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hey...i currently have a 10 gallon tank with 2 shell dwelling cichlids in it that are 1" each....it is my only tank at the time. it is really easy to maintain due to my low stocking level. i set it up like 2 weeks ago and am planning a water change soon...you know...normal maintenance...

anyway, i was wondering...i hate filling buckets and taking the time to do a larger water change...like 25%...so i was wondering....do u think it would be ok if i just did like a 1 gallon water change, but every day...so it will be less water, but more often...wont that be the same...and even better than a larger change less often...i would think it would be less stressful on the fish too...

~*~ Caviar? no thanks! ~*~

25% of 10 gallons is only 2.5 gallons, so that wouldn't really be much of a difference than doing 1 gallon water changes, at least when it comes to the amount of effort it'd require, I'd think...

Last edited by Satinandtat at 21-Sep-2005 19:55

Ideally, smaller more frequent water changes are better than larger, more infrequent changes. This is more like in nature, where the fish is constantly getting a supply of fresh H20

intead...more frequent water chnages for smaller tank is ideal....i do 25% water change every 4 days or 2x a week for my 3g tank.

Well,

Your discussion motivated me to do some math with regards to “bad” concentrations removed from the water column and its renewal during the time between water changes. For example:

-A tank with 10ppm Ammonia and a daily water change of 10% and a daily increase in Ammonia by 1ppm will always have 10ppm of Ammonia (got it?).

If the time period between the water changes is expanded then the percentage of the change would have to be adjusted to achieve the same results. For example:

-A tank with 10ppm Ammonia and a daily increase in Ammonia by 1ppm will only have 10ppm of Ammonia if a weekly (7days) water change of 70% is performed.

If the % increase of water change is less than the increase in days between changes then the Ammonia value would reach a higher (although eventually stable) level. For example:

-A tank with initially 10ppm Ammonia and a once a week water change of 30% and a daily increase in Ammonia by 1ppm will conclude in a rise of Ammonia to 23.33ppm that is reached after approx. 246days (that is the point when the value will not further increase).

So, applied to the original question, just from a mathematical perspective:

A 10% water change per day is better than a 25% water change every 3 days or an even longer period.

From a distress point of view, I think that fussing with the tank daily is actually a higher stress on the fish.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Depends on the personality of your fish too, the tetras tend to scatter when I do water changes,so obviously theyre not too impressed, the rainbows and barbs often come up totally relaxed and check out my fingers for food. The arowana is uncomfortably interested in anything to do with my hands. Sometimes the water changes are more stressful on me

well im not worried about that...these are shell dwellers, so they just hide all day anyway.

but thanks....all u made good points.

~*~ Caviar? no thanks! ~*~