The Puffer Forum

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.

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 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...

See my post above about water changes.

Even if you don't do 50% you must do something at least weekly no matter how clean it seems or how good the parameters show. Tehre are more forms of polution that we can test for and they must be diluted.

Water changes, water changes, water changes.

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

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.

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

I don't think that would be a problem.

I don't think he'll mind at all.

Thanks for the input, folks. That puts my mind at ease a lot. I moved the tank tonight, and hope he will be okay!

Will give an update when I get back. My flight is in less than 24 hours and I still have a lot of things to do!

Thanks again!

-helium