FishProfiles.com Message Forums

True story:

A co-worker of mine (big fishkeeper) went to visit his brother. His brother had a gold fish in a 29 gallon tank in his basement. He hadn't ever changed the water in over three years and barely ever added water. The tank was almost 2/3 empty. Only 1/3 filled with a sickly brown smelly water. He couldn't beleive a fish could actually be alive in there (and he could barely see it thru all the gunk).

My coworker, doing what he could, cleaned the tank and filled it with clean water even going out and purchasing biospira.

The fish died the next day, go figure...

But; Do they at least flush their toilets?

well i have a family friend that has a tank about 150-200 litres in volume and they never chnge the water and they don't even have a filter just an air stone and the water was brown sort of like the color of tea
eeewww! but there was only two fish in there alive (i wonder why!). 1 tini platy and a bn and thats it!

Holy 5 years no water change thats insaned lol if I dont change water in a week my 20 g tank is already dirty as hell the woods I dump inside make the water brown like mud. And I just dont know how fish could be able to stay in that kind of water. Before I have another 10 g tank with some other kind fish I remember is some kind of small african cichild which have strong deffense maganism<-- to protect them from dicease is the only one that could stay no water change in 1+ months. Back then I was too young and lazy so the 4 clown loach and silver sharks is all dead due to no water change for like a months. But 5 years is crazy I bet the dude is lazy, also fell bad for what ever fish that live inside.

I'm not surprised at the death of the basement fish.

Many fish can and do adapt to high nitrates, or other unpleasant conditions, but slowly and over time. Any large sudden change is much harder to survive than unpleasant conditions. Quick changes in temp, PH, water quality in general are what I understand to be hardest on fish.

Like folks have said - frequent water changes mean that the quality of the water going in is not that different than what is coming out. If a tank hasn't had a water change in a long time it's imporant to only change some of the water so the fish doesn't go into shock.

I have a friend that never changed the water and every year they did a massive clean out and changed ALL the water and they wondered why the fish had problems breathing when they were put back in!
Still they survived, which shows how resiliant fish are, but can you imagine how high the nitrate must have been in that tank for the first few weeks!!!

Sham,

My coworker, knowing he wouldn't be going back there for a long time was trying to give the fish a fighting chance. He knew doing a 100% water change was a risk, but he thought the fish was suffering in those deplorable conditions.

Just saw post. It reminds me of chinese resturant I went to, They had 55gl tank crowded with more than a dozen good sized goldfish (5-6 inches) plus two large fish I couldn't figure out what they were.
The water looked as though it has never been changed and only 2/3 full.

My coworker, doing what he could, cleaned the tank and filled it with clean water even going out and purchasing biospira.
The fish died the next day, go figure...

This is one reason some people believe large water changes are bad. They are only bad if you don't do water changes often. The water chemistry changes over time and your tap water ends up being too different from the tank. The fish in those tanks are the ones that survived and as the nitrates and hardness of the water slowly builds up they adapt to it. Suddenly doing a large water change is just like dumping a fish in water with entirely different chemistry. They shock and die. Fish can survive in dirty tanks like that but how many died along the way and how much shorter lives do those fish live than if they were well cared for?


Last edited by sham at 13-Jun-2005 22:25

Can it be true? I have a friend who has two 10 gal eclipses (sp) and a 55 gal. They do NOT change the water ever! They only add water (well water and no additives) due to evaporation. They say the biological filters in the 10 gals allow them this convenience. I just don't know. Everything I have learned just goes against this. In the 10 gals, they have an angel some cories, and some other that I can't recall. In the 55 it's mostly livbearers and a 8" pleco. I'm just amazed....

thats luck...ive heard of this story b4...i rather not do it...the fish do survive but in mysery (try swimming in the pool with poo and pee in it and ull know what i mean)

BE HUMANE and DO the RIGHT THING!!!

The more you take care of your fish, the more they die. ]:| ]:| ]:|


http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.geocities.com/s8xi5heh/classic_blue.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzaqq/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

This in a lot of ways reminds me of my parents fish tank. They have a 10 gallon tank which is overstocked ,never do any type of cleaning or water changes. My mom just simply adds water as it evaporates out. The thing has a whisper 30-60 filter and an undergravel filter that doesn't even have any carbon cartriges in it. And yet their fish that have been in there for years are surviving, healthy and seem to be thriving quite well. I just simply don't see how either, but they do.

Last edited by Cichlid Keeper at 12-Jun-2005 22:18

yes it can be done. how idk. my grandfather(is old) so he doesn't change his endlers water for many years and like your friend only adds water, but they seem to do fine.

Yikes! They are very luck

~elaine~

Sounds like they are very lucky to have any live fish, maybe their tanks are understocked and that is why they can get away with it? Of course, do you know if they have to often replace dead fish?

That's what I was thinking too. But I'm not familiar with the filters they are using, so I wanted to ask.

You're not the only one amazed. I am also amazed that the fish survive.

I don't agree that biological filters allow them not to do water changes.


http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.geocities.com/s8xi5heh/classic_blue.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzaqq/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com