# Are Frequent Water Changes Harmful ?



## nagukush (Mar 13, 2008)

Hi Friends !

I love doing a 50% water change for my fishes and I wish I could do it more frequently. Just wanted to know if frequent water changes are harmful ?

I mean, is a 50% weekly water change better or a small water change everyday is better ?

Kindly guide me...
Thanks and Regards
Kush


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## ghengis (Jun 11, 2008)

I usually do about 20% every week... I have no idea if that is good or bad, though. Some folks might do 50% per fortnight, others that keep non filtered tanks (betta's, killies etc) or maybe even discus tanks, might do 50% twice or thrice a week. 

I think it just comes down to making sure you are regular and consistent, to avoid any stress to your fish...


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## apistaeasy (Jul 16, 2004)

With fresh water 50% WC weekly is usually the frequency and amount of choice.

Some people do 50% WC daily, but it's usually b/c they're trying to breed Discus, which require very clean water (read, low nitrates)

50% also seems to be the happy amount where your tank is nice and clean, but keeps enough of the good bacteria so your tank doesn't suffer in the end.

I've also read where many planted tank people will do smaller WC's daily, but I personally don't see the benefit. 30-40% daily is what I've heard.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

TFH had an article about this, I think in the spring. Basically this has been an issue of choice for decades. It seems there is one more opinion than there are people discussing the issue. The basic concensus was that 40%-50% weekly to biweekly water changes was good. The article did not discuss high tech EI dosing tanks though. I think you'd have to do weekly at least since we are dumping chemicals in the tanks.

There are commercial enterprises that also do daily water changes. I think it depends on how heavily stocked you tank is and with what type of fish. Like Apistaeasy said Discus have their own requirements.

The old adage was "dilute the pollute".


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## nfrank (Jan 29, 2005)

Frequent water changes are generally good. but can be a problem if the chemistry and quality of your incoming water is poor. 
--Neil


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## Bk828 (Mar 25, 2008)

If you would be doing small daily WC that would just add on more work to calculating how much ferts you have to add after the wc. Unless you have some sensitive fish or heavy stock, i would just stick with one large weekly wc.


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## bgzbgz (Jul 6, 2007)

If you think about it you would be taking out more waste with one large water change than if you were to do a bunch of small ones.


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## customdrumfinishes (Apr 1, 2008)

water changes are fine from 20-50% a week. a gravel vac is something you wouldnt want to do weekly.


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

Because I have discus I do a 50% water change weekly. If I have to miss a week I notice that the fish are not as active and do a lot more hiding. The plants seem to tolerate this ok. At my store we tell customers to do 20-30% once a week. When ever there is water quality issues and the customer is honest we will find that they are not doing the water changes. An other reason to do regular water changes is that a lot of fish will secrete a hormone that keeps everone but the largest fish from growing. There is one gal who has her tanks on a schedule that changes water daily. I find that she has more problems with this system than I do with a once a week schedule.


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## Alex123 (Jul 3, 2008)

Water change depends on the water quality. don't change water just because ppl say do this often or that often with this much or that much. In general don't do major water change as it may cause stress and unbalance the ecosystem. Rather do 10-25%. If test kit says ammonia level is high or there seems to be an increase in algae growth, then it's a sign that water may be polluted with too much nutrients. Then do a water change. Also, sometimes water from tap will have too much unwanted nutrients such as phosphate which will cause algae bloom so too frequent change will just aid algae growth. In general for non planted tank, ppl say once every 2 weeks for moderately loaded tank. More often with higher load. For planted aquarium you can do it once a month or longer. I have el-natural tank with lots of plant and no power filter. I often don't change water for a couple months. I try to be in tuned with my aquarium and decide based on the look, the algae pattern, the test kits, fish behavior and smell of the water.


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## goldfishes (Nov 26, 2008)

nfrank said:


> Frequent water changes are generally good. but can be a problem if the chemistry and quality of your incoming water is poor.
> --Neil


I agree with Neil. My water is pretty lousy, so too frequent water changes usually harms my fish, especially the sensitive ones like Otos. However, if you are having no problems with your frequent changes, I would keep it up if you want. I'm too lazy to change that much at a time.


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## colinsk (Dec 29, 2008)

Alex123 said:


> I try to be in tuned with my aquarium and decide based on the look, the algae pattern, the test kits, fish behavior and smell of the water.


I am new here and I was wondering if you could describe the different smells you use to diagnose your aquarium?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

colinsk said:


> I am new here and I was wondering if you could describe the different smells you use to diagnose your aquarium?


Hehe, if there is an earthy-fish-tank smell then its time for a water change


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

Assuming your incoming water/pipes are fine and regulated by some body that cares about human consumable water, and you're not trying to grow say Tonina or L. "Pantanal" or something, I think a point many miss is that tap is about as stable a water source as one can find. Large and frequent water changes with such a known source _increases_ stability vs maintaining water in a relatively small volume which (even undosed) is only increasing in organic matter.


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## TNguyen (Mar 20, 2005)

I don't think this guy is in the right forum. Seems like this is not for a planted tank. Several post already on this.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=58408

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=58347


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