Optimizing water changes

[Zac]

Hey all,

Ive been running a tank for quite some time now and I’m still struggling a bit on how to get the most out of my weekly water changes. It’s a 29 gallon and I have a siphon for 29-75 gallons. I don’t have any live plants. I usually take out the ceramics and drift wood and vacuum around the plants. Should I be taking them out every week? Would it put unnecessary stress on the fish taking everything out every week? The siphon empties the tank rather quickly so it can be difficult to get everything.

[Guppysnail]

This may help. The hose pinch is key to being able to siphon the gravel without excess water removal.  

 

[Widgets]

Normally, the mulm that collects in the gravel can be wonderful food for plants, but without real plants, they are just waste products. 

The usual guides for water changes will monitor the Nitrate build up to determine the volume to change and the frequency. Again, this guidance is aimed for planted tanks.

I would suggest dividing the tank into thirds or quarters. You would do a thorough vacuuming on one section each water change, moving the decorations in that section. Any really dirty pieces could be removed for later rinsing in the duscard water, the other can be temporarily shifted. This can be done before you start vacuuming so you don't feel as rushed when vacuuming. In addition to the deep vacuuming, you would do light surface vacuuming of the entire tank.

This, along with the technique in the video linked by @Guppysnail should help you get the most from your vacuuming. 

[AndEEss]

Reading this makes me really happy I have a very heavily planted tank. 

I literally put the siphon in, let it pull on one end of the tank, and refill at the other at the same time. 

[Zac]

On 4/11/2022 at 9:43 AM, Widgets said:

Normally, the mulm that collects in the gravel can be wonderful food for plants, but without real plants, they are just waste products. 

The usual guides for water changes will monitor the Nitrate build up to determine the volume to change and the frequency. Again, this guidance is aimed for planted tanks.

I would suggest dividing the tank into thirds or quarters. You would do a thorough vacuuming on one section each water change, moving the decorations in that section. Any really dirty pieces could be removed for later rinsing in the duscard water, the other can be temporarily shifted. This can be done before you start vacuuming so you don't feel as rushed when vacuuming. In addition to the deep vacuuming, you would do light surface vacuuming of the entire tank.

This, along with the technique in the video linked by @Guppysnail should help you get the most from your vacuuming. 

Should I be squeezing out filter media every week? I seem to always have a very small amount of ammonia (around .1 ppm) would squeezing it out every weak damage the biological filtration? I’ve been trying so many different things but just can’t seem to get rid of it. The tanks been up for around 6-7 months 

[Guppysnail]

I never squeeze out all the media at once. Different theories say different time frames. I’m the lazy theory and squeeze when they slow.  I do not have issues in any of my tanks doing it that way. 

[Zac]

On 4/11/2022 at 10:15 AM, Guppysnail said:

I never squeeze out all the media at once. Different theories say different time frames. I’m the lazy theory and squeeze when they slow.  I do not have issues in any of my tanks doing it that way. 

No issues of ammonia coming from the waste in the media? 

[Guppysnail]

No. I only have issues if I become overzealous and clean to much media at one time. I always run minimum of 2 filters be the 2 sponges a sponge and hob a canister and sponge. This way I can rotate which I clean. I let my canisters slow to a crawl again lazy method.here is a video to set your mind at ease. I find less is best with filter media cleaning. 

 

[Widgets]

On 4/11/2022 at 10:19 AM, Zac said:

No issues of ammonia coming from the waste in the media? 

I believe that any significant Ammonia coming from the waste collected by a sponge filter would be a sign of overfeeding. The excess food getting caught and breaking down. I would expect there to also be excess food on the floor of the tank.

In normal situations there should not be much food trapped by the sponge, and I see my fish and shrimp doing a pretty good job of cleaning the surface of the sponge.

[modified lung]

On 4/11/2022 at 7:10 AM, Zac said:

Should I be squeezing out filter media every week? I seem to always have a very small amount of ammonia (around .1 ppm) would squeezing it out every weak damage the biological filtration? I’ve been trying so many different things but just can’t seem to get rid of it. The tanks been up for around 6-7 months 

I wouldn't worry much about 0.1 ppm ammonia. Ammonia test kits generally arent very accurate at low range unless you're reading them with a spectrometer. I've tested this out and anything that looked below 0.25 to the eye was always actually 0.05 or less which is normal in most circumstances.

[IchthyGuy]

I recently discussed a tank installation where the owner was going to do continuous water change.  He was going to use mechanical and chemical filtration, then UV microbial exposure, then through a heater, and deliver the water directly to the tank.  The overflow was directed to a drain.  I questioned the flow rate and was told about 1 GPM.  Seems outrageously expensive and wasteful to me.  Has anyone experienced anything like this before and does it work?

[Streetwise]

@Zac, how can we convince you to try live plants?

