as Epistylis. Just my experience. There is no substitute for regular consistent maintenance. To keep me on track, I keep a log on everything I do to the tanks.
Troy, love your channel and look forward to every new video! Would it be possible to do a short video on your tap water parameters? Where I live in Rhode Island the ph out of the tap is very high (over 8.8) but the kh out of the tap is super low (1 or less). If the tap water is left to stand overnight the ph plummets to 6.6 because the kh is so low. Perhaps your water parameters are much more ideal for water changes. Thanks!
Thanks, Troy, for this very educational video. I think a lot of fishkeepers can learn from this and really help them in the future. It's really great to see the passion you have for this hobby to share with everyone. I absolutely love this video. Thank you! (Full watch here)
Admittedly I’m lazy when it comes to testing. I just practice the 30% per week rule and watch how my fish swim and colour up. It’s just easier for me to manage on fixed schedule as to monitoring it everyday. Otherwise test kits are amazing especially compared to test strips that are not so consistent in my experience. That being said I have overstocked tanks that need it and if I were to wait it would save time but I’m putting them at risk over my convenience. Great video and stay happy and healthy my friend!
Great points Troy So i have many planted tanks some are dirted tanks some are sand and some are planted substrates. And up until recently I never did water changes on those tanks just top offs. As my nitrates were very minimal at best. But I have very hard water here so I decided to test my tanks TDS levels and I was shocked to see one of my tanks was well over 600 in TDS so I did about a 75% water change and brought the TDS levels into the 220 range. And its my own fault as just topping off I do believe just keeps building more and more TDS levels due to my hard water. So for now I plan on once a month to start with and see where it brings me.
Agreed. I currently have 3 tanks. 33 long heavily planted with 3 Otocinclus, NeoCaradina Shrimp, Snails, and 12 Neon Tetra. One 30 percent water change all year). Nitrates stay between 20ppm - 50ppm with weekly fertilizer. 60 Breeder medium stock of fish and plants. Same 20 ppm - 50 ppm nitrates. I breed live bearers out of this tank, so it gets dirty sometimes with multiple daily feedings to new fry. I keep anywhere from 30- 50 fish at a time in this tank. So a 25 percent water change every 4-6 weeks keeps parameters in check. Last a 5 gallon quarantine and fry grow out tank. I’ve been keeping aquariums for 40 plus years. My best advice is keep your pre or main filters clean, sett all of your lights on mechanical timers and keep a log book for tank parameters when you are new. Most tanks will settle into a predictable cycle. Keeping a log book will help you calculate and keep track of these patterns.
Dude, your fish look amazing. My first aquarium was a natural aquarium - about one year old now. Pretty easy. Just plant a lot of different plants and see what goes well in your tank. It will go well enough for all the ones that die. People who find it difficult are the ones who want to keep very specific stuff. If you have snails and shrimp, you don't have to worry too much about overfeeding. Pretty easy to keep, if you just want an aquarium that is actually natural, like a little aquatic jungle.
Informatives Video zum Thema "Wasserwechsel im Aquarium"! Man kann die "Wasserwechsel-Methode" nicht pauschalieren. Jedes Aquarium hat für sich ein anderes "System" ..viel Fische - wenig Fische, viel Pflanzen - wenig Pflanzen, etc. Wenn dein Aquarium vernünftig funktioniert, musst du auch nix mit Gewalt daran ändern, denn "Never change a running system!". 😉
Great video on water changes, awesome, hopefully this clears up the confused lol, I also went to the datz store you visited, great place and fish , thanks man
I’d love to see the tanks of people who claim they never do water changes. In the reef tank hobby, most amazing-looking tanks usually belong to people who perform water changes at least twice a week. Plus, isn’t the maintenance part of the fun? Being hands-on with your tank and feeling proud when you see your hard work paying off is incredibly rewarding. Regular water changes provide that hands-on experience. If you don’t want to put any effort into your tank, why not just visit a public aquarium instead? Your water bill and electrical bill will thank you for that at least.
I've had ongoing problems for years with microbubble saturation taking out fish after water changes. Most of what you find on the Internet about the problem is wrong, so I'm not surprised when it's not mentioned. With my well water in winter it's particularly bad (although I experienced it with city water as well). Can let the water acclimate in stock tanks or barrels for over 48 hours and still may have some regardless of whether I use a pump to transfer the water or gravity. And the temperature of the water is the exact same. I only share so people who experience it don't feel like they're going crazy when they're told they should never have fish die from a water change.
@10:30 Water changes, maybe a degree or two cooler source water, put a lot of fish "in the mood" and encourages spawning. I'm looking at _you,_ Cichlids!😊
When refilling your water i use a temperature probe to get a accurate temperature reading and also to test how accurate the heaters are set at, to calibrate just place into boiling water to see how accurate the probe is much safer than using your hand....😊
If your tank is heavily planted and uses up all the Nitrates where you are only adding micro nutrients for the plants you may still eventually get a build up of one of those micronutrients to a toxic level and need a water change. If you are topping the water off with RO water then it wont harden over time and will allow you to extend the water change interval further. If you're topping off with tap water you're making the water harder with every top off as the minerals aren't evaporating thus requiring more changes. With a custom tailored diy mixed fert in a heavily planted tank only filling with RO water you could get away with no changes mainly because you are exporting the stuff you are adding when trimming the plants. Either way you end up needing to export the waste in one form or another. I'm down to about one water change every 6 months with a heavily planted tank, massive canister, a fert with no phospates or nitrates, topping off with RO, but I've got fast growing stem plants I trim once a month thus exporting the waste. I guess you guys with destructive species would want a sump with live plants.
You should explore automation as a means to reduce your workload. I have five tanks, all of them run the Neptune APEX controller. All the tanks have a raw water and discharge water line. Based on the needs of the tank a small portion of the tank water is discharged hourly to facilitate a constant water change. The discharge rate is increased as the nitrate testing shows elevated levels. I let the the automation take care of the time consuming water changes allowing me more time to enjoy the tanks. You should consider a video on the use of automations.
