I have a 16 gallon tank with a filter. The fish I have are an eel, two sharks, a silver dollar fish, and a tiger fish. I've been changing 50% of the water every week, but the water is still merky. Is it safe to change more of the water more often?How often can i change the water in my fish tank?The first thing you need to do is to test your water. Liquid test kits are more accurate than strips. Your readings should be ammonia:0, nitrites:0, nitrates:less than 20 ppm. If you show ammonia in your tank (which you probably will) then your tank is most likely not fully cycled. The best thing to do in your situation would be to get a product called Prime. You will need to do 30-50 % water changes DAILY adding Prime to the new water you put in. You will need to continue to do this until your tank cycles - this can take anywhere from a week or so all the way to a couple of months. You have more fish than the size tank you have can handle. You will probably have a hard time getting your tank to fully cycle. That many fish will produce a lot of ammonia (fish poop), The good bacteria will grow in the filter media and in the gravel bed. Some will also grow on any plants or decor you have in the tank. You may need to upgrade to a larger tank - especially for your two sharks. Depending on what type they are, they can get pretty big. There are also a couple of different fish that are referred to as silver dollar fish. They too can grow large. For instance, the silver dollar should have a minimum of 20 gallons, a bala shark or a rainbow shark both need a minimum of 55 gallons, an iridescent shark needs a minimum of 300 gallons, while the red tailed shark only needs a minimum of 10 gallons. As for the tiger fish, there are different fish that are referred to as tiger fish, most of which can get very large.
Here is a link to information about cycling your tank:
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.ht
and here is a link to information about different commonly kept freshwater fish - you can look up your fish and see what the minimum tank size is for each type. That way you will know what size tank would be good to keep all of your fish happy and healthy (and not have to worry about murky water all the time):
http://www.fishlore.com/freshwaterfish.hHow often can i change the water in my fish tank?I'm afraid all the fish you mention will soon grow too big for a 15-gallon tank, except maybe the %26quot;tiger fish%26quot; (there are numerous fishes called %26quot;tiger%26quot; something or other, so I don't know which one you mean).
Anyhow, with all fish tanks, the more water changes, the better. Fish in most rivers or lakes will have a 100% water change every few seconds, due to the natural movement of the water. 50% two or three times a day would be ideal. You'll have to decide how many water changes you have time to do.How often can i change the water in my fish tank?Your changing to much water in one go you should be looking to be changing 25pct per week, if you need to change more than it would be better to change 10pct per day, by doing these big water changes you're depleting the beneficial bacteria in the water which is why you are getting murky conditions all the time.
You tank is also over stocked and depending on the actual fish you have heading for problems.
Sharks are Territorial and you shouldn't keep two of these in confined areas, I've tried Red Tailed and Ruby in an 8ft tank and the RTB still killed the Ruby eventually, an eel again what sort most of these can attain fairly significant sizes, Silver Dollars most grow around the 6%26quot; mark and should be kept in shoals, Tiger fish, now I'll assume this is not the Tiger fish from India that top out around the 4%26quot; mark and have teeth that Dracula would be proud of, but is a Tiger Barb which again should be kept in shoals of around 8 or more fish to stop them picking on other fish.How often can i change the water in my fish tank?Yes you can change the water as often as you like. 50% per day if you feel keen enough. It WILL NOT affect the tanks cycle as most of the nitrogen cycle bacteria are stuck to the solid surfaces in the tank and filter. It's the filter that cycles, not the water.
BUT that should not be necessary, and probably wont fix your problem.
There are two main reasons for cloudy water. If it's green, then the tank is getting too much light and free floating alage is growing. Cut down the amount of light.
OR you have too many fish for the tank and filter. Unless the fish you have are all just babies, thats also likely. All freshwater Eels really need a 50gal+ tank, if you have Bala sharks, think 90gal, and Silver dollars, maybe 30gal. That may not be the problem right now, but it will be in the future.
Hope that helps
IanHow often can i change the water in my fish tank?first of all, your tank is to small for the amount the amount of fish you have in your aquarium. if you change your water too much the aquarium will not develop a biological filter. that is what is going to kill the harmful amonia and nitrites in the water. the best thing, for the size of your aquarium, is to either get rid of some fish or to buy another filter.How often can i change the water in my fish tank?Every month you should take out 1/4 of the water and replace it.
on the 1/2 year do a 1/3 amount.How often can i change the water in my fish tank?Your tank is over stocked. You could try changing more than that per week, but I would break it up into two 30-40% changes instead of one big one. Risky though
