Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Do you need to change the water..

do you have to change the water for a 10-gallon filtered tank with gold fish...if so , how often?Do you need to change the water..not often if you have a good filter systemDo you need to change the water..well i have no idea bc i was in the same problem as u but i think that im lazy bc i never did it and my goldfish never died but now iv got a 55 gallon and in need to make water changes for that..Do you need to change the water..yes once a week if possible Do you need to change the water..maybe every month or two if you have a filterDo you need to change the water..well you should clean your tank fully once a year but you should take about 1 gallon once a week and replance it with fresh water.Do you need to change the water..What type of goldfish do you have and how many? Goldfish are SO MESSY! Fancy goldfish needs 20 gallons for the first goldfish and another 10 gallons for every fish after that. Fancy is the smallest variety. You may hear some people say comet goldfish that are sold as feeders onlt get 2-3 inches when the truth is they get a foot long! For common or comet goldfish you need 50 gallons for every 2 fish. You need to change it twice a week, becuse it is so small and houses goldfish! You will only need to change it once a week if you get them a proper sized tank.Do you need to change the water..your tank is too small



fancys need 20 gallons for the first and 10 for each additional



commons/comets need 50 gallons for the first and 10 for each additionalDo you need to change the water..Yes you do have to chnge the water but not as much because of the filter. so every month do it twice unless ur fish have have some dump in there trunk

Do you need to change the water..well if you want your fish to be very healthy and to be able to thrive in a good enviroment id change it every 1 week or close to 2 becuase its only one fish. i have four goldfish in a 20g and teh yare 3 black moor and one fantail goldy there small now but i have to upgrade i clean that tank once every two weeks or sooner becuase GOLDFISH PRODUCE ALOT OF WASTE KEYWORD and are underestimated as beign a easy fish to take care of.. clean your tank once every 1 week or close to second week plus observe your fish thats inportent too happy fish keeping:)Do you need to change the water..once a week would be best, but you can probably pull off once every 2 weeks because goldfish are pretty hardy



but also your tank will be dirty because goldfish are messy fishDo you need to change the water..Yes. When I had my ten gallon tank I changed the water every month or so.

You they say you are supposed to do a 90 % water change right after the fishless cycle is done, well.....?

they say to do a 90% water change the day before you get your fish, how do you keep the beneficial bacteria alive between the water change and the new fish?



If you change 90% of the water won't it destroy the beneficial bacteria? because all of the stuff that feeds it ( ammonia, nitrite etc ) are gone and it has nothing to eat there fore the beneficial bacteria will die.



If you add something like eco-start or sera nitrivec ( benefical bacteria kick starters ) while doing fishless cycling ( i will be using pure ammonia ) won't the eco-start or whatever kill the ammonia and nitrite therefore taking away the bacteria's food?



I restarting my tank because it got ich and stuff, i am going to completly tear it down, boil the gravel, filter media, decorations, fake plants, and start all over again by adding completley dirt-free dechlorinated water and pure ammonia 1-2 days after resetting up my tank, any tips on this, destroying the good bacteria i have is not a concern.



Thanks!!!You they say you are supposed to do a 90 % water change right after the fishless cycle is done, well.....?Unless you plan on quarantining any new fish you will most likely get ick again. So tearing down the tank is pointless. Raise the temp to 86 degrees and go fishless for 2 weeks , this alone will kill the ick. Ick needs a host, with no fish to host it will die in 2 weeks.



Doing a 90% water change does NOT kill the bacteria. There is a very small percentage of the tanks bacteria free floating in the water column.

The majority of the bacteria is in your filter media or bio media and in the substrate. When doing large water changes is important to match the tanks water and makeup waters Temperature, Ph, and alkalinity.

After a cycle you should really only need to do no more than a 50% water change,



Ah the mythical Super Cycle. The cycle that grows a really large bacterial colony right? What happens to all the bacteria that you grow when there is not enough food to support it????? It dies.

The other %26quot;catch 22%26quot; of a super cycle is that if you put enough food in for the large bacteria strain your nitrates will be so high that they will kill your fish.You they say you are supposed to do a 90 % water change right after the fishless cycle is done, well.....?you dont have do change any water after cycling.You they say you are supposed to do a 90 % water change right after the fishless cycle is done, well.....?once the tank has cycled there shouldnt be any reason that you would have to change anymore than 25% of the water weeklyYou they say you are supposed to do a 90 % water change right after the fishless cycle is done, well.....?You do not need to tear everything down and start over. What you should do is a super cycle.