@14:30 I have a 1 yr old Walstadt 10g tank that went well for the first year without a water change. Upon doing a water test, I discovered my PO4 was >2.5ppm! The other parameters were A-OK. I did a 25% water change. NH3, NO2 and NO3 are only part of the story
I was doing a 50 % water change on my aquarium weekly for about a year without testing thinking all was okay. To my surprise i found that nitrates were creeping up and even after a 50 % water change my nitrates were sitting around 40ppm. I'm going to be adding 2 additional larger water changes monthly to combat the creep.
I want to keep nitrate levels below 20ppm it's what I'm comfortable with. Oh and I'll be testing a bit more often to keep up with necessary water changes.
I always test my tap water before I do a Large water change on my bigger tanks. Have heard nightmare stories about fish dying after a water change because of something the water company had changed in the water, such as an addition of extra chemicals to flush out the lines. Thanks for the videos you guys do, love the channel.
Very good advise, i have many tanks and i do water changes depending on tank setup/stocking ..... BUT one time i did a water change on a 40g that is stocked with fish/shrimp and run with a canister filter. There was 10 lemon tetra, 2 german blue rams and a bristlenose pleco and a group of cherry shrimp with no issues running long time .... did a 25% water change and all the lemon tetra died one after another , but i lost nothing else. I have always wondered what happened as nothing can seem to explain this . Everything was mature and i would think the shrimp or the rams would be way more sensitive than some larger tetras ..... weird !!
Did you ever get an answer to this, I also have a 40g breeder community tank. Went like 3 months no water change (heavily planted tank) Did 25% change and next day had 3 fish die and others were acting off..
Father Fish taught us to NOT to do water change, UNLESS the water start to get foul. So basically, your ways of changing water based on water parameters is right. Each tank has its own capacity to handle the waste. A tank that understock, thick substrate and overstock living plants likely doesnt require that much water change in a year, probably never need even. But tank like yours definitely need water changes due to the less amount of live plants.
Not for everyone, but I've had good luck with dwarf water lettuce in my mbuna tank. Nitrates were around 40 each week before a water change. Now they seldom top 5 even after two weeks. I had extra from another tank I was just going to throw away and added, figuring I had nothing to lose, and it was worked out well. They munch on them some, but they still live and have to be thinned out occasionally.
Water changes are necessary. How often that is needed will vary somewhat tank to tank. I do a weekly change on my tanks. Don't get caught up in the "water changes aren't necessary" cultish mentality.
I got a small 150l tank with plants and 4 small chiclids. I just don’t seem to get the light - fertiliser mix right as I am always fighting huge amount of algae’s (red and green ones..) Any suggestions? Adding: I am running a Oase filter and a uvc light filter (12h a day).
Nice video, I have a 125 Mbuna tank and I do bi-weekly WC, but once I do the water change I test my water the next day and I'm ALWAYS above 80PPM nitrates. I do 60 - 70% WC, I have around 70 fish in the tank. so my question is should I reduce my stock? Should I clean my FX6 more often? I do filter maintenance every 8-12 weeks. I have 4 tanks all with Nitrate issues. My tap water is clean. I have one tank (community tank) that has Pothos above, growing awesome, Java fern inside and medium stocked (Guppies), WC biweekly and it too has high Nitrates. The Java fern is growing but looks like crap with all the dark spots (not new growth) and dying off. Any advise will be great.
I only do water changes when I clean my external canister filters, so probably once, not doing water changes works for me, plants grow great, fish are healthy, obviously If I had a tank with not many live plants and big fish like oscars, big plecos, peacock bass then I would do water changes probably weakly or every 2 weeks.
Imagine your self living with 10 ppl, and no any window or door for oxygen , hope this will explain for everyone new to this great hoppy Thanks for your awesome videos and Happy new year for ALL 🎉❤
I need help. I have 5 mbuna cichlids in my fish tank and they have been doing really well however today i went up to the tank and they were very skittish and ran away from me. They usually never do this to me considering i interact with them every couple of hours throughout the day. When they run away they go to 1 corner of a tank all together and they are grouped up. I dont know if i should be scared or not or if this is normal for these fish, please help? I will also mention i went from feeding them 2-3 times a day to feeding them only once and they are still younger, id say 1 and a half to 2 and a half maybe 3 inches
The only reason I do partial water changes is a buildup of tannins from the driftwood. My tank is heavily planted. If it weren't for the tannins, I probably wouldnt have to do a water change that often. A lot of plants helps.
I agree with everything you said...the only thing I would add is that water changes are necessary every 2-4 weeks regardless of the nitrates levels. It's needed to replenish minerals amd maintain PH levels. Water changes are just part of the hobby.
Did you even listen or are you the type of person whose “listening” is just not talking for 3 minutes. He’s saying with a properly mature tank with plants and substrate you should test your system and only do what and when it’s nessassary, which might be 2-3 weeks but not necessarily and maybe more. Take the cotton out your ears and stuff it in your flapper
I have a 20 gallon that has live plants, a snail, and a clown pleco. I tested my levels again today, and I’m getting 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5 nitrates consistently over the past 2 months. Does this mean I can go longer between WC?
It's an old chestnut. There are so many successful ways of keeping an aquarium, so many different systems i.e. dirty bottoms, clean bottoms, filters, no filters, heavily planted, few or no plants, water changes daily to no water changes at all. Just as long as your fish are healthy, your tank looks how you want it to look, keep doing what you are doing. THERE IS NO CORRECT WAY Just people with different ideas.
