Lets Talk water changes :p

[Chicago Discus]

Hello People,
I just wanted to share my water change routine and hear what you guys do.

Fry after separating from parents under 2.5"> I change 90 percent in the morning and 50 percent in the afternoon and all leftover food and crap at the end of the day about 10 percent all with aged aerated water.
Grow out tanks over 2.5"> I change 75 to 80 percent daily and all leftover food and crap at the end of the day with aged aerated water.
Adults and sub adults over 4"> I change 50 to 75 percent daily with aged aerated water.
Breeders without fry> I change 50 to 75 percent daily with aged aerated water.
Breeders with fry>80 percent daily and all leftover food and crap at the end of the day with aged aerated water.

Ok guys that my routine I'm just curious to see what you guys do.........:)...Josie

[Cosgrovb]

What is your water bill? What do you expect it to be by July?

[maxtcee]

I swear I never heard of daily water changes nor 50%+ water changes till I joined this forum

[Chicago Discus]

What is your water bill? What do you expect it to be by July?

Its a good amount between the water changes and the sprinkler system ;)

[Trier20]

i try to do 50-60% daily in all my tanks...everyonce in a while i might miss a day. I for sure get my breeding tank but if my lare tank misses a day i don't fret too much. i don't have my grow out tanks up yet but that will make 1-90 2-55 1-40 1-30 1-29 2-20 well my math now tells me i'm going to have to invest in a lager aging system! lol

[Chicago Discus]

I swear I never heard of daily water changes nor 50%+ water changes till I joined this forum

sorry I'm kinda of a water change freak..........most I don't think are as bad as me .............................. Josie

[Cosgrovb]

What will the total gallons at your place be when the fish room is complete?

[Dlprice45]

Yah, me too. I did change often when I had fry and trying to grow them out but not twice a day, if the water tests out ok, wouldnt it be ok with how Ive been doing it then which was 1/3 of the water twice week in a 90 gallon tank? Although I may not have been changing it enough with the fry, will keep that in mind if I have more in the future. Interesting though. Im always willing to learn new things though

[Orange Crush]

Yah, me too. I did change often when I had fry and trying to grow them out but not twice a day, if the water tests out ok, wouldnt it be ok with how Ive been doing it then which was 1/3 of the water twice week in a 90 gallon tank? Although I may not have been changing it enough with the fry, will keep that in mind if I have more in the future. Interesting though. Im always willing to learn new things though
Water quality is more than just nitrAtes, nitrItes, TDS and ammonia. There is stuff in the water that cannot be tested for that should be removed on a daily basis for discus to be healthy.
My wc routine is changing the water everyday, at least 50% but almost always more like 75-90%.

[bornlooser]

Hi Josie,
Mine is similar to yours....was wondering if Sponge filters are needed at all, at this rate of Water Changes...cause they are a pain to maintain..with tiny particles of beef heart getting stuck in them all the time..and aiding the proliferation of bacteria..causing more harm than good.

[cjr8420]

check this out its a sponser here that does this twice a day lol
http://youtu.be/YWMnPZKJWaE

[Orange Crush]

check this out its a sponser here that does this twice a day lol
http://youtu.be/YWMnPZKJWaE
That is awesome. I wish I could set up my tanks like that but my neighbors would be pissed since my condo is on the top floor! lol. ;)

[Eddie]

Depends, generally 90% twice a day with fry. Juvies, 100% once a day dependent upon stocking levels. Adults, I usually maintain 100% every day or every other day.

[Chicago Discus]

Depends, generally 90% twice a day with fry. Juvies, 100% once a day dependent upon stocking levels. Adults, I usually maintain 100% every day or every other day.

A man after my own heart ....LOL....Josie

[Chicago Discus]

What will the total gallons at your place be when the fish room is complete?

I have not added it up yet I'm scared......LOL.....Josie

[Cosgrovb]

Hans claims to do 1/3 a day. No issues with growth from my perspective.

[Chicago Discus]

Hans claims to do 1/3 a day. No issues with growth from my perspective.

IMO when you have huge central systems you change less water but when your working tank by tank its on its own more water changes.....Josie

[joanstone]

I'd be interested to have people respond with water change schedule and tank size(s). I'm curious as to how much people are changing out with large systems, by that I mean 200+ gallons. That being said, I do juvies/QTs 2-3X daily. Close to 100% 2X and 30-50% 1X, I might miss the third one on some days. My display tank (220 w/55 gallon sump) every third day usually about 80 gallons.

[Larry Bugg]

check this out its a sponser here that does this twice a day lol
http://youtu.be/YWMnPZKJWaE

I never get tired of watching that video.

My routine is very similar to Josie's. Twice a day on fry up to 2 1/2" (60% morning, 90% evening), Once a day on juvies up to 4 1/2" to 5" @75%, Sub-adults and adults get every 3rd day at 50%. Like Eddie said this varies with stocking levels. Twice a day on fry can be 60+ fry in a 20 gallon so you can see where this would vary from someone not breeding and keeping six 2" in a 20.

