Water Change question?

[RickJordan]

I've got a 54 Gallon Corner Tank

Species List Right Now is All Male

Aulonocara Stuartgranti “Marleri” Sunshine Peacock

Sciaenochromis Fryeri “Electric Blue Peacock”

Copadichromis Borleyi “Red Fin Kadango”

Aulonocara Sp. “Red Peacock”

Aulonocara Stuartgranti “BiColor 500 Peacock”

Aulonocara Sp. “Lwanda Peacock”

Aulonocara Maisoni

Aulonocara Jacobfreibergi “Mamelela”

Aulonocara Sp. “Rubescens”

Aulonocara Stuartgranti “Ngara”

Copadichromis Azureus

Lethrinops Sp. “Red Cap”

2 Clown Loaches

I've been doing 40% water changes every week I've been told this is too much

that my Bacteria has not had a chance to build up properly is this true. They Told me to cut it back to 25%.

I've the Tank running for about 8 months now with no casualties yet. I buffer the PH with Salts.

Also if I am to cut back to 25 or 30% a week would I do it all in one change or is it better to spread it out over 2 changes??

Any opinions about all this?? Also does the bio-load of the tank affect the water changes, I would think it would! Although I'm trying to make a good decision!

[seajays]

I do 25% weekly on my 125 and 65. Some say it is ok to do bi-weekly.

[jvision]

I do 50% weekly WCs. All of my fish are on strait tap water, so it's not a big deal. If I were buffering the water, I'd probably do less. On my fry tanks, I do 50% twice per week - or at least I will be when I get them set up again.

[fairdeal]

Who is the "they" in they told me to cut back to 25% water changes? There are some fish that don't like big water changes, but your list appears to be O.K. The beneficial bacteria you refer to are not present in the water column in any great numbers - mostly in the filters with a much lesser amount in the gravel and under decorations. The bacteria therefore are more affected by cleaning your filtration system than by actual water changes. Do you clean those weekly as well? What is the PH of your water before you buffer with the salts? Calgary water is pretty hard to start with ( mine is around 8 right out of the tap ) and I assume Edmonton must be similar unless you are getting it from another source. If that is the case why buffer the PH? The bio load is affected by the fish/filtration ratio more than anything. For example, you have 14 fish in your 54G, but how big are they now compared to how large can they grow? As a rule of thumb to prevent any problems the filtration should turn the water over 10 times an hour in a reasonably stocked tank. So if your filter is an aquaclear 110 that would do the job fairly well.

For a great many years now I have done 1/3 water changes once a week and the fry tanks 40% every 3 days. Aquaclear filter cleanings every 2 weeks and eheim and fluval cannisters every 2-2 1/2 months. Gravel cleanings weekly (or sand vacuuming ) and for sure Prime with every water change. I also use rift lake liquid salts, but not to buffer - provides the neccesary trace elements and minerals not available in most home preparations. Most hobbiests would skip the salts, but I just feel better using them. I'm trying to give them the as close to home environment as I can. I rarely have a sick fish and that is usually the result of some sort of aggression issues. I have healthy, happy fish so I assume that what I am doing must be close to right.

Hope this answers some of your concerns.

[Vallisneria]

My water change schedual is the same as jason's. 50% weekly or so and fry tanks get 50% 2x a week.

Never had a problem.

[RickJordan]

To Answer a few questions for fairdeal- I do buffer with Seachem's Cichlid Salts with every water change! As well as use Prime to condition new water. The water is Standard Edmonton Tap water. Not sure what PH was before Salt ,I've always used salts as a disease prevention. Although in the begginning I was using only Aquarium Salts not Buffering Salts. All my cichlids are about 3.5 inches in length right now. I Filter with a Rena XP2 filstar,Not sure what the Flow is. I Vacuum Gravel everytime I do changes which is twice weekly 10 Gallons each time. I clean out foams in canister once a month and change out carbon once every 2 months. They I refer to are various Fish Store employees.

I have added 5 cichlids about 1 month ago so my bioload has increased.

I also know that most of the bacteria lives in filter media or gravel so what he was saying of course is innacurate. I was more concerned about the actual changes.

[RickJordan]

One more thing, what should my salinity be on average to keep diseases at bay???

I'm finding that my fish are scratching a lot more from ich since I switched from Regular Salt to Cichlid Salt

Any answers to that???

[RD.]

One more thing, what should my salinity be on average to keep diseases at bay???