I get the plants helping with no water changes but I think water changes should be mandatory regardless of where your parameters are. It's just clean water and your fishes will love it more. Rant warning:(DO YOUR WATER CHANGES) For the people who dont water change and act as if heavy plants will save them and make that arguement "well nature does it." Percipitation is the worlds LARGEST water change/refill for all water sources. And lakes, rivers, oceans all flow and connect to a source of clean water that is consistently flushing and refreshing water daily through a natural cycle. Most of the hobbiest fishes come from rivers and creeks that are connected to a constant flow of water. Ponds rely on rain but also have a secret source of water to take from, you can look up the "underground water" cycle for the explaination. In short, it's like a gigantic canister filter, with a plus of clean water storage, for a tiny pool. Plants help, but water is your biggest and most effective combatant to a disaster. And dont do that to your pets man, you have the luxary to provide that water for them.. your small tank does not compare to a pond that has an almost endless resource beneth the ground for exchanges, you just have poop filled substrate that kisses glass. And there is a limited amount of fishes that can thrive in such conditions in the aquarium trade, do your research and stick to only those fishes please, dont do this on a river species, they arent evolved and equiped to handle such conditions.
I have a 55-gallon tank that's stocked with 12 different rainbow fish. 50 different tetras, 5 clown loaches. I'm looking for a new canister filter to combat the larger bio load in the tank. Was wondering how big of a canister filter would you recommend? Right now, I'm looking at the new sicce mega filtra that is rated to 150 gallon tank.
I agree but these tanks that you are talking about and can't have or don't like the look of the roots in your tank like your algae grower in your sump. I put my plants in my sump were no fish can harm them?
Yep that’s a great idea. Freshwater refugiums can definitely help. I’ve just found that they don’t completely remove nitrates. Similar to my algae scrubber - it helps to a degree but still need the water change occasionally
Bro, it's much appreciated that you continue to put out powerful, helpful videos to help those in need like myself. But I would like to say this for this one particular video. This one was just completely unnecessary. Don't you EVA EVA EVA EVA EVA EVA in yo life go through this much trouble of trying to convince somebody of why they should do the things you are suggesting that they do. This is YOUR UA-cam channel man. That means you get to push out whatever content you want however you want it to be pushed out. I wish I would take time out of my day and try to justify to some combative $%#@*(** why I do my s*** the way I do it. If anybody feels the need to give you flack about what you do with your tanks and how you choose to do it, they need to step the f*** on and stop watching you. There's absolutely no need to go to someone else's house to tell them they're wrong about how they keep their house clean. I totally respect and am grateful for what you do. I would be totally lost without the Cichlid Bros' knowledge of fishkeeping. My apologies for the long response man but I just needed to get that off my chest. I just saw you working too dang gone hard to get out what you were trying to convey. Keep on doing what you do bro...
Sadly, i lost a new super red pleco that apparently went kamikaze during a water change. I hadn't noticed & went to work shortly after. Found her on the counter the next day. Buried in my potted lime tree that im trying to get through winter indoors. Really bummed me out. Was a baby & only had about 2 weeks.
Well I'm not be ignorant if you want to do them go for it. But I have a dozen tanks different kind of shrimp and fish and I'd hardly ever do a water change!! I have done changes to get to many tanins out! One I had ick and a extreme algae problem!! But that being said it does depend on your fish! I do Natural tanks in my new ones!!! Of course if you have chiclids they like to dig and eat plants!!! I have however keep putting hornwort and floating plants in and they finally are getting tired of destroying them! I do use hang on the back filters but mostly sponge filters that I clean!!! I also want to point out that I have no lids which some people says is not good! But even though I don't change water I have to add alot so they are getting fresh water and I try using rain or local stream water!!! Anyway like your videos just throwing my input in there!
I'm in a tuff spot. My tab water has 17 ppm nitrates in the tap so my water change is about every 5 to 7 days on all 4 tanks. Regardless of how pathos look. Ima have to add them to every tank. Lol or just buy a new house. 🤣🤣
My heavily planted 40g with a single electric blue acara gets a 50% every two weeks. Not because of nitrates, but to replace minerals since we have very soft water.
This subject has been beaten to death. It varies from tank to tank, no ones water or tank set up is the same. I have tanks that go 6 months without water changes. Why? Because the nitrates don't get close to 40 ppm by then. Heavily planted and stocked. Some need a water change every 3 months. One every 2 weeks. There's no set time or amount to change. My fish are breeding and healthy. Plants grow like mad. Fish live a long happy life. I test every 2 weeks so its not from lack of testing. 47 years in this hobby and I've learned that what works for you don't work for all. Test your water, if it needs changed, change it. If it don't then don't there's no one way period.
I was going to comment but you've summed up pretty much everything here! Gotta feel the rhythm of each aquarium.
Yep, great summary.
I've kept fresh and salt tanks nearly as long, and while each tank is different the science / chemistry is the same. I've encountered plenty of 'get off my lawn' types than insist on doing 50% changes no matter what every week, but what blows my minds are the younger guys who spout nonsense about KH and GH. Had to argue with a kid last week that distilled water can't have a pH of 8. Not sure what's going on in schools, but it's not science. Tik Tok skills I guess.
It’s like not bathing for 3 months 😂😂 in the wild it rains so there’s always fresh water. Fancy being your fish. Getting fresh water twice a year 🤮🤮
@@liam-n8098 imagine. Not your thing and that's fine. Like i said what works for one does not work for all. But when its a constant " YOU GOT TO DO THIS BECAUSE I SAY SO, or THE RULES SAY IF YOU DON'T CHANGE YOUR Water 50XS A MONTH YOUR FISH WILL DIE! " it gets old. Fish are more resilient than ppl realise. Most yes live in streams, lakes, ponds where fresh water is constant. But they still live in NON sterile environments. Plus i havent lost a fish in years and some are close to 6 years old. Must be doing something right, my way. It's not your way or his way or their way.
Thanks for emphasizing that one size fits all doesn’t apply here. We need to take responsibility for the maintenance each of our aquariums needs, and not what people believe they need, based on limited information.
Great info. In nature most lakes will have in flows and out flows, affected by rain. Water change. Rivers, constant flow. Water change.
