water changes for 178 gallon tank

[hboute]

I just finished setting up my new 178 gallon Oceanic tank and was wondering how many water changes I should do on a weekly basis. I used to keep my 6 discus in a 75 gallon and did 35-50% water changes every other day. Would once or twice a week 35% be sufficient?

[Chad Hughes]

I like to stick to 50% weekly, but it all depends on your filtration, is the tank planted, do you have bottom feeders, etc. Can you provide a few more details?

Best wishes!

[YSS]

If you do the math, you did about 100 gallons of water change per week. So, if your stocking level is the same, that's more than 50% a week for the new tank.

[hboute]

I have a bunch of plecos in there, I run a XP3 and an Eheim professionel II.

[hboute]

Not a lot of plants now, but that may change in the future, I have eco complete as substrate. I noticed a lot of it gets shifted, I figure it must be the plecos?

[Chad Hughes]

Well, the rated volume of these filters combined is 627 gph. Filters are rated without media and you have to consider head height of your setup. Assuming that you have a 5' head and filter media in your filters I'd be willing to bet that you are moving about 500 gallons of water per hour. You're only turning over your tank 3 times in that hour at best. That's average.

What kind of plecos do you have? The average pleco will grow to monstrous sizes in this tnak with all the high quality food that you'll feed. Eventually they will compete for food. They also tear up a tank and stem plants don't stand a chance. I like to use Corydoras and SAEs for cleanup. I tried snails for a while, but they do poorly in the low TDS that discus love.

Anyway, just my $0.02.

Best wishes!

[Jhhnn]

You need to *test the water* to really understand how much to change and how often. Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and even that doesn't tell the whole story. It's better to start off changing more than really necessary, particularly with a new tank, back off until you find whatever near minimum is required... Might even graph test results and water changes to gain better understanding of your system...

And, yeh, some plecos will get really, really big, tear up the tank, even become aggressive towards the other inhabitants...

[hboute]

OK, thanks for the feedback, I will monitor the water parameters closely.

[FarmBigDog]

sorry for the thread question, but which do you prefer the ehiem or the xp3?

I'm about to setup a 178 gal, and I have the Pro 3, was going to buy another but have been reading up on the xp3.

What are your thoughts?

THanks

[KDodds]

I've run both on the same tanks and prefer, believe it or not, the FilStar. It's about the same in performance, only much cheaper. Mine also have not blown their O-rings whereas this seems to be, for me, a yearly occurence with Eheims. Not a big deal, really, unless you don't happen to have an O-ring laying around, then it's a problem.

Ditto everything that's been said already. It's impossible to say how much and how often your tank will need a change. If it is safe to assume discus and plecos and no other "cleaners", and little to no plant life, I would say that the irregular structure of the Eco-Complete will trap detritus too well to be useful long term. With no roots feeding from this substrate, it's likely to become a nutrient sink, long term anyway. My initial impression would be to do one of two things, ditch the (potentially destructive) plecos and go planted, or remove the Eco-complete and go with an easier to clean substrate, like sand or pea gravel.

[hboute]

I prefer the XP3 because it is easy in maintenance, have only had the eheim for a couple of weeks, no problems so far. I guess I will have to add some plants (or try) to avoid to much waste since I cannot clean the eco. I would assume that both filters are enough for this size tank?

[Chad Hughes]

I've run both on the same tanks and prefer, believe it or not, the FilStar. It's about the same in performance, only much cheaper. Mine also have not blown their O-rings whereas this seems to be, for me, a yearly occurence with Eheims. Not a big deal, really, unless you don't happen to have an O-ring laying around, then it's a problem.

Ditto everything that's been said already. It's impossible to say how much and how often your tank will need a change. If it is safe to assume discus and plecos and no other "cleaners", and little to no plant life, I would say that the irregular structure of the Eco-Complete will trap detritus too well to be useful long term. With no roots feeding from this substrate, it's likely to become a nutrient sink, long term anyway. My initial impression would be to do one of two things, ditch the (potentially destructive) plecos and go planted, or remove the Eco-complete and go with an easier to clean substrate, like sand or pea gravel.

Well said! ;)

[Cybervlad]

I have had a 175 oceanic setup with Eheims 2 and Pro 3 for about 14 months now. I have 11 adult discus in it fed twice a day.

Its planted with a big clean up crew (50 amanos, 3 corys, pleco, 5 gobys) and they keep the tank pretty clean.

I would also advise you to go with sand vs traditional substrate. I have 3M colorquartz and it doesnt capture detrium as much as amazonia did on my previous smaller setup. You can always feed the roots of the plants if needed.

I experimented with different water change intervals anywhere from 50% 3 times a week to 30% once a week. I am now sticking to 35% twice a week, seems to keep the fish pretty happy. I am using tap water with Seachem Prime added to it.

Hope that helps.

[hboute]

I will try the bi-weekly 35% change, what kind of food do you feed them?

[nesser]

Lets see some pics of these tanks!sounds good

[Cybervlad]

I will try the bi-weekly 35% change, what kind of food do you feed them?

50% beef heart, rest is a mix of blood worms, glass worms, pellets.

[hboute]

I will post some pictures later on this morning...

[hboute]

This morning found a pair with eggs on the intake tube, had not done this in a while, I guess they're happy in the new tank?

[hboute]

Here are some pictures of the new tank:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/hboute/IMG_1555.jpg
http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/hboute/IMG_1558.jpg
http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/hboute/IMG_1559.jpg

[Cybervlad]

Here's mine

[Chad Hughes]

Beautiful tanks guys! Great work there!

[hboute]

Yesterday I found that one of the glass tops was broken. I have a 48 inch Coralife sitting right on top of the glass. Could the heat or weight of the light have caused this? I am currently using two wood pieces to support it. Any suggestions?

[hboute]

Cybervlad, like the big swords, where do you find these?

[Cybervlad]

Cybervlad, like the big swords, where do you find these?

Those are just regular amazon swords, but they grew pretty big with time. I fertilize their roots once a month

[hboute]

what kind of light do you use?

[Cybervlad]

what kind of light do you use?

4 AH supply 96w kits

http://www.ahsupply.com/96watt.htm