[Cosgrovb]

Totally agree. Therefore you are going to install two systems? A breeder and grow-out system? Cut down on water costs? I am intrigued as to your summer project!

[Dlprice45]

Well maybe I should be increasing it, I just get worried about messing up a already good thing. Will keep an eye on it though and try to go to qd. I will definitely increase changes if I ever have fry again.

[Chicago Discus]

Totally agree. Therefore you are going to install two systems? A breeder and grow-out system? Cut down on water costs? I am intrigued as to your summer project!

I will make you and your brother part of the whole project we will make a chicago thing LOL....LOL....Josie

[Second Hand Pat]

Josie, read in the auction thread you are WCing the entire house. lol. Sorry, sucks when you spring a leak like that.

[Chicago Discus]

Josie, read in the auction thread you are WCing the entire house. lol. Sorry, sucks when you spring a leak like that.


OMG Pat I really thought I was going to lose my mind today......Josie

[Second Hand Pat]

OMG Pat I really thought I was going to lose my mind today......Josie

I bet, we all have hell days. Just hope they do not happen to often.

[Chicago Discus]

I bet, we all have hell days. Just hope they do not happen to often.

On top of all that I have to go work 9 hours LOL.......Josie

[Second Hand Pat]

On top of all that I have to go work 9 hours LOL.......Josie

:( What about your wet house?

[Chicago Discus]

:( What about your wet house?

LOL.....My Aunt and My sister thats their problem now.....LOL

[Bilbo]

Snoop... when you guys say aged water are you just meaning conditioned water? I condition my well water first because of the sulphur in it. I also either use bleach or peroxide 30% to sterilize it. I let it bubble for a day then use activated carbon to take out any bleach or peroxied left over. This process takes me about 3 days total. So when you say aged water are you just meaning conditioned? Also do you feel the need to areate your water after it has been conditioned or aged? If so then why? Just curious, Thanks!

[Chicago Discus]

Snoop... when you guys say aged water are you just meaning conditioned water? I condition my well water first because of the sulphur in it. I also either use bleach or peroxide 30% to sterilize it. I let it bubble for a day then use activated carbon to take out any bleach or peroxied left over. This process takes me about 3 days total. So when you say aged water are you just meaning conditioned? Also do you feel the need to areate your water after it has been conditioned or aged? If so then why? Just curious, Thanks!

Never worked with well water so Im not really the person to ask maybe someone that has well water can chime in. But when I say aged Tap I mean city Tap water that has been aerated with air stones and a heater and prime for about 24 hours. then I do my water changes........Josie

[Bilbo]

Never worked with well water so Im not really the person to ask maybe someone that has well water can chime in. But when I say aged Tap I mean city Tap water that has been aerated with air stones and a heater and prime for about 24 hours. then I do my water changes........Josie Im cool with my well water method. It works well with my system. I was just wondering why some people used the term aged instead of conditioned. And why you placed so much emphasis on areating but i understand now you mean areating to condition your water which likely has chlorine or some other chemical in it.

[brianyam]

Disclaimer: I am not telling anyone what to do, just telling what I do per this thread topic and why I do it. :)

I do about 50% twice a week. I don't feed stuff like BH though. If I did, I would do every day. Frankly, until I joined SD, I never heard people doing water changes so much every day. Guys that have large ranks like 200-300-500G for monster fish like tigirius catfish, rays, plecos, aros, predators don't do that. It is simply not practical to do 350-300G of water changing every day AND aging it. Your holding tanks would take up a small room. The bioload and food is much heavier with pred large fish, but you never hear guys doing those fish doing 90-100% WC daily. I again think it just started with the whole BH thing.

I think aging was needed when we didn't have stuff like Prime. Frankly, guys like my dad didn't even know stuff like Prime was out there. He aged to get out the chlorine. But now that I showed him Prime (he was skeptical at first), he doesn't bother with "aging" as well. Aging works if your water has chlorine, it takes maybe a day or so to gas out. But now allot of places use Choloromine, which is much stronger and takes 1-2 weeks to get out of the water. You should call your city to ask. I did. I use to hold water for 1-2 days before I used Prime so I was a cheap *******, but when I called the city they told me they use chloromine, so no point. I am not going to hold water for 2 weeks...I would need allot of water...and it is just not safe to have big tubs of water around small kids. Just bought Prime and done.

The reason being as cities have gotten more bigger and spread out, it takes longer for water to get to where they need to go, so they use it to ensure the water is 100% clean.

Other than that, I am not sure what is the point of aging (unless your playing with PH) if your using Prime. Prime works pretty much instantly. I put the Prime in the tank and put the tap water straight in.

My tank is about 200 something G. Changing 100-150G a day would be just too much. I don't see the benefits of doing that even if it did get me some faster growth. It takes about 30min to do a water change on this 200G which is considered not that big. If I did that every day, that would be like 3 hours a week just watching water go in and out of my tank, and I don't see my nitrates high at all doing WC twice a week. I could do once a week frankly.