And when they don’t have that natural water change system they end up with an algae bloom and the algae lowers the nitrates
@@bluecollarfox913 Nitrates aren't the only pollutant, there are many DOC compounds that we do NOT measure that are pollutants.
your 100% spot on , every aquarium is different, different fish, different needs . well put .
Thanks! 💪🏼
I do a 20-25% water change every week for my 100 gallon Cichlid tank. Even though my tests on the water are pretty much the same every week, it’s just a routine thing for me now plus the care for my fish to give them fresh water. I do a 2 week water change on my community tank as routine as this is quite heavily planted but still a routine for the care of the fish.
Great video as always.
Happy New Year to you all.
Thank you much for this video. As someone new to the hobby this was superhelpful with cutting through all the different hook lines out there. You helped me understand more how the factors of each tank make a difference. I know for people long in the hobby this is old news but for a newbie it was superhelpful.
Hello Troy, I wanted to tell you and your brothers that I appreciate the content. The knowledge you guys have shared with me has definitely saved many of my fish over the 5 years I've been in this hobby. My puffer and I thank you!
That's awesome to hear! Glad to be of help, keep up the good work!
Thanks for doing this. I all depends on how your tanks are set up.
I have always hated when I see videos that say "no more water changes" because it is all BS. We used to be told (in the late 70's) to think of water changes as this: not only do you have a build up of stuff in the tank, but you also have the fish using the minerals in the water. So a water change cleanses the water like a constantly moving stream does constantly and at the same time you replenish some of the minerals used by the fish. We are setting up an aquarium soon and I hope to have not only the usual setup but micro and macro fauna in the tank to have a more natural processor of bad stuff as well as natural food for the fish. But I still plan water changes. It is a must.
I have done both types of set-ups and totally agree with you.
Thank you for this very informative video.
I do 60-80% change every week or two but no matter what I can’t get the nitrate level down , however I’m not sure what the accuracy is, so I do need to get this test kit. Thanks again, your awesome and your tanks are amazing.
Your tap water probably has a lot of notrites
Well said. Can’t argue with facts and logic like this. It is what it is
Thank you!
Keep preaching. I have learned so much from your channel. Thanks.
Love to hear it! Thanks for the support!
great video; I have a 5 gal tank; fishes include one Otocinclus, 2 sparkling gouramis, and 4 ember tetras; also snails and a couple cherry shrimp; I replace a half gal of water weekly; seems to keep nitrates at around 20 mg/L
I did a lot of experimenting with the nitrate levels in a big 400 gallon lumber pond I built in my greenhouse. It was made to be heat storage device for winter, and thus wasn't filled with tropicals. Koi and weather loaches were the main fish and I tried some white clouds but they never got a foot hold or started breeding. The bottom was fairly complex as I has a number of crates in the water to be enrichment and hides for the fish and some crates boosted the emergent water plants, which ended up being mainly one big umbrella paparus. The bottom had sand and mud parts plus lots of muck from the koi waste, which I rarely syphoned out. The filter was a high output 150gph pump that had a skimmer on one end, and the other end of the pond had a stack of crates with layers if poly floss(top-physical filter) and expanded shale nuggets bio filter) in a wet/dry filter style. The fish did great and bred well and grew large and fast. I tracked the Nitrate mostly, as those other nitrogenous waste were always zero. The nitrate always stayed low, due to the anaerobic muck at the bottom with plenty of organic detritus to feed the denitrifying. This is the classic pond set up, where one usually doesn't worry about water changes, the natural bottom takes care of that. At one point, I noticed a pretty high algae load and couldn't figure out what was causing that with the nicely low nitrates but I got a phosphate test. The phosphates were super high, hence the algae. I thought it was the fish feeding waste, but I also checked by tap water and that water is pretty high in phosphates. This set up required a fair amount of topping up, but I didn't really "change" the water much. Cities often add phosphates along with managing the pH up around 8.3 with calcium to sequester lead in older plumbing from before lead was removed from solder in the 1970's I think it was. So I got some pillow phosphate filters to put into the flow stream for a while. Those got the phosphate down nicely, but after a while I notice that the nitrates seem to be going up. No other changes. It almost seemed that the denitrifying process also liked the phosphate, those bacteria. I stopped removing the phosphate and the nitrate levels went down. I'm sure the emergent Cyprus plant was helping a little with the nitrates, plus that algae, but fish mostly just ate the algae. This was a weird inter relationship between Nitrate/denitrifying and phosphate levels that I had never heard of.
Running a denitrifying filter or set up in a regular tank probably isn't worth the other potential hassles, like it's hard to vacuum a muddy muck bottom tank, if your tap water is good and cheap. I was most interested where the tap is not suitable(high phosphates or TDS) like for soft water tanks and especially for salt water where the cost of water can be pretty high. I've made simple denitrifying filters out up just jars or small buckets of muck mud soil with some peat or organics covered with sand and then gravel to do slow denitrifying via diffusion. They work, but don't have a very high capacity and you have to hid them. Regular technical denitrifying filters I also tried with a long(25feet) coil of tubing inside a jar with a cotton cord pulled through the tubing and slow suction on one end from the big pump intake. In this the cotton supples the cellulose for denitrifying, the carbon source. Most commercial denitrifying filters require some slow injection of a liquid carbon source like methanol early in the intake stream; complicated and potentially dangerous.
All good points made on this video.
Basically how I explain water changes is what’s the difference between a swamp and a lake?
Swamp is stagnant due to no feed of fresh, clean water as in a lake is constantly being replenished. Fired Up Discussion that probably never be settled lol.
Great video !!! Helped me a lot !! Thank you :)
I agree with you💯... Out of my 7 tanks, only 2 get a 25-30% weekly water changes. My mosquito fish tank, 50 gallons btw, only get a water change every 4-5 weeks. It does have plenty of plants plus mosquito fish aren't that messy. Just like you said, test your water and determine what needs to be done. Great video explaining and hopefully putting a lot of those myths to bed.
