water changing hellllllp

[mgarrido]

YOUR A FAIL.... I dont do alot of water change (once every 2-3 weeks) and i feed my fish like no other (2-4 table spoons of food for my trophs tank) and still keep my nitrates low...

Purigen?

[sunkenmetal]

If you clean your filter DO NOT CLEAN OR REMOVE YOUR BIO MEDIA.

you can clean filter sponges and replace filter floss if you have it in your filters. Also if you have activated carbon take it out and replace it or get some purigen.

Where is your water coming from city or well water?

[moganman]

Kiko, 2-4 tablespoons is a moderate amount of food but im sure this guy's filtration isn't as efficient as yours. Each case is different. Don't try to be like your idol, EK. He's smarter than you. For this guy to say he doesn't change the water as often as he should probably means he doesn't pay close attention to feeding. Most new people love to feed the heck outta their fish, like a kid. Kids always say, "Can I feed them". Anyone on here will say the more you feed the fish the more you should change the water. They go hand in hand. Period. Not everyone has purigen, wet/dry and canisters and all the chemicals that give leeway to being lazy.

[Fancyfish]

YOUR A FAIL.... I dont do alot of water change (once every 2-3 weeks) and i feed my fish like no other (2-4 table spoons of food for my trophs tank) and still keep my nitrates low...

Wow. What a thing to wake up to. Why make it personal? You could have posted your message and left off the first 3 words. It would have been a lot politer.

[Totenkampf]

you dont mention how much % of a water change that you do nor how much you allow to evaporate in the time period that you specify. those things would be good to know. the crux of your question, i think, is how to provent this shock to the fish given the diminutive amount of maintenance time that you have available to you. yes, proper feeding will help limit the shock but proper maintenance will keep you from losing your fish. you can break these activities up if you are pressed for time. i have valved in a couple quick disconnect ports into my filter manifold so that i can drain through the filter output and then i use a pond pump to pump the new water back into the filter intake. i age the water ahead of time or buy it from watermill in 5 gallon jugs. this takes me maybe 15 minutes on my 75. i clean one of the two filters each weekend and only clean the mechanical portion, although i occasionally swish the biomedia in old aquarium water if it has mulm buildup. that takes maybe 30 minutes for tray type canister filters. i think that if you keep some demineralized water on hand and top off weekly that it will also keep the water parameters more stable.

[SunnyHouTX]

He wasn't referring to you Fancyfish. Please note that he quoted moganman, which means his reply was directed at moganman and not you.

[Totenkampf]

still a little rude regardless isnt it? i'm not one to get butthurt easily but if u want respect then you give respect

[moganman]

It's all in love. I know the culture of the thread and some people like to pick apart what advice some people give on here. The original OP stated he has 2 Fluval 205's running, so thats about 360 gph for a 75 gallon tank. And here we have Kiko with his advice and here's what he's pushing on a 55 gallon:

2-eheim2217
2-aqueon 500
eshopps 800 overflow box w/ 75 gallon w/d and Mag7 return pump

So who's right? With that filtration of course you can skip regular water changes.

[sunkenmetal]

Kiko, 2-4 tablespoons is a moderate amount of food but im sure this guy's filtration isn't as efficient as yours. Each case is different. Don't try to be like your idol, EK. He's smarter than you. For this guy to say he doesn't change the water as often as he should probably means he doesn't pay close attention to feeding. Most new people love to feed the heck outta their fish, like a kid. Kids always say, "Can I feed them". Anyone on here will say the more you feed the fish the more you should change the water. They go hand in hand. Period. Not everyone has purigen, wet/dry and canisters and all the chemicals that give leeway to being lazy.

So since I have purigen and canister filters on all my tanks I am lazy....? If you knew how much work I put into my tanks.

All I said was to replace carbon if used and clean sponges and replace floss if used. Just gave purigen as an option it is pricey up front but if you clean it you will save money in the long run.

[Totenkampf]

Purigen and carbon arent even really for the lazy or those with time constraints, you need to maintain them as well. as EK mentioned in a thread yesterday about this, they will eventually saturate and release the organics back into the water column. they do help limit ill effects and purigen sure does make the water prudy tho

[sunkenmetal]

Purigen and carbon arent even really for the lazy or those with time constraints, you need to maintain them as well. as EK mentioned in a thread yesterday about this, they will eventually saturate and release the organics back into the water column. they do help limit ill effects and purigen sure does make the water prudy tho

Nice thing about purigen is you can clean it.... but anyway I curious as to the source of OP water.

[moganman]

Not everyone has PURIGEN, wet/dry AND canisters AND all the chemicals that give LEEWAY to being lazy.

Do I have to teach a reading comprehension class. Some people have all of the above and no one on here can stand here and say that having these doesn't help lower nitrates or doesn't even help prevent them from reaching higher levels if all of the equipment mentioned wasn't owned. The original OP has TWO Fluval 205 filters. That's it!!! I don't see what's so hard to understand. Am I missing something or is everyone being difficult?

[sunkenmetal]

Do I have to teach a reading comprehension class. Some people have all of the above and no one on here can stand here and say that having these doesn't help lower nitrates or doesn't even help prevent them from reaching higher levels if all of the equipment mentioned wasn't owned. The original OP has TWO Fluval 205 filters. That's it!!! I don't see what's so hard to understand. Am I missing something or is everyone being difficult?

Yea teach me to read... Come on over :)

[moganman]

Lol. Im just trying to make a point. Instead of saying it makes someone lazy, I'll say it allows people to neglect frequent water changes. If the original OP had the nice over filtration like alot of people on here, then I believe he could keep up with normal feedings and wouldn't have the problem he's having. Just the point Im trying to prove.

[sunkenmetal]

Lol. Im just trying to make a point. Instead of saying it makes someone lazy, I'll say it allows people to neglect frequent water changes. If the original OP had the nice over filtration like alot of people on here, then I believe he could keep up with normal feedings and wouldn't have the problem he's having. Just the point Im trying to prove.

So we neglect normal water changes...