Raise your temperature to 86 degrees F. Add enough Pure Ammonia to get a reading of 10ppm, this is way above the level you would use in a normal Ammonia Cycle (which is 3-5ppm).



By raising the temp and amount of ammonia you are creating an environment were no parasites or bacteria can live. Especially Ich as it can't live past 82 degrees F.



The cycle may take a bit longer but once done your tank will be super cycled and will handle much higher bioload when complete.



You do not do water changes during the cycle, at the end you may not need one either. During regular cycling you will probably not have Nitrate readings higher than 20ppm, however with a super cycle you may get Nitrates off the charts.



If this happens do small 20-30% water changes every other day after your super cycle is complete. You would do the same if you have high nitrate readings after a regular cycle.



Also keep your light running 24 hours a day.



NOTE: you cannot do a super cycle with live plants or fish (obviously).



Your tank already has the bacteria needed to jump start the cycle so please do not do a large cleaning just do a super cycle, it will be faster than you think!



Good Luck!You they say you are supposed to do a 90 % water change right after the fishless cycle is done, well.....?You WILL have to do a big water change before adding fish to a tank you have done a fish-less cycle on or you will end up with sick fish. All the ammonia you have added during the cycle will turn to nitrites which will then turn to nitrates, these nitrates will build up to a very high level which would be very harmful to your new additions. A 90% water change before you add fish will remove 90% of these nitrates and should therefore make the water safe for the fish. The bacteria in the filter will be ok for 24 hours but you can do the big water change on the day you add fish if you want. Test the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels with a liquid test kit before you add the fish to make sure the levels are suitable. There is no real need to change water during the cycle as the bacteria are actually in the filter media, not in the water but it wouldn't do any harm and it might help avoid a big swing in ph which might hinder your cycle. If you do change water during the cycle, do it just before you add the ammonia.

Lots more information on fish-less cycling here... http://www.tropicalfishforums.co.uk/
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  • If u have experience...PLEASE HELP! IM GOING NUTS TRYING TO CYCLE!?

    ok, ive been posting pretty much the same question about 5 times now with little updates and im still not getting any answers on why my water is foggy, or how to get it clean. now the quick version is: i had a goldfish it died a week ago, idk why everything was fine, after he's gone the water gets cloudy, seriously cloudy, i do a 50% water change, dechlorinate, change filter, put in accu-clear, tested water(all perfect including ammonia) let the filter run for 4 days, today i went to petsmart and bought a live plant to get some oxygen in there and a gravel vaccuum. the water looks a little clearer, but still foggy. now im reading all about how i shouldnt disturb the bacteria growth while im trying to cycle (oh yeah im cycling this new 5 gal btw) so what the heck should i do, the water is still obviously not clear or gonna get clear. im thinking that tmrw ill jst do another 50% water change b/c im reading how the good bacteria is on the filterpad and gravel, not the water. so while trying to cycle, should i do a waterchange or is that just punching my efforts in the face?If u have experience...PLEASE HELP! IM GOING NUTS TRYING TO CYCLE!?if you do not have any fish in the tank then do not do a water change chris is wrong when she says water changes do not affect the cycle the cloudiness your seeing is a bacteria bloom which very simply is that there is so much bacteria you can see it so a water change would remove some of the bacteria if you have fish in the tank then you do water changes based on ammonia and nitrite levels

    and the simple truth is most of the bacteria will be in the gravel



    the cycle process takes about a month if you don't seed the tank

    accu-clear will do nothing for clearing a tank during the cycle process you can get a product called stress zyme it will help seed your tank with the bacteria you need



    while the tank is cycling you do not want to change the filter at all and the only reason to do a water change is if you have fish in the tank

    even without fish you want to put a little fish food into the tank daily in order to have a source of ammonia if you really want to speed up the cycle process if you know anyone with a tank that has been set up for a while get them to clean their gravel add the water and muck from their tank to yours it would be real good if you can get the full 5 gallons worth of water from another tank taken from the gravelIf u have experience...PLEASE HELP! IM GOING NUTS TRYING TO CYCLE!?give the tank time. just let it sit, putting too many chemicals could really screw up your water.If u have experience...PLEASE HELP! IM GOING NUTS TRYING TO CYCLE!?Okay, doing a water change will never harm a cycle, so feel free to do a water change if the water is cloudy. However, if the cloudy water is caused by bacterial bloom, the cloudiness will probably just come back in 10 minutes anyway because the bacteria are reproducing rapidly.