Yesterday i just ordered some aquarium plant holders from Amazon.. All my tanks are african cichlids and im not thrilled about pathos growing everywhere but im growing a little tired of having to do big water changes every 2-3 weeks so ill give the pothos a try to help reduce my water changes
Theres some other plants that work aswell. Peace Lillies (Spathiphyllum), philodendrons, lucky bamboo all will do a similar job. Do not do actual lillies if you have cats, they are deathly alergic to true lillies but Spaths not really.
Sweet potato goes crazy aswell but you have to be careful not to rot the potato part.
Pothos can get absolutely massive though too. We have them in most tanks. But the biggest one was in our 5ft tank and its now 20+feet long on one runner and another 2 runners about 10ft long. Couple of others are 10ft plus too.
Personally I'm beginning to switch to philodendrons as they are more manageable. P. Xanadu and P New Yorker seem to work well. As more clumping its also easier to maintain light on them.
Thanks for tackling a heated topic head-on. I would love to keep more live plants, but I manage to kill them off more frequently than my cichlids do.
Until I learn how to better balance light and plant nutrients, my fish and I are happy with 30-50% changes every 7 to 10 days.
Thanks Doug! I think that’s a smart approach. I’ve been in that boat many times haha
I'm sorry people have been giving you crap for what you do. I watch both your channel and Father fish and everything you said is correct, context matters. From a personal stand point i've been trying to combine your 150 with a FF deep substrate set up. Best of both worlds i hope.
superb video! Thank you very much for the excellent explanation!
Excellent show, very well explained, keep up the good work in the new year, happy new year to you and family.
Thank you so much! Happy New Year to you and yours as well!
Nitrates are like cig smoke, doesn't kill fast, but sure isn't good for you. Doing a water change is like getting you out of a smoke filled room and into a room full of healthy fresh air. How is that possibly a bad thing??
very nice video, completely agree with you. I would just like to add, that it would be good to test the tap water beforehand. Then you can calculate far better, how much water you need to change (it is a big difference, if the water comes out of your tap with 3 ppm or 10 ppm nitrates). thanks and take care
Great point! Thanks for watching
I change the water every 4 days 30%. Thanks for the advice.
Troy,
Wow I love you got heated there for a moment. I have multiple tanks just like everyone else. All my tanks I do water changes on different schedules. My 120 gal CA SA tank I do water changes every 2 weeks. My planted 55 gal I do water changes every 4 to 6 weeks. That is just because I want to replace the minerals and ph and stuff. My 20 gal long planted tank I could get away probably every 2 months. I just setup a MBUNA tank. It’s 100 gal. I only have 12 juveniles in there so I don’t expect to do any water changes for a while plus I have to let the tank get seasoned. I am sure once I get it stocked up I will have to do once a week or once every other week. Every tank is different and for people to say never do a water change etc etc. is misleading. Because I can’t keep plants in two of my tanks.
Great information! I have been doing it the same way as you for years with my nine tanks. I have had great success. Now I am working on tank #10. A 75 gallon which will be an Amazon River theme.
I don’t care what anyone says I do 60-80 % water changes every 6-7 days I’ve never lost a fish nor stressed them, quite the contrary my fish get more energy and more food driven after every water change, thanks Troy for your inputs agree 100%
Great video and information in a very good way
Thank you!
My peacock tank needs a 50% water change every week while my planted community tank only needs a 25% change every week four weeks or so. Like you said, all tanks are different.
I like your take on it. I agree with most of it. There are a few wrong facts in a scientific point of view. Only one is crucial for fish health. If one have not done water shanges for a very long time the buffer may be depleated. When buffer runs out ph drops, nitrification stops and all nitrogen build up as non toxic ammonium. If water changes is done in this case, ph will increase and the non toxic ammonium will convert to toxic ammonia. In this case fish will instantly die from a partial watershange. I have seen it happen several times. So it may make sense to pull back a little bit on the water shanges is always good and never dangerous message. I do not blame, you do the right thing and has never experienced this situation. You are totally right, understanding the concept and measuring the water is the key to success.....Even in buffer depleated tanks.😀👍
Thank you for the knowledge, very helpful and understood. 💯👍
Glad it was helpful!
I appreciate you doing this. Might be a bit of a side tangent but I sometimes find myself unable to enjoy myself in fish stores as I often overhear beginners or families who just want to give their kid a pet saying the most incorrect or downright dangerous things about how they plan to set up their tanks. It's frustrating and it's hard to forget how many fish tanks in the world are unattended to. The amount of times I've heard "fish just die, I just go and buy another" when 9/10 times, a person who constantly loses fish soon after they buy them is usually the one doing something wrong. It's a crime to the hobby that a large portion of casual fishkeepers see their tanks as a decoration and rarely anything more. It's one of the biggest problems our hobby faces.
Very good explanation 👍🏼‼️
I completely agree. I have big cichlids and do regular 60% water changes every 5-7 days. No live plants because the fish eat them quickly. I feed lettuce 2 days before every water change because the fish shred the lettuce and make a mess. I like doing water changes more often than less. fish are always much happier after a water change. Also, as much fish influences say that Fluval fx6 filters can be cleaned less and show videos with longer time periods than 3 months between cleanings, I have found with big cichlids that this is not desirable and can lead to unhealthy conditions which can promote diseases such as Epistylis. Just my experience. There is no substitute for regular consistent maintenance. To keep me on track, I keep a log on everything I do to the tanks.
You sir are spot on.
Troy, love your channel and look forward to every new video! Would it be possible to do a short video on your tap water parameters? Where I live in Rhode Island the ph out of the tap is very high (over 8.8) but the kh out of the tap is super low (1 or less). If the tap water is left to stand overnight the ph plummets to 6.6 because the kh is so low. Perhaps your water parameters are much more ideal for water changes. Thanks!
