The Difference between Water Changes and Water Quality

[jeep]

I over feed my fish! Sorry, but when they all rush to the front of the tank begging, I can't help it. Maybe this is why my discus are so chubby, lol... But this post is about overall water quality and how it relates to this thread about Bio-load http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...-Are-Important

I'm one of those who recommends regular large water changes. Even though I plan to have a large planted tank as soon as some remodeling projects are finished, I also recommend BB for younger discus. I always have and I always will, and no one else's non-water change, non-BB success stories will ever change my mind! I do at least 50% every day to 2 days depending on feeding and tank population, as well as scrubbing the tank every week or so and rinsing the filters at lest once per month. This would make you think my tanks are crystal clear and clean, right?

I'm having an issue that's mainly in one tank only. It's a new kit tank that came with heater, a filter and the cheapest laughable hood/light combo. The built in LED's are very bright white and I've been fighting and scrubbing off some nasty thick algae literally every day. I finally blocked off about 50% of the light and algae has reduced greatly. In the mean time, I have an explosion of these little critters all through the water, all over the glass and probably living/multiplying in the filters, and so far no amount of water changes, feeding reduction or filter cleanings will get rid of them. As far as the relation to reduced water changes, bulky substrate, etc..., Could you imagine if these were flukes, protozoa, bacteria or any other bug that has the ability to hide and multiply, and how difficult it would be to treat such critters?

These are Copepods. They're tiny little critters that skate and bounce along the glass and they live, breed and feed on leftover food that gets sucked into filters. I'm not sure of their relationship to light because I treat all tanks the same and this is the only one with the problem, but they seem to collect on the bottom in large masses during the night and they're all alive!!! I've been told they are harmless, and can actually be a good food for fry, but none the less, a population this large is an indication of a system that is out of balance.

By many standards, I do overkill on my tanks. I think it shows how Nitrates are not the only indicator of a healthy tank, and how bio-load and biomass play a huge role the discus hobby...
copepods1.jpg
copepods2.jpg

[jamesx]

Totally agree. I also tend to overfeed my discus and I've been fighting a super long battle with detritus worm outbreak. They just multiply so quickly that I have to clean my filter every a few days, yet they are still everywhere.

[danotaylor]

Great post Brian.