    Don't use more chemicals in your tank, that's going to make it worse. Is your fish tank empty (like not occupied by any fishes)? If it is, try a fishless cycle, that should calm your nerves, even though it does take 1-2 months... once you get fish they will have NO problems and no more cloudy water. I did a fishless cycle on my fishtank and once it completed, I added fish, and have not had any problems like fish dying, cloudy water, algae, or anything... it is perfectly clear and fish are happy and stats are zeroes (nitrate is 10).. believe me, it works. I have my fishes in the tank for over a month now and all is well.



    Just google for %26quot;fishless cycle%26quot; and you'll find articles. Read a few, or just try to follow a particular one, whichever you think is best... they are all generally the same.



    Just a note: goldfish are messy fish and belong in ponds or tanks greater than 20 gallons (20 gallons will only hold one goldfish. For more goldfish you need bigger tanks.) For a 5 gallon a betta is a perfect fish!! Or you could have a small shoal of tiny fish that do not grow to over 1 inch, like neons.If u have experience...PLEASE HELP! IM GOING NUTS TRYING TO CYCLE!?do not change water very often. its ok to chnage 40-50% water every week only if you have too many fishes in it. i suggest that if you are going to keep less fishes then do 25% water changes every week and cut down the hours of lightning you use everyday. there is a another problem that could cause cloudy water. your water could stay cloudy in cycle process and you should leave the tank running for atleast 2-3 weeks without any fish and without adding any water. if you keep changing the water during cycle process this could lead toward cloudy water.



    email me if you have any question or problems. i could help you on any tropical fish related question or water question or any plant related question.



    punjabi_man84118@yahoo.com

    How often should I change the water in my fish tank?

    I have a 5 gallon fish tank with 1 betta in it. I decided to get a bigger tank for my betta upon discovering that they really need a lot more space.



    I have a filter, but I only turn it on at night.



    I don't overfeed my fish and am extremely cautious about doing so.



    If you're recommending that I do partial water changes how much weekly? When should I fully change the water?



    What tools do I need to purchase to make this more efficient? (I also read something that said I need to completely clean the gravel when I do partial changes? How do I even do this?)



    Thank you for your time!How often should I change the water in my fish tank?There is the question of how much is good to change and how much you can get away with not changing. For the ten minutes it takes I highly recommend every week to keep things fresh and clean.



    To do so use a syphon with a gravel vacuum to drain out about 20% of the water and vacuum crud from the gravel, and replace with fresh treated water. At any fish store you can find a simple hose with a gravel vac attachment - just get a thin one for a small tank so it doesn't drain things too quickly. Get your self two containers - one for clean water and one for drained dirty water - big enough to drain about 1/4 of the tank without spilling over when you move it.

    Totally replacing the water is stressful for the fish and often leads to disease.



    This is all you need to do to keep things healthy for a long time, and those who maintain their tanks properly never have to totally clean it out. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be zipping through the routine within a few minutes and wonder why on earth people would not do this for their fish each week.



    Sure you can do it every 2 weeks or even every month with just a Betta in a bigger tank, but weekly maintenance is well worth the small amount of effort to ensure great conditions and stability in the tank.



    To make sure your fish is eating is simple: watch while he eats so you can remove ineaten food - go with floating pellets rather then sinking, since these fish are surface feeders and it makes it easier for your to remove if you need to. Even if you miss a pellet, your weekly vacuuming will cover it. It sounds like you are taking care with feeding and don't have much to worry about.



    My last betta lived over 5 years with this type of routine so I highly recommend it, regardless if some think it's overkill.



    Turning off your filter is not necessary for the most part, but if you have a legitimate reason to do so and it ensures good water flow and aeration for the fish and bacteria - but that said, since your tank is understocked, you will doubtfully find any problems with turning it off sometimes. Even in my 10 gallon community in the guest room, I turn it off some nights when I have guests and want to cut out the noise and it has never caused me an issue.



    Good luckHow often should I change the water in my fish tank?25% every 2 weeks. A gravel syphon. No dont take anything out, syphon the crap out of the gravel, but leave it in the tank.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?You can get a gravel siphon, it removes everything but the gravel!

    You should do weekly 20-30% water changes and never completely clean it, or you will kill the naturally-occuring bacteria that nitrify ammonia, then turn the nitrites into harmless nitrates.