Thanks, Troy, for this very educational video. I think a lot of fishkeepers can learn from this and really help them in the future. It's really great to see the passion you have for this hobby to share with everyone. I absolutely love this video. Thank you! (Full watch here)
Thanks, really appreciate that Joe!
@CichlidBros You're welcome, Troy 👍
Admittedly I’m lazy when it comes to testing. I just practice the 30% per week rule and watch how my fish swim and colour up. It’s just easier for me to manage on fixed schedule as to monitoring it everyday. Otherwise test kits are amazing especially compared to test strips that are not so consistent in my experience. That being said I have overstocked tanks that need it and if I were to wait it would save time but I’m putting them at risk over my convenience. Great video and stay happy and healthy my friend!
Great points Troy So i have many planted tanks some are dirted tanks some are sand and some are planted substrates. And up until recently I never did water changes on those tanks just top offs. As my nitrates were very minimal at best. But I have very hard water here so I decided to test my tanks TDS levels and I was shocked to see one of my tanks was well over 600 in TDS so I did about a 75% water change and brought the TDS levels into the 220 range. And its my own fault as just topping off I do believe just keeps building more and more TDS levels due to my hard water. So for now I plan on once a month to start with and see where it brings me.
That is a great point that I wish I had covered in the video. Thanks for sharing!
good explanation and useful for beginners like me 😅, thanks
The Stingray @5:40 ROCKS!
Thanks! 💪🏼
Agreed. I currently have 3 tanks. 33 long heavily planted with 3 Otocinclus, NeoCaradina Shrimp, Snails, and 12 Neon Tetra. One 30 percent water change all year). Nitrates stay between 20ppm - 50ppm with weekly fertilizer. 60 Breeder medium stock of fish and plants. Same 20 ppm - 50 ppm nitrates. I breed live bearers out of this tank, so it gets dirty sometimes with multiple daily feedings to new fry. I keep anywhere from 30- 50 fish at a time in this tank. So a 25 percent water change every 4-6 weeks keeps parameters in check. Last a 5 gallon quarantine and fry grow out tank. I’ve been keeping aquariums for 40 plus years. My best advice is keep your pre or main filters clean, sett all of your lights on mechanical timers and keep a log book for tank parameters when you are new. Most tanks will settle into a predictable cycle. Keeping a log book will help you calculate and keep track of these patterns.
Sounds like you’ve got a good system! Love the log book!
I would like to know the GH and KH levels on tanks with no water changes, only top off.
Underrated point.
Dude, your fish look amazing. My first aquarium was a natural aquarium - about one year old now. Pretty easy. Just plant a lot of different plants and see what goes well in your tank. It will go well enough for all the ones that die. People who find it difficult are the ones who want to keep very specific stuff. If you have snails and shrimp, you don't have to worry too much about overfeeding. Pretty easy to keep, if you just want an aquarium that is actually natural, like a little aquatic jungle.
Commented exactly this on your Facebook post. Couldn't agree with you more.
Appreciate ya!
Thank you for the video.
Epic explanation and we totally agree with the water changes and follow a very similar approach to our fish room!!
Thanks for watching!
Informatives Video zum Thema "Wasserwechsel im Aquarium"! Man kann die "Wasserwechsel-Methode" nicht pauschalieren. Jedes Aquarium hat für sich ein anderes "System" ..viel Fische - wenig Fische, viel Pflanzen - wenig Pflanzen, etc. Wenn dein Aquarium vernünftig funktioniert, musst du auch nix mit Gewalt daran ändern, denn "Never change a running system!". 😉
@norberthoens3561 The most sensible comment. Experience enables people to do things differently but with the same end result.
Great video on water changes, awesome, hopefully this clears up the confused lol, I also went to the datz store you visited, great place and fish , thanks man
That’s awesome! I need to go back soon lol
I’d love to see the tanks of people who claim they never do water changes. In the reef tank hobby, most amazing-looking tanks usually belong to people who perform water changes at least twice a week. Plus, isn’t the maintenance part of the fun? Being hands-on with your tank and feeling proud when you see your hard work paying off is incredibly rewarding. Regular water changes provide that hands-on experience. If you don’t want to put any effort into your tank, why not just visit a public aquarium instead? Your water bill and electrical bill will thank you for that at least.
I've had ongoing problems for years with microbubble saturation taking out fish after water changes. Most of what you find on the Internet about the problem is wrong, so I'm not surprised when it's not mentioned. With my well water in winter it's particularly bad (although I experienced it with city water as well). Can let the water acclimate in stock tanks or barrels for over 48 hours and still may have some regardless of whether I use a pump to transfer the water or gravity. And the temperature of the water is the exact same. I only share so people who experience it don't feel like they're going crazy when they're told they should never have fish die from a water change.
@10:30
Water changes, maybe a degree or two cooler source water, put a lot of fish "in the mood" and encourages spawning.
I'm looking at _you,_ Cichlids!😊
Man you are hitting facts in everything
💪🏼💪🏼
When refilling your water i use a temperature probe to get a accurate temperature reading and also to test how accurate the heaters are set at, to calibrate just place into boiling water to see how accurate the probe is much safer than using your hand....😊
If your tank is heavily planted and uses up all the Nitrates where you are only adding micro nutrients for the plants you may still eventually get a build up of one of those micronutrients to a toxic level and need a water change. If you are topping the water off with RO water then it wont harden over time and will allow you to extend the water change interval further. If you're topping off with tap water you're making the water harder with every top off as the minerals aren't evaporating thus requiring more changes. With a custom tailored diy mixed fert in a heavily planted tank only filling with RO water you could get away with no changes mainly because you are exporting the stuff you are adding when trimming the plants. Either way you end up needing to export the waste in one form or another. I'm down to about one water change every 6 months with a heavily planted tank, massive canister, a fert with no phospates or nitrates, topping off with RO, but I've got fast growing stem plants I trim once a month thus exporting the waste. I guess you guys with destructive species would want a sump with live plants.