[Guppysnail]

On 4/14/2022 at 6:19 PM, IchthyGuy said:

I recently discussed a tank installation where the owner was going to do continuous water change.  He was going to use mechanical and chemical filtration, then UV microbial exposure, then through a heater, and deliver the water directly to the tank.  The overflow was directed to a drain.  I questioned the flow rate and was told about 1 GPM.  Seems outrageously expensive and wasteful to me.  Has anyone experienced anything like this before and does it work?

I have not seen this level but in my experience a tank with a little yuck for microfauna to feast on creates a healthy tank. I’m curious how stable an environment this would be and how easily disrupted the biological filtration would become. 

[modified lung]

On 4/14/2022 at 3:19 PM, IchthyGuy said:

I recently discussed a tank installation where the owner was going to do continuous water change.  He was going to use mechanical and chemical filtration, then UV microbial exposure, then through a heater, and deliver the water directly to the tank.  The overflow was directed to a drain.  I questioned the flow rate and was told about 1 GPM.  Seems outrageously expensive and wasteful to me.  Has anyone experienced anything like this before and does it work?

Sounds like he wants to start a high density aquaculture farm.

 

[Widgets]

You didn't say how big the tank was. 1g/minute is 10,080g/week. That is a lot of water.

If you are changing enough water, I guess you wouldn't need any in tank filtration or cycle or anything. But, you would be awfully dependent upon the source water quality. A change in the input water quality could kill everything. And power outages would also be a panic.

I would think that a continuous water change system would be better as a trickle. Spread the weekly water change over time.

[ndfi78]

On 4/14/2022 at 5:19 PM, IchthyGuy said:

I recently discussed a tank installation where the owner was going to do continuous water change.  He was going to use mechanical and chemical filtration, then UV microbial exposure, then through a heater, and deliver the water directly to the tank.  The overflow was directed to a drain.  I questioned the flow rate and was told about 1 GPM.  Seems outrageously expensive and wasteful to me.  Has anyone experienced anything like this before and does it work?

That seems crazy wasteful 

[Zac]

On 4/14/2022 at 6:53 PM, Streetwise said:

@Zac, how can we convince you to try live plants?

Been doing hours of research on them. I’ve tried a couple times but with no luck and I’m hesitant to start a planted tank even though I’m well aware of the benefits and relative ease of care when you know what you’re doing 

[Torrey]

On 4/14/2022 at 9:15 PM, Zac said:

Been doing hours of research on them. I’ve tried a couple times but with no luck and I’m hesitant to start a planted tank even though I’m well aware of the benefits and relative ease of care when you know what you’re doing 

Welcome to the purple thumb society!

Obviously, you are here because you have succeeded with fish, which according to everyone is harder than keeping plants alive... 👀 Except for those of us who can't keep plants alive, lol.

Only plants I could keep alive in tanks for literally decades, were pothos and spider plant... and my mom, for decades, could even kill those (I think I inherited my purple thumb honestly). When you are ready to try planted tanks again, you will have just as much support (if not more) as you have had for your fish, in here.

List your water parameters, and people can help you identify the most likely to be successful plants based on the water you already have. If you don't want to grow submersed plants, are you willing to try something like pothos, spiderplant, or philodendron? They are each great nitrate hogs, and far more forgiving than dracaena (Lucky Bamboo)

[modified lung]

On 4/14/2022 at 8:15 PM, Zac said:

Been doing hours of research on them. I’ve tried a couple times but with no luck and I’m hesitant to start a planted tank even though I’m well aware of the benefits and relative ease of care when you know what you’re doing 

I few plants I've gotten to work with no knowledge or effort or ferts in any substrate or with any cheap light are jungle val, giant hair grass, and ambulia.

And with UNS controsoil I've gotten almost everything else I've tried to grow with no effort, no ferts, and cheap lights.

[Tanked]

On 4/11/2022 at 9:22 AM, Zac said:

Hey all,

Ive been running a tank for quite some time now and I’m still struggling a bit on how to get the most out of my weekly water changes. It’s a 29 gallon and I have a siphon for 29-75 gallons. I don’t have any live plants. I usually take out the ceramics and drift wood and vacuum around the plants. Should I be taking them out every week? Would it put unnecessary stress on the fish taking everything out every week? The siphon empties the tank rather quickly so it can be difficult to get everything.

I still control the siphon with my finger.  Other than the water, I don't think you have to take anything out weekly. Your gravel vac can be inserted at an angle under the decorations.  Plastic plants are also decorations. Leaving the decoration in place  will lessen stress, I also feed my fish after maintenance.  The fish will associate maintenance with an extra meal.  My angels usually try to get at what ever is being drawn through the tube.

Aquarium is also good for houseplants and gardens so you can use it twice.