water changes

9 posts

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


newfishman07
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:29 pm

water changes

by newfishman07

my tank is new, it has cycled and i am about to add the last few fish, how long should i wait before i do the first water change. by the way it is a 55 gallon tank with a eheim ecco canister filter for a 80 gallon tank...i feed once a day for 3days then oneday without feeding..all the fish are small i have giant danios, zebra danios, otto's, gouramis, clown loachs. will be adding 2 more loachs and 2 more gouramis, and 1 or 2 bala sharks and maybe a red tail shark..kinda want them all to grow up together


javahava82
 
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:46 pm

Re: water changes

by javahava82

there's a discussion of cycling here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 636AANMoEF

and more info on maintenance here:

http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/article1.php

a 15% water change or so is probably a good idea. best of luck!


Malawi_Mother
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:52 am

by Malawi_Mother

Dealing with bala sharks previously, do you know that those minos get way to big for a 55 gal? They are great when they are small but I have seen full size and I am telling you, they get huge. I have seen them in a 300 gal tank and was impressed at their potential. Not only do they get over a foot long but they are about 8 inches from top to bottom and about 6 inches wide. You may want to reconsider them when they get a little bigger or get a new larger tank. And I am very curious as to why you feed them for a couple days and then not for one day. I have been dealing with tetra and African cichlids for a very long time and I even run a forum for African cichilds and never have I heard anyone say that before. Would like to understand the theory behind that.


newfishman07
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:29 pm

by newfishman07

thanks for your response. yes i do know that they get big, and i will be upgrading to a larger tank.Will get another 55gallon then will move up to something in the neighborhood of 155 or larger. The reason they are fed like that would be because i am a flight attendant so i am not home everynight. hence the feeding schedule. I have been reading everything i can get on cichlids and i really like the LAKE TANGANYIKA cichlids, was wanting to put the bala shark in with them. I have a friend that also is a flight attendant and he has bala's in with the cichlids. I really like the discus but i dont think that i can have them with my schedule.


newfishman07
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:29 pm

by newfishman07

what do u think about a 175 gallon all shark tank with a few loachs


bichiraddict855
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:19 pm

by bichiraddict855

Would be nice but remember if you had the idea of getting an id shark I wouldn't friend had a 4 foot id shark in pond a year back the pond was 15,000 gallons.


newfishman07
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:29 pm

by newfishman07

thanks for the info...and no i wasent thinking about a id shark.....maybe something along the lines of bala sharks, albino rainbow sharks, rainbow sharks, red tail shark, a few silver dollars and a few loaches


suicidal
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 10:01 pm

by suicidal

Be careful mixing up too many of the rainbows, albino rainbows, and red tailed black sharks, unless you're looking for the "royal rumble" approach.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

I have a 55 gallon tank too. I water change twice a week, 9 gallon each time. I siphon out 9 gallons on Monday, then another 9 gallons on Thursday, a total of 18 gallon a week. Which puts it about 25-30% water change a week.

Average % a week is 15-25%. YOu should get in the habit of water changing per week. I have a log book that I keep, notate everything you do.

A water change is equal to a river in the sense that water in a river is never the same. It constantly flows, changes. This is the reason water changes is a must. I am sure your fish will appreciate it. It's their instinct to have changing water aka water changes.

hope this helps

water changes

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