You should explore automation as a means to reduce your workload. I have five tanks, all of them run the Neptune APEX controller. All the tanks have a raw water and discharge water line. Based on the needs of the tank a small portion of the tank water is discharged hourly to facilitate a constant water change. The discharge rate is increased as the nitrate testing shows elevated levels. I let the the automation take care of the time consuming water changes allowing me more time to enjoy the tanks. You should consider a video on the use of automations.
@14:30
I have a 1 yr old Walstadt 10g tank that went well for the first year without a water change.
Upon doing a water test, I discovered my PO4 was >2.5ppm!
The other parameters were A-OK.
I did a 25% water change.
NH3, NO2 and NO3 are only part of the story
Context is king.
I was doing a 50 % water change on my aquarium weekly for about a year without testing thinking all was okay. To my surprise i found that nitrates were creeping up and even after a 50 % water change my nitrates were sitting around 40ppm. I'm going to be adding 2 additional larger water changes monthly to combat the creep.
I want to keep nitrate levels below 20ppm it's what I'm comfortable with. Oh and I'll be testing a bit more often to keep up with necessary water changes.
I always test my tap water before I do a Large water change on my bigger tanks. Have heard nightmare stories about fish dying after a water change because of something the water company had changed in the water, such as an addition of extra chemicals to flush out the lines. Thanks for the videos you guys do, love the channel.
Bet your tap water is already high in nitrates!
@@rara5212 5ppm nitrates using the api master test kit in my tap water.
@rara5212 my tap water has 5ppm nitrate using api test kit.
Very good advise, i have many tanks and i do water changes depending on tank setup/stocking ..... BUT one time i did a water change on a 40g that is stocked with fish/shrimp and run with a canister filter. There was 10 lemon tetra, 2 german blue rams and a bristlenose pleco and a group of cherry shrimp with no issues running long time .... did a 25% water change and all the lemon tetra died one after another , but i lost nothing else. I have always wondered what happened as nothing can seem to explain this . Everything was mature and i would think the shrimp or the rams would be way more sensitive than some larger tetras ..... weird !!
Did you ever get an answer to this, I also have a 40g breeder community tank. Went like 3 months no water change (heavily planted tank) Did 25% change and next day had 3 fish die and others were acting off..
Father Fish taught us to NOT to do water change, UNLESS the water start to get foul.
So basically, your ways of changing water based on water parameters is right. Each tank has its own capacity to handle the waste. A tank that understock, thick substrate and overstock living plants likely doesnt require that much water change in a year, probably never need even. But tank like yours definitely need water changes due to the less amount of live plants.
Not for everyone, but I've had good luck with dwarf water lettuce in my mbuna tank. Nitrates were around 40 each week before a water change. Now they seldom top 5 even after two weeks. I had extra from another tank I was just going to throw away and added, figuring I had nothing to lose, and it was worked out well. They munch on them some, but they still live and have to be thinned out occasionally.
Love that you’re water testing regularly 💪🏼
Well said.
Much respect 👍
Water changes are necessary. How often that is needed will vary somewhat tank to tank. I do a weekly change on my tanks. Don't get caught up in the "water changes aren't necessary" cultish mentality.
I got a small 150l tank with plants and 4 small chiclids. I just don’t seem to get the light - fertiliser mix right as I am always fighting huge amount of algae’s (red and green ones..)
Any suggestions?
Adding: I am running a Oase filter and a uvc light filter (12h a day).
lol Troy, I so enjoyed this video. Common sense. Peace.
Very informative.
Glad it was helpful!
Nice video, I have a 125 Mbuna tank and I do bi-weekly WC, but once I do the water change I test my water the next day and I'm ALWAYS above 80PPM nitrates. I do 60 - 70% WC, I have around 70 fish in the tank. so my question is should I reduce my stock? Should I clean my FX6 more often? I do filter maintenance every 8-12 weeks. I have 4 tanks all with Nitrate issues. My tap water is clean. I have one tank (community tank) that has Pothos above, growing awesome, Java fern inside and medium stocked (Guppies), WC biweekly and it too has high Nitrates. The Java fern is growing but looks like crap with all the dark spots (not new growth) and dying off. Any advise will be great.
We have well water, I'm guessing I dont have to use a dechlorinator? Could you use the water taken out as fertilizer for a garden?
I only do water changes when I clean my external canister filters, so probably once, not doing water changes works for me, plants grow great, fish are healthy, obviously If I had a tank with not many live plants and big fish like oscars, big plecos, peacock bass then I would do water changes probably weakly or every 2 weeks.
Tbh I don't do water changes at all on my 55 gal. I just top off the water and plants take care of everything.
More plants = less hassle
My fish bio-load is low.
Imagine your self living with 10 ppl, and no any window or door for oxygen , hope this will explain for everyone new to this great hoppy
Thanks for your awesome videos and Happy new year for ALL 🎉❤
No water change for two years on Lake Tanganyika tank.
Of course I also had three canister filters
I need help. I have 5 mbuna cichlids in my fish tank and they have been doing really well however today i went up to the tank and they were very skittish and ran away from me. They usually never do this to me considering i interact with them every couple of hours throughout the day. When they run away they go to 1 corner of a tank all together and they are grouped up. I dont know if i should be scared or not or if this is normal for these fish, please help? I will also mention i went from feeding them 2-3 times a day to feeding them only once and they are still younger, id say 1 and a half to 2 and a half maybe 3 inches
Are you using tap water for the string ray tank or ro water? Same question for your saltwater tank, ty
The only reason I do partial water changes is a buildup of tannins from the driftwood.
My tank is heavily planted.
If it weren't for the tannins, I probably wouldnt have to do a water change that often.
A lot of plants helps.
Do you use a sponge in your intake? I have 1 on my fx6
but it looks ugly
I agree with everything you said...the only thing I would add is that water changes are necessary every 2-4 weeks regardless of the nitrates levels. It's needed to replenish minerals amd maintain PH levels. Water changes are just part of the hobby.
