Water Changes vs. Continual Water "Change"

[PaulPerger]

I am designing and building a 55 Gallon in wall / in cabinet tank. I have a drip irrigation system in my garden and the thought has occurred to me that this might be useful in my fish tank as well.

If I were to set up a constant drip that added 10 Gallons of RO Water per day (one drip at a time), and I set up my sump with an overflow to simply drain excess water, I would in essence be doing an 18% water change every day.

So, my questions are these:

- Is there an advantage to removing 40-50% of the water once per week all at once vs a constant supply of "new" water?
- Would 18% every day be better than 50% once a week?
- What concerns should I address in this proposed system?

[John_Nicholson]

Do some searches. You will find that this has been suggested/tried numerous times and for the most part the results are disappointing. First a drip system gets very inefficient with the largest changes that discus require. Second it is not removing the solids like a siphon does, Third the 18% change that you are suggesting is not enough to really do a good job unless you are starting with adults.

-john

[Phillydubs]

Neither of your water chanhe options will work wih discus... If you do a drip or a weekly change you will not be happy with the results. Change a big amount like 75 and up daily to every other for success if not try other fish these are simply not for you.