Water Change Practice

[magnoliamaybe]

This may seem odd, but in preparing for Discus in the future, I want to make sure I can keep up with the water change regimen.
I have multiple tanks with Angels, guppies, bettas, etc. I started changing water on all these tanks daily. I have seen no adverse affects to my fish. I posted on another site about my "discus bootcamp" and I got nothing but negative feedback about what I was doing. It seems to me that good fresh water would be good for all fish. Am I harming my other fish by giving them 50% water changes daily? Is that recommended for discus fish only? Thanks in advance for the feedback.

[rickztahone]

Harming? No. However, keep in mind that one of the reasons we do such large and frequent water changes is because we feed a lot and we feed messy foods. This isn't necessarily the case with a large majority of other fish. Dither fish tanks or simply smaller fish than discus would require less feedings which in turn would need less amount of WC's and smaller amounts. Again, this isn't hurting them, but it probably isn't necessary.

[magnoliamaybe]

Thanks, I agree it's not necessary. Maybe I am over thinking or being over cautious, but I want to be in the habit and disciplined on water changes before I get discus. Only 21 days to make a habit, right? Lol

[rickztahone]

Thanks, I agree it's not necessary. Maybe I am over thinking or being over cautious, but I want to be in the habit and disciplined on water changes before I get discus. Only 21 days to make a habit, right? Lol

seems like you are on the right track. The most important part of keeping your habit of water changes is very easy. Make WC's as easy as possible! Get pumps, hoses, route pvc to drain water and make the whole process take less than 20 minutes each day and you will enjoy the hobby much more than if it takes you 1hr+ daily for one tank. Believe me.

Since you are new to the forum, I will share with you my water change video :)

https://youtu.be/l8CBrK6xbak

Don't forget, you can watch the video 2x speed to make it go even faster!

[Ryan]

All South American cichlids, including angels, grow faster and stay healthier with more frequent water changes. People always want to know how I get my cichlids so large and that's the only secret. While it's not necessary for all tropicals, it's certainly not going to hurt them as long as the parameters are similar and you use dechlorinator where needed. Consider how much fresh water flows through the Amazon, millions of gallons per minute, and how pure that water is compared to our aquariums, and it still amazes me that people could argue against water changes.