Newbie Needing Knowledge About Water Changes

Hello, total newbie here. I have moved from having a 25-gallon tropical tank to now having a 70-gallon tank. I also have a smaller 12-gallon tank with a dwarf puffer in it. Stupid as it may sound, I never bothered doing water changes to my 25-gallon tank, but now that I have the big tank I have been reading that I MUST do water changes. This big tank has been going for a month, and I had to put all my fish from the 25-gal in, so it's got quite alot of fish, and about 10 live plants, with a sandy bottom. I am confused about how much of a water change I should do and how often? Should the first water change be different from the ones I will be doing regularly hereafter? I hope someone can help me, I'm tired of my fish dying!! I'm also over here in England where everything is strange and different (I'm from Florida!).

I do my water changes at 50% once a week. Most people in the hobby, if not overstocked can pull off 1 - 40-50% water change every 2 weeks.

What kind of fish do you have in there? Dwarf puffers like brackish water... Which is not suitable for most tropical fish...

If possible, I would keep the 29 gallon around for a quarantine tank or a hospital tank if needed.

Good Luck and keep us posted!

Angela

PS - Welcome to the forum!

Hello Again, well I certainly am no expert, but a common misconception about puffers is that they all like brackish water. If you go on the www.dwarfpuffer.com site, it will tell you that Dwarf Puffers are true freshwater Puffers. But he is in a tank all to himself due to his personality, which is to nip at other fish. However, my big 70-gallon tank has 7 Rasboras, 2 Gourami, one large Plec, 3 Corydoras and 2 Danios. I was just confused about the water changing bit because when I had a tank in Florida, no one bothered to tell me that I needed to do water changes, so I never did them. Now that I'm back into the 21st century, I'm getting with things and doing them in the right way -- at least hopefully. Thanks for your info., I'm always grateful for any info I can get from anyone willing to take their time to give it.

When I was a mere child in the 1950s, there was no readily available information about water changes, so people just broke down the entire aquarium when it started to smell bad. If an aquarium is not over loaded, you can get by with a 15 or 20 percent partial water change every week. Healthy live plants can stretch out that schedule, but ...

It's no wonder I'm confused! I just recently spoke with someone about water changes, in regard to my big 70-gallon tank, and they said to NEVER do a 50% water change! So I'm just not sure how much to do. The tank in question has been up and running for a month, it's got 10 live plants in it and quite a few fish (the puffer is not in my community tank, he's got a tank to himself).
I would just like to keep my fish healthy and have the sort of tank that I would "oohhhh" and "ahhhhh" over if I seen it elsewhere. A big thanks to everyone that has, and anyone that will, reply to my posts. Again, sorry that I placed the same question in two places.

Hi, welcome to the forum!! I dont really do my water changes regularly. I know its probably not the way you should do it, but i just do them when my water is just going a little murky, or there's waste on the bottom. Hope this helps x

Thanks, I think I'm paranoid because I have never owned a tank this big before and I don't want to lose any of the fish I have in there. I get alot of enjoyment from watching my fish. I put a piece of shrimp in there today and it was lots of action, they were all going for that!

I have 17 tanks currently running at my house.

I don't know what everyone else does... but I try my best to do water changes every week, and I change at least 50% of the water each time.

I have several fry tanks that I change water in every other day...

I am trying to provide the best environment possible for the breeding program, but I also do the water change in my big community tank.

I'm not trying to be hateful or anything, but people that don't do water changes... and don't loose fish... I would classify them as lucky.

Most fish in the wild live in streams, or lakes, or ponds... Something with a moving water supply... and currents... bringing fresh water to them at all times.

Like John said... in another post... An aquarium is a closed system... there's no where for the waste to go... There's no way for the fish to get fresh clean water unless you supply it.

Good Luck in whatever you choose.

Thank you, and I'm just trying to find out what's best for my tank. What better way to find information out than to ask people who have tanks, and have them successfully too. It all makes sense to me, in regards to the water changes. It's just funny how some people say you don't need to do them. Would you advise me to do a 50% water change with a tank that's only been up and running for a month? There is alot of waste in there, I have a Plecostomus that is more than 8-inches long and he alone makes quite a bit of waste.

Plecos make a ton of waste! It's amazing how much just the babies go!

Different water change routines work for different people, and some of it depends on what type of fish you are keeping. The 15 or 20 percent weekly change is a conservative approach. I use it in all of my angelfish tanks, few of which have over crowding issues. A good water conditioner helps, as does a Python or similar system for draining and filling aquariums. I agree with Angela: if you don't do regular partial water changes, you're asking for problems.

I want to do water changes because it just makes sense, but what I'm unsure about is if I should do one now, my tank has only been up and running for a month, and I am unsure how much water to change out this first time. I'm going to need to clean the internal filter, but I'm not cleaning the external filter for a while yet.

Yes, it's time for a partial water change. If there are no problems with the aquarium, a 15 or 20 percent change will work fine. It's not a bad idea to check water chemistry this first time and maybe once a month after that. Make sure ammonia and nitrite read zero. If they do not, you may need to change 15 or 20 percent a day for about a week. It's just an opinion, but i think the smaller water changes avoid shocking the fish. Most aquarium fish can tolerate a variety of water conditions, but few can tolerate sudden changes. Imagine going from a warm house out into the snow wearing only your pajamas.

As a by the way thing...

I don't know what kind of filters you're using... and I have NO experience with a canister filter (yet), but I've switched to all bio bags... (where I don't have Sponge filters)

They're not that expensive, and you can just rinse out the pouch in aquarium water (that way all the good cooties stay, but the gunk goes) Refill it with carbon, and it's good to go. I do this once a month...

But again... My tanks are just plain overstocked right now, and I'm just praying that the fish room gets started soon so that I can get the fish in a happier, healthier environment!