    You should keep the filter on always, so a bacteria colony can establish and thrive in it.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?get a small gravel vac, you dont nedd to clean that often, i only clean mine once a month or when it gets dirty. do s 50 percent water change.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?hey,just buy a simple gravel vacuum and it not only cleans your gravel thoroughly but also takes some of the water out to! you just thread the tube attached to the vacuum into a bucket or sumthing and pump out the water/crud.



    youll know you betta has eaten because when you feed you should watch him/her for a min to see it eat and also if t doesnt youd see a dusting of whatever you feed it on the substrate (gravel etc.)

    if your worried about it rotting and contaminating the water then buy an apple snail or a couple of amano/cherry shrimp to help you out a little :)



    hope i helped.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?start keeping the filter on ALL day, it houses good bacteria when you turn it off some dies.



    I'd say between a 10% and a 25% would be good, if you want to know exactly how much, test the water for nitrates.

    NEVER change all of the water. the gravel shouldn't get mucky because partial water changes should be done with a gravel siphon. also don't change the filter pad/cartridge, the good bacteria lives on there and when you throw it away your tank has to recycle. instead if it has carbon in it, remove the carbon and then just rinse it off with old tank water during weekly water changes.



    really all you need is a gravel siphon (and a bucket to put the water into unless you get a fancy siphon that drains to the sink). a lot of people have a designated bucket, so after they dump out the old water they fill the bucket with new water and add it to the tank. I use old milk jugs to put water in and have them waiting in my room (so I don't have to carry the bucket up and down for each tank, I have 5).

    a test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate is a good idea too.



    lastly, you don't mention a heater so I just wanted to add that in case you didn't know they should also have a heater :)

    I am so glad (and your betta is very lucky) that you got him a bigger tank when you learned he needed more space! a lot of people go %26quot;oh well, it's just a fish he seems fine...%26quot;



    do you feed him pellets? you could watch him to make sure he ate, but if not you can tell, if he starts getting skinny he's not eating.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?I would keep the filter running all the time...

    For water changes get a gravel vac. It will siphon out the water and all the waste from the gravel.

    In a 5 gallon tank with just a Betta 25% every 2 weeks is probably sufficient, but I change 25% of my Bettas water every week and he is in a 10 gallon tank.

    Tried quick cure Aquarium salt, 20% water change seems to be getting worse help how do I get rid of fish ich?

    I know what disease they have.. Ich aka white spot disease.. So i started doing treatments. Quick cure and aquarium salt. I do a 25% water change every day before adding in new medication. I have removed the carbon from the filter. I have been using treatment for 3 days and the spots are getting worse. I am unsure of what to do next. I need help and a good answer.. I know what they are suffering from. I am following the directions of the medications. They have more spots and just sit at the top of the tank and then occasionally sit at the bottom of the tank.. Please only respond if you can really help..Tried quick cure Aquarium salt, 20% water change seems to be getting worse help how do I get rid of fish ich?What kind of fish are they? If they're tropical fish, then increase the temperature a couple of degrees over a period of time. If they're goldfish, then don't do this, as goldfish shouldn't have heaters in their tanks to begin with.



    Make sure the tank is not overstocked. Also make sure that the initial problem that made the parasite infect them is solved. High levels of ammonia and nitrites seem to do it, as well as overstocking so make sure the water quality is immaculate. The 25% water change daily will help. Just keep medicating them, I've heart QuickCure is a good product. The aquarium salt will help, keep adding it to the tank.



    Some fish survive through ick/ich, others don't. It's all a matter of the type of fish, water quality, and whether you caught it soon enough or not.Tried quick cure Aquarium salt, 20% water change seems to be getting worse help how do I get rid of fish ich?For my tropical aquarium with livebearers, i got ick a couple times. I did the same thing as you. Then I found API Super Ick Cure. Do a water change, remove carbon filtering, add SIC according to dosing directions, dose again the next day(no water change!), Day 3 do a water change. I also raised my temp to 82 Degrees F over several hours. This speeds up the ick's life cycle then making it susceptible to medication. With meds and increased temps it's best to increase aeration. Best of luck! This is worked twice for me and I'd us it again.Tried quick cure Aquarium salt, 20% water change seems to be getting worse help how do I get rid of fish ich?Let me start by saying this, all goldfish can tollerate warm tempratures if they are not overstocked and have proper airation. Fancy goldfish thrive at 75-78 degrees. I am tired of seeing bad advice on this matter. Cold water fish does not mean warm water is bad. Many show breeder friends of mine keep goldies with heaters. Why do you think people in new mexico successfully keep fish ponds??