[BlackComet94]

I swear I never heard of daily water changes nor 50%+ water changes till I joined this forum
i am with u

[Chicago Discus]

Im cool with my well water method. It works well with my system. I was just wondering why some people used the term aged instead of conditioned. And why you placed so much emphasis on areating but i understand now you mean areating to condition your water which likely has chlorine or some other chemical in it.

you hit it right on the head its the chlorine and co2 in the water.........Josie

[jnguye26]

wow, all this information is great!! I'm definitely going to try aging the water.

[xschug3]

Water quality is more than just nitrAtes, nitrItes, TDS and ammonia. There is stuff in the water that cannot be tested for that should be removed on a daily basis for discus to be healthy.
My wc routine is changing the water everyday, at least 50% but almost always more like 75-90%.

Can you please explain this more? If there is more in the water than just nitrates, nitrites, tds, and ammonia then why can't it be tested? What are they?

[Wolfspyryt]

Can you please explain this more? If there is more in the water than just nitrates, nitrites, tds, and ammonia then why can't it be tested? What are they?
Great question... Literally, anything that is in the air around your tanks (aging tanks also) can be captured in your water. If you smoke, so do your fish. If you have a cat with a litter box close to your aquarium you could create ammonia and other fecal contamination. Hair spray, air-fresheners, even the food you cook can end up in your water. The endless list of solids, bacteria, gases, and other contaminants is too much to list. If you have a Chemistry Degree, Lots of expensive test equipment then you CAN test for MANY biologicals and non-biologicals.
This is why some of us change water so often and so carefully for Discus and other creatures.
Discus originate in water that is naturally filtered to incredible quality. They are very susceptible to water quality as well as water variation such as temp, ph etc. I lack the degree so I change lotsa water.

[Wolfspyryt]

My experience with chloromines as used by cities is one of cost. Chloromine is chlorine and ammonia bound together, causing the chlorine to last longer, not necessarily work better. I have lived in 3 large cities that have used chloromine and each was due to the cheaper cost over chlorine. The city I reside in uses chlorine and the water averages a ph around 9.0.
The reason I age my RO water is to increase the dissolved oxygen content and to allow for even re-constitution. I age my RO water (reconstituted with RO Right and Salt) for 24-48 hours before adding to any of my tanks.
The larger the tank, the more stable, the smaller the tank, the more fragile, therefore I base my water changes on the size of the tank or eco-system. I have watched many times how non-aged RO water causes discus and other fish to breathe rapidly for an hour or two. I do not add anything to my RO water other than RO Right and salt. NOTHING that comes in a bottle, bag or box goes into my tanks unless it is the last remaining option.
My 150 gallon ... 50% every other day ....... Pair off tank
My 72 gallon .... 50% everyday ......... Pair off tank
29 gallon breeder tank ... 50% everyday
10 gallon hatch tanks ... 50% twice per day
30 & 40 gallon grow-out tanks ... 50% everyday
There are many ways to achieve success, mine works for me, and yours clearly works well for you.

[scrappinjaime]

What process and equipment do you use to do a water change so quickly. I have a 125 g and a 55 g so I'm always interested in every impress technique. Thank you.

[Wolfspyryt]

In my fish room I have installed PVC drain pipes to empty all of my tanks.
I have a 150 gallon aging tank and a 150 RO collection tank.
I utilize 2 Magnum 350's to move the water. One will pump old water and the other ONLY pumps new water.
My RO units are made by Coralife and one that I purchased the various stages of filters and an RO membrane.
I use Kent RO Right to reconstitute the water to the desired hardness.
Additionally, I purchased a larger submersible pump to pump water to my upstairs show-tanks.
Breeder, hatching and grow-out tanks are downstairs with the RO/Aging tanks.

[brady]

I have 6 juvies in 1- 75 Gal. w/2 hydro 5"s and a hob plumbed into a hydro 5 on the opposite end of the tank, and 8 in a 75 w/ same setup.Temp 84 , well water without any Nitrites, nitrates or ammonia.All I do is mix it in a brute to the right temp and in it goes.Never any problems.
My question is, given the above conditions, is 75 % per/day maybe a little overboard?
Thank you
Jay

[eaglesfan3000]

I do 50% daily WC's in all my tanks. I have a 120, 29, 20, and a 10. Once a week I do a big 80% WC in the 120. I age my water in three 44 gallon Brute trash cans. I feed the hell out of them so there is a lot of poo I need to remove as well as cleaning my pre-filter.

My wife thinks I'm crazy and wants me to cut back, just can't risk it I spent way too much time and money. We got our last quarterly water bill and they said we used 40,000 gallons their friggin nuts. I problably use 200 gallons a day between water changes and showers. My neighbor came over the other day and asked me what my water bill was and he told me they charged him for 60,000 gallons. Somethings fishy here in Westminster.