Just a FYI - Seachem Cichlid 'salts' contain almost no 'salt' aka sodium chloride (NaCl) which is what I'm assuming you are referring to when you mention salt. What it does contain is trace elements, which most likely are already found in significant numbers in the water directly from your tap. I suggest that you read the following article about adding 'salt' to a freshwater system to prevent disease:

http://aquascienceresearch.com/APInfo/salt.htm

As far as the sodium level found in Lake Malawi, it's approx 21 mg/l. Those numbers can be found in the following article: http://www.malawicichlids.com/mw01011.htm

For those of you in Calgary here's a comparison of Calgary tap water, vs Lake Malawi in chart form:

http://www.calgaryaquariumsociety.com/Arti...lawi_Water.html

The bottom line is this, before anyone adds anything, they should really be getting a proper analytical water report from their local water treatment facility, otherwise what you are doing is nothing more than by guess or by golly. As an example, the sodium level in the tap water here in Red Deer varies from 5-8 mg/l, so to increase that amount, as well as to add some of the various trace elements that are somewhat lacking in our water, I maintain a level of 2 teaspoons of Celtic Sea Salt to my 125 gallon tank. It's dirt cheap compared to the commercial products sold at your LFS, and is a pure unrefined salt.

The problem (at least for me) is that the commercial products tend to be high in certain elements, such as magnesium, and our water here is already over twice as high in magnesium, as Lake Malawi.

I basically just want to ensure that all of the various trace elements & minerals are at least present, but at the same time I don't want to introduce anything that's going to be off the charts (compared to Malawi water) if I don't have to.

Some people will advise using a product such as Instant Ocean, but IMO products sold for marine mixes also contain certain flaws.

Unrefined sea salt basically works out to approx 98% sodium chloride (NaCl), where regular table salt is approx 99.9% sodium chloride. (2,350 mg of sodium per level teaspoon)

The major differences between a high quality sea salt, and a product such as Instant Ocean, is that the higher grade sea salt is in a pure form and lacks the artificial chemicals used in aquarium grade marine salts, it has a higher & more complete trace mineral content than is found in regular refined salt, and it does not have the heavy metal content that most of the marine formulas contain. No chemicals are added, and none of the minerals are removed, such as what takes place with most commercial salt products. The only real down side is that unrefined sea salt costs a LOT more than the aquarium grade marine salts.

If you read the info in the following link, you'll see that none of these marine salt mixes closely replicate actual sea salt, with some of the elements being well below, and some being well above, what's found in nature. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1

I made a trip to a few of the local health food stores & decided on using this:

http://www.naturescargo.ca/animalsalts.html and here's the analysis http://www.naturescargo.ca/analysis.html

I honestly had no idea that there were so many types of salt on the market:

http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_gourmet_reference.asp

The stuff I have is listed as Grey Salt on the link above.

An interesting read on unrefined sea salt, vs. refined table salt.

http://www.curezone.com/foods/saltcure.asp

While I am aware that many people believe that salt is salt is salt, sea salt does contain some minerals not present in ordinary table salt, such as magnesium, sulfur, calcium, and potassium, and even though the amount of these trace minerals is very low, the fact remains that they are indeed present in unrefined sea salt, and not, in table salt.

If my math is correct, two teaspoons of sea salt in my 125 (approx 100 gallons of actual water) will raise my sodium level to closely match the water found in Lake Malawi, so the overall cost to use this grade of salt isn't an issue. I may never notice a significant difference in my fish, but at least I'll know that my tank water won't be void of any of the trace minerals, and the sodium level will be more in line with what's found in Malawi.

As far as water changes, my Malawi tank receives a 50% water change on a weekly basis, and it's nowhere near what most people would consider to be overly stocked. I have 3 AC 500's filtering my 125 gallon, and I clean the filter media every 8-12 weeks, and have let them go for as long as 5 months with no issue.

Unless the nitrates are increasing, or the water flow in the filters is decreasing, I prefer to let them go for as long as possible.

HTH

[Malawi Maniac]

This is one of the reasons I was called the Malawi Maniac. There are over 120 fish in this tank and over 90% of them are 4"+ and changed 50% of the water every Thursday.

Check it out...

http://www.eastcoastaquariumsociety.ca/for...pic.php?id=6558

Stacey

Wife - Cyndie is narrator

Edited September 22, 2006 by Malawi Maniac

[Pop Eye]

I also do 50% water changes a week, and 2 times a week on fry tanks..

With no problems

[Vapor]

I do roughly 30 to 40 percent once a week. Never seem to have a problem. Water is always clear and fish seem to be quite happy.

[Molino]

I do weekly 50% water changes (sometimes closer to 60%) in most of my tanks, including my Malawi tank. Don't add any salt, just some Prime as I put in the new water. I have not had any problems with these large water changes.

[skinless]

I do roughly 30 to 40 percent once a week. Never seem to have a problem. Water is always clear and fish seem to be quite happy.

me too