How much water do the members take out of their tank? Water changes, and vaccuming?

[Knight~Ryder]

Originally Posted by emc7

Do you have a nitrate test? A good way to tell how frequently you need to change water is to watch the nitrate level. Take it down to 10 ppm and when it gets to 40 ppm change water again. A month or so of watching should give you an idea how frequently you need to do it.

I don't think I was ever givin a Nitrate test. I will check when I get home. I think the 3 that I got were Nitrite, PH, Ammonia. Now I need to double check!

Thanks!

[COM]

You should never change your BioWheel. Every so often (maybe once a year) you can rinse it with room temp dechlorinated water.

In terms of the cartridge, you probably could do as emc suggests and rinse it. I would still replace it with a new one at least every 2 to 3 months.

In terms of water changes, I strive to do one every week to 10 days but I really only get to it every 2 to 3 weeks. I do replace evaporation loss at least once a week. This has always worked for me but as stated multiple times it all depends on the exact parameters of your tank.

[Knight~Ryder]

I have been doing monthly water changes.
I don't think I have a Nitrate test, so I wll go pick one up and see what the results are.

Does the Nitrate go up and up as each day passes until it reaches 40 Emc?
Am I getting that right?

[emc7]

Yes nitrate generally goes up and up. Its the end product of the nitrogen cycle so any food you put in the tank eventually becomes nitrate. Live plants can take some of the nitrate but rarely do they take all of it. Its less toxic than ammonia and nitrite, but you do want to keep it down. Changing water when you nitrate gets high will also replace trace elements in the water the that the fish and plants use up. Nitrate can kill fish by itself, but often you see a drop in pH or an excessive amount of algae before the fish start dropping.

For your size tank 4 gallons in a bucket is probably a convient water change size. It will take out about 10% of your nitrate. So if you have 30 ppm, you would have 27 ppm after the water change. If it goes back to 30 ppm in a week, then weekly is the right amount of time. If you change 50% of the water at a time, you can go longer between changes. But pick a target number in the "safe" range and aim to keep it steady.

Once you establish the routine, you can go without testing unless something changes (more fish, etc.) Its still a good idea to test nitrates once a month or so. Also, test for nitrates in your tap water, some places have them.

[JustOneMore20]

You have a good fish load in your tank IMO, so I would change water weekly. emc7 is right, you can judge when its time for water changes by your nitrates. I would try to keep them under 30ppm myself, but 40ppm is ok as well. It can get well over that for most fish, before they are affected too bad, but its best to keep them below 40ppm.

For your tank, I would do a 20% water change weekly, especially since you feed frequently.

Everyone has a different view though, as you can see. Some are more lenient and others are a little more anal about the amount they change and how often.

[Knight~Ryder]

Originally Posted by JustOneMore20

Everyone has a different view though, as you can see. Some are more lenient and others are a little more anal about the amount they change and how often.

I can sure see that with all the different opinions I have been seeing here.

I went to PJ's Pets here in West Edmonton Mall (worlds largest mall) and they didn't have a Nitrate test. They had all the other ones including iron and many more. WOW! I didn't know there was that many different tests you can do.

Is the Nitrate test a little more harder to find then the rest?

[Obsidian]

Not usually, so it is odd that you are having a difficult time. It is one of the staple tests. I would suggest just getting a kit, but you already have the other tests that would be included in there.