    Quick cure is a cheap and lousy med. I would reccomend rid-ich or coppersafe. Don't bother with aquarium salt. Most strains are resistant to salt nowdays anyway.



    Sometimes, by the time fish exhibit symptoms, they are too far gone. This is why quarantine and careful observation are vital. If you do lose your fish, let your tank run empty for a month. The ich die without a host.Tried quick cure Aquarium salt, 20% water change seems to be getting worse help how do I get rid of fish ich?What type of fish are they? It would be best to not take up all of the 25% of water at once. Also using stress coat is a BIG factor. Your fish might be stressed. Ich is a horrible disease which is most likely to be found in freshwater fish but it can be treated with copper and malachite green in the right dosage. %26quot;Aquari-Sol%26quot; contains copper as an ingredient (Aquari-Sol is a water treatment). But please do not use copper ingrediants if you have any invertibrates because they can be killed. And also make sure the biological filtration in your aquarium is not destroyed when using anti-biotic, this can damage the treatment of your fish.



    Good luck :)

    How many guppys can you keep in a 16g?

    il use a heater obviously. but must i use a filter? stupid question? ofc u do.

    if i use 2 filters do i need to change water still?

    also, how many can i keep in it? its daimenstions are 61cmx38cmx31cm (imperial gallons btw)

    just males obviously. and some females. dw all the spare guppys will be in my garter snakes tummy.How many guppys can you keep in a 16g?Yes, you must use a filter or your fish will die. Yes, even if you use 2 filters you will need to do a 25 percent water change. The filter cleans the tank to a limit. It will not get all the gunk and leftover food in the gravel. The problem with just getting male guppies is that they will fight, and there will be not only stress but some deaths.How many guppys can you keep in a 16g?i woulld say 20 guppies do 3 females to every 1 male so 3-1

    Just finished a water change...?

    .. my first since getting my platys last Wednesday. I done 20%, and cleaned my gravel and filter too. All seems fine, the platys are happily nibbling everything and seem fine.. and...

    EVERY single one of them is doing the biggest poop I have ever seen....!!!



    The little buggers, I just get their tank nice and clean, and they poop in it as soon as I've finished...!!!



    One question though - if my water tests are fine by the weekend, can I have a new fish put in? I'd like one male Betta..

    I've had the platys a week, the tanks water results have been steady for 3 weeks now (my cycling process seems to have been helped along because this tank had other fish in it recently) ....so how long should I wait?Just finished a water change...?Wait until you have seen a small spike in the ammonia and it is gone. That's when you know the bio filter has adjusted to the new load. Odds are very good this will have happened by Friday if you added the fish to a cycled tank. Without testing, I would suggest it should be safe, but would encourage you to test for ammonia before buying any new fish.



    MMJust finished a water change...?Ideally you should wait a couple of weeks but a single male betta will not add much waste to the bioload so if you absolutely can't wait, or see a unique one you really like it should be fine.Just finished a water change...?I would wait a few days after getting the okay on the water results, then put the betta in. And I'm sure you know about putting the fish in and such. So I won't need to explain.



    And yes, they will poop. But the filter should help keep it clean between water changes.



    Just remember, only 1 inch of fish per gallon. Happy fish keeping. :)Just finished a water change...?i know i've seen tanks with a male betta in with other fish...but i had a pair of tetras for about a year, and decided to add a male betta...he ate the fins off my tetras within a day %26amp; they died... :(Just finished a water change...?You can't mix beta fish with other fish! I had a female beta in a tank once mixed with huge goldfish and she didn't attack them but a male will for sure. Do not mix beta fish with other fish there fighting fish.Just finished a water change...?you could probably get a Betta in with it it all depends on the tank size if its under 20gallon i dont think you would want to put a Betta in with because of the small space but if the tank is 55gallon or more then you would be fineJust finished a water change...?A single Betta shouldn't make too much difference to your chem levels. But watch for spikes as had been said.



    Watch who else you add later though as some fish are fin nippers!Just finished a water change...?you should be just fine with a beta in it, since platys don't have long fins.

    Junst keep in mind that you don't put 2 betas in your tank, cause they will kill each other, and if you have a big tank and you want to add more fish, none with long fins

    good luck
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