# Too many water changes?



## fattyratrat (Jun 19, 2007)

If you have a very established tank; far beyond cycling; would little water changes every day be too much? I know that big water changes often would get rid of too much beneficial bacteria, but would doing such tiny changes every day cause anything negative?

In my case im talking about taking out 5 gallons of a 55g tank (10%) every day or 10 g out of my 120g tank. I dont see any problems with it.. and i have been doing it for quite a while now and not encountering any problems, but can anyone think of anything negative besides my water bill?

-thanks


----------



## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

Fluctuations in the water conditions everyday will surely stress out inhabitants. Especially if you dose ferts into the water column everytime after water changes. well, if you do not dose everytime after WC, then i dont see the problem. the changes in water conditions are too little to be even monitored by a test kit? and the fauna will prob get use to the WC routine.

i dont see any other problems, although you can do with MUCH less WC. i dont do WC for my tanks months at a time, i might get whacked for saying this but i dont believe in weekly water changes.


----------



## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

fattyratrat said:


> ... I know that big water changes often would get rid of too much beneficial bacteria
> ...


Not quite. While some bacteria are in the water column, the vast majority of the bacteria in the tank are attached to something: plants, substrate, biomedia, rocks, walls, etc.

Water changes will not affect the bacteria load of the tank...

And to answer your question, I can't see a 10% daily water change doing any harm.


----------



## tkos (Oct 30, 2006)

No problems at all. A 10% water change will do little to change the overall water conditions and won't hurt your fish at all. In fact, the fresher the water the happier the fish. 

And as was mentioned, major water changes do nothing to hurt bacteria. I have done as much as 70% changes with no affect on cycling. Bacteria likes to cling, not float.


----------



## NatalieT (Mar 20, 2007)

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." You've been doing those changes for a while with no harm, so continue if you want!

Some people change some water every 6 months or so; some people change 50% of the water (or more) every week, or even 2-3 times each week. (People raising Discus, or some kinds of fry--baby fish--are most prone to large, frequent water changes.) Obviously, many methods work.


----------



## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Unless you have VERY picky fish, like Stepheus was alluding too, then daily water changes aren't a problem at all! Most fish love it, as long as it doesn't exceed the "10% rule," but do be careful of over-fertilizing!! Keep your fert schedule as it is, and don't compensate for any water that has been changed. A build up of ferts in the tank WILL pose a risk to the fish after a while, so don't do daily dosing! And as other members here have already stated, almost all of your beneficial bacteria are not in the water column, so no worries about accidently effecting them, UNLESS you over-vacuum the substrate or wash your filters too often.


----------



## klintman (Mar 22, 2007)

i concur, the most gentile way to water change is frequent small ones(if you are that dedicated). a large and infrequent water change will most likely change the chemistry rapidly. the temperature spike or drop a large water change can bring is also an issue. a 5-10% water change can not really swing ph or temp dramatically unless you are wonton careless(50deg water to a 79deg tank or adding ferts or such to the change water). 
the only tank that i will sometimes do a large water change (30% or so) is in my molly community. the mollies seem to like me dumping in a rush of water as they all bolt to the flow and dance up the current. after this they search the substrate and the glass toward the bottom to see if this exposed any daitom or algae to nibble. i do however make sure the change water is no more then a 1/2 of a degree from the standing tank temp. the salt mix ratio is reduced too if evaporation has gotten a bit ahead of me. love me mollies...


----------