Did you even listen or are you the type of person whose “listening” is just not talking for 3 minutes. He’s saying with a properly mature tank with plants and substrate you should test your system and only do what and when it’s nessassary, which might be 2-3 weeks but not necessarily and maybe more. Take the cotton out your ears and stuff it in your flapper
@ericsanders7757 how do you test for minerals? I refrain from a response like yours out of respect for the Cichlid Bros
Great info,,,
Is it harmful to do to big water changes too often,
I have 100 gallon south American tank an was advised to change 50% weekly
Doing a water change is like flushing the toilet. 😉 A must do.
I'd like to do no water changes but I still need to get down nitrates..
Great video.
Thanks!
I have a 20 gallon that has live plants, a snail, and a clown pleco. I tested my levels again today, and I’m getting 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5 nitrates consistently over the past 2 months. Does this mean I can go longer between WC?
Yep, just see if they go up from there and act accordingly
It's an old chestnut. There are so many successful ways of keeping an aquarium, so many different systems i.e. dirty bottoms, clean bottoms, filters, no filters, heavily planted, few or no plants, water changes daily to no water changes at all. Just as long as your fish are healthy, your tank looks how you want it to look, keep doing what you are doing. THERE IS NO CORRECT WAY Just people with different ideas.
I get the plants helping with no water changes but I think water changes should be mandatory regardless of where your parameters are. It's just clean water and your fishes will love it more.
Rant warning:(DO YOUR WATER CHANGES)
For the people who dont water change and act as if heavy plants will save them and make that arguement "well nature does it." Percipitation is the worlds LARGEST water change/refill for all water sources. And lakes, rivers, oceans all flow and connect to a source of clean water that is consistently flushing and refreshing water daily through a natural cycle. Most of the hobbiest fishes come from rivers and creeks that are connected to a constant flow of water. Ponds rely on rain but also have a secret source of water to take from, you can look up the "underground water" cycle for the explaination. In short, it's like a gigantic canister filter, with a plus of clean water storage, for a tiny pool. Plants help, but water is your biggest and most effective combatant to a disaster. And dont do that to your pets man, you have the luxary to provide that water for them.. your small tank does not compare to a pond that has an almost endless resource beneth the ground for exchanges, you just have poop filled substrate that kisses glass. And there is a limited amount of fishes that can thrive in such conditions in the aquarium trade, do your research and stick to only those fishes please, dont do this on a river species, they arent evolved and equiped to handle such conditions.
How are you able to keep Oscar’s and electric blue aceras in the same tank?
I have a 55-gallon tank that's stocked with 12 different rainbow fish. 50 different tetras, 5 clown loaches. I'm looking for a new canister filter to combat the larger bio load in the tank. Was wondering how big of a canister filter would you recommend? Right now, I'm looking at the new sicce mega filtra that is rated to 150 gallon tank.
You could add a 407 with your Hobs. I assume you have Hobs. 407 is rated up to 100 gal.
I agree but these tanks that you are talking about and can't have or don't like the look of the roots in your tank like your algae grower in your sump. I put my plants in my sump were no fish can harm them?
Yep that’s a great idea. Freshwater refugiums can definitely help. I’ve just found that they don’t completely remove nitrates. Similar to my algae scrubber - it helps to a degree but still need the water change occasionally
Bro, it's much appreciated that you continue to put out powerful, helpful videos to help those in need like myself. But I would like to say this for this one particular video. This one was just completely unnecessary. Don't you EVA EVA EVA EVA EVA EVA in yo life go through this much trouble of trying to convince somebody of why they should do the things you are suggesting that they do. This is YOUR UA-cam channel man. That means you get to push out whatever content you want however you want it to be pushed out. I wish I would take time out of my day and try to justify to some combative $%#@*(** why I do my s*** the way I do it. If anybody feels the need to give you flack about what you do with your tanks and how you choose to do it, they need to step the f*** on and stop watching you. There's absolutely no need to go to someone else's house to tell them they're wrong about how they keep their house clean. I totally respect and am grateful for what you do. I would be totally lost without the Cichlid Bros' knowledge of fishkeeping. My apologies for the long response man but I just needed to get that off my chest. I just saw you working too dang gone hard to get out what you were trying to convey. Keep on doing what you do bro...
Great video
Water changes aren't needed UNDER VERY SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
I don't think any of the Cichlid Bros tanks fulfill those circumstances.
What about adding plants to your sump? I.e a refugium
Sadly, i lost a new super red pleco that apparently went kamikaze during a water change. I hadn't noticed & went to work shortly after. Found her on the counter the next day. Buried in my potted lime tree that im trying to get through winter indoors. Really bummed me out. Was a baby & only had about 2 weeks.
Well I'm not be ignorant if you want to do them go for it. But I have a dozen tanks different kind of shrimp and fish and I'd hardly ever do a water change!! I have done changes to get to many tanins out! One I had ick and a extreme algae problem!! But that being said it does depend on your fish! I do Natural tanks in my new ones!!! Of course if you have chiclids they like to dig and eat plants!!! I have however keep putting hornwort and floating plants in and they finally are getting tired of destroying them! I do use hang on the back filters but mostly sponge filters that I clean!!! I also want to point out that I have no lids which some people says is not good! But even though I don't change water I have to add alot so they are getting fresh water and I try using rain or local stream water!!! Anyway like your videos just throwing my input in there!
I wouldn’t say this falls into the ignorant category! You at least understand the why behind it, where many do not. Thanks for watching!
I'm in a tuff spot. My tab water has 17 ppm nitrates in the tap so my water change is about every 5 to 7 days on all 4 tanks. Regardless of how pathos look. Ima have to add them to every tank. Lol or just buy a new house. 🤣🤣
My heavily planted 40g with a single electric blue acara gets a 50% every two weeks. Not because of nitrates, but to replace minerals since we have very soft water.
That clip from Armageddon was classic lol
😂😂