Talk to me about: Water Changes

Well the tanks been running for 3 days now, the water is crystal clear and the Temp. is stabilized.
When should my next water change be, how much water should I change?
Any other tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated. :bigsmile:

Thanks guys(and girls)


To add: No fish or plants are in the tank yet.

 

So no water changes before the tank is cycled?

 

You need to kick off the cycle. You can do:
1. Fishless cycle (the best) - google it - significantly reduces the cycle time - ask me and I will explain in detail
2. Throw in some zebra danios - depending on fish load, can take up to 6 weeks to cycle
3. Add plants (plant heavily), wait a week for the plants to take hold, then throw in some hardy fish

Don't buy "Cycle" or any of these products. I think it is a waste. Overpriced and no gaurantees.

 

Thanx Laure, looks like a great torture free way to cycle the tank.
One more Q: What product can I use that contains ammonia?

 

Why do you want to add ammonia at such an early stage? Just add a little fish food to the tank and let nature take it's course.

 

I've always used the "feeding invisible fish" method to cycle the tank, I just thought ammonia would be a better option, no?

Yup, bought a test kit yesterday as my old one has expired.

 

I'd go with ammonia. It results in the fastest cycle period. In the past I have been able to fully cycle a tank this method and getting 25ppm NO3 after 2 weeks.

 

Any ammonia or something specific?

 

can i ask a semi related question, to start the tank off, at the fill-up. should it be tap water, or if i have access to bore-hole water can i use that?

 

i would use tap water rather turn the nozzle at the end to fine spray (gets more o2 into water) and then let it spray up against my hand so as not to frighten the fish ..

 

no, i mean before anything goes into the tank, the first fill-up

 

I would use tap water on fine spray heard that if water comes into contact with air it helps drop the chorline content of the water. Don't know if this is true, but i have never had a problem with this method. With the hose on fine i normaly move it through the substrate to just get the last of water dirt i might have missed into the water then let the pump pick this up. hope this helps

 

you'd use tap water even if here in PTA, my tap water actually has a chlorine smell?

 

then i would be a bit hesitant to use tap water, but i would only use the borehole water if i new it was chemical free. If a neutrilizer from the pet shop is not going to help, I would go to Makro and buy a couple big 20 litre containers of still spring water and mix that with my tap water

 

Decaying fish food will release ammonia so there is no need to add ammonia, just add fish food as slagter has indicated.

Donny, forget about spring water, far too expensive, just add tap water and depending on where you are you should add some water dechlorinator. For those of you who are in Gauteng my advice would be to always add a dechlorinator.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I have also used fish food to kick start a cycle, but I found that it took a little longer than pure ammonia. But if time is not an issue then fish food is a good idea.