Nitrates will build up over time and must be diluted by water changes. There are also many toxins that we have no way of testing for that build up in the water. Nitrates are just a handy barometer.
50% is the rule of thumb, though you can get away with less if you keep up with maintenance like vaccuuming, filter rinsing, removing uneaten food, not over feeding, etc.
Now that you have a healthy and established tank you're ready to start playing with the hard and fast rules to see what works best for you.
Scale the changes back to 30% or so and keep an eye on your params.
My Betta is sick again
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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stevehelium
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:27 am
- Location: Osaka, Japan
Hey folks.
Just keeping you up todate.
I have not touched the tank for 13 days now - NO water changes. Had the cover on the whole time and lost about an inch of water due to evaporation. Checked the params just now and show ZERO Nitrites or Nitrates, and pH is steady. Definitely cycled.
Overfeeding is not happening at all, and the only waste being produced is in the form of poo - I feed him only pellet food and he ALWAYS eats his three pellets a day. He seems perfectly content. ZERO odd behavior.
My one plant (sorry, I don't know it's name - I would have to go back to the store to find out, but it is only about 4 inches tall and the LPS guy said it was the "strongest" plant they had) is turning a little brown, but the change is VERY slow. I (unfortunately) have not been adding chemicals for plants at all (still need to learn more - the big tank we will get will be ONLY plants for a while and I plan to learn to maintain them before adding any fish).
Still getting some fungal growth on the sides of the tank (the brownish color), but it doesn't seem to be affecting the fish at all - and never goes above the bottom two inches of the glass.
I'm going to do a 50% now just because. But the tank seriously doesn't seem to need it at all.
Thanks for all the help. If something sounds "fishy", let me know!
-helium
Just keeping you up todate.
I have not touched the tank for 13 days now - NO water changes. Had the cover on the whole time and lost about an inch of water due to evaporation. Checked the params just now and show ZERO Nitrites or Nitrates, and pH is steady. Definitely cycled.
Overfeeding is not happening at all, and the only waste being produced is in the form of poo - I feed him only pellet food and he ALWAYS eats his three pellets a day. He seems perfectly content. ZERO odd behavior.
My one plant (sorry, I don't know it's name - I would have to go back to the store to find out, but it is only about 4 inches tall and the LPS guy said it was the "strongest" plant they had) is turning a little brown, but the change is VERY slow. I (unfortunately) have not been adding chemicals for plants at all (still need to learn more - the big tank we will get will be ONLY plants for a while and I plan to learn to maintain them before adding any fish).
Still getting some fungal growth on the sides of the tank (the brownish color), but it doesn't seem to be affecting the fish at all - and never goes above the bottom two inches of the glass.
I'm going to do a 50% now just because. But the tank seriously doesn't seem to need it at all.
Thanks for all the help. If something sounds "fishy", let me know!
-helium
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stevehelium
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:27 am
- Location: Osaka, Japan
Just finished a 70% water change and MAN was that dirty. Woke me up a bit to how important that really is. I managed to vacuum about 1/4 of the gravel, which also stirred up a bunch of GUNK that seriously clouded the tank water still in there. It is all nice and clean now, after the gunk settled, and the little guy is still more than happy. I also used my fingers to scrape the brown gunk off the plants. I really need to find some of those snails...
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stevehelium
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:27 am
- Location: Osaka, Japan
Phaedrus,
Thanks! I work well by seeing, and in this case 13 days was DEFINITELY seeing. I was kind of experimenting because I will be away from home for 2 weeks soon and I was hoping to NOT have to teach someone how to do the water change, but it looks like it is necessary. However, I wonder if I do regular changes a bit more frequently and then let it "go", as it were, for those two weeks just how I might harm the fish.
-helium
Thanks! I work well by seeing, and in this case 13 days was DEFINITELY seeing. I was kind of experimenting because I will be away from home for 2 weeks soon and I was hoping to NOT have to teach someone how to do the water change, but it looks like it is necessary. However, I wonder if I do regular changes a bit more frequently and then let it "go", as it were, for those two weeks just how I might harm the fish.
-helium
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Phaedrus
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1402
- Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:34 pm
- Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Contact:
You know what they say, seeing is believing.
Doing water changes every 2 weeks wouldn't destroy the tank, but it would be the difference between pristine water conditions and fair water conditions. Especially in such a small tank where it is harder to maintain the small water volume. Such a tank demands more frequent water changes than you might be able to get away with on a much larger tank.
Waiting 2 weeks between changes every once in a while won't be that bad. If you're goign away, just do a large cleaning and water change before you leave and another when you get back.
Doing water changes every 2 weeks wouldn't destroy the tank, but it would be the difference between pristine water conditions and fair water conditions. Especially in such a small tank where it is harder to maintain the small water volume. Such a tank demands more frequent water changes than you might be able to get away with on a much larger tank.
Waiting 2 weeks between changes every once in a while won't be that bad. If you're goign away, just do a large cleaning and water change before you leave and another when you get back.
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stevehelium
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:27 am
- Location: Osaka, Japan
Hey folks!
Long time no talk!
Quick question - as mentioned before, I am leaving my little friend for two weeks - leaving tomorrow! I have arranged to have the building manager feed him once a day. However, he asked me to move the tank to the entryhall. That's not a problem, BUT - that area gets ALMOST ZERO LIGHT. For two weeks, is that going to stress him out or be a problem? If so, I will have to think of another idea.
Thanks again for all the constant help!
-stephen
Long time no talk!
Quick question - as mentioned before, I am leaving my little friend for two weeks - leaving tomorrow! I have arranged to have the building manager feed him once a day. However, he asked me to move the tank to the entryhall. That's not a problem, BUT - that area gets ALMOST ZERO LIGHT. For two weeks, is that going to stress him out or be a problem? If so, I will have to think of another idea.
Thanks again for all the constant help!
-stephen
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Aiya Quackform
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2005 2:51 am
- Location: Earth
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stevehelium
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:27 am
- Location: Osaka, Japan