hi guys hope you can clear some thing up for me. ive had a hunt around and come up with different information regarding how often too water change a new set up. the set up is a 120l high tec with plain cat litter as the substrate and an old filter light is hard to gauge im using a 50w 40 degree spread halogen suspended 500mm from the water surface. ferts are EI levels with easy carbo after the water change and when i get home co2 is silly high. for the first week i changed %50 every day the second week i changed %50 every other day. now im on the third week im unsure how often they need to be done.ive learnt the hard way stability is key, so don't want to over do the water changes. so far no algae but not much growth. any thought's appreciated. thanks
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water changes schedule
- Thread starter danmil3s
- Start date
Hi mate,
Sounds to me like you have some things reversed. If you're going to have silly high CO2 then it's better if that happens at the beginning of the photoperiod. The plants do not need high CO2 at the tail end of the period. There is no way water changes interfere with stability. NOT doing water changes disrupts stability by causing buildup of toxins. If there is little to no algae then you can try just a single change per week but it's normally suggested to keep up the multiple water changes up to around the 6 week mark.
As far as I'm concerned, one can't do enough water changes but there's no point mentally burning out on water changes either, so just relax the schedule and monitor the health of the tank...
Cheers,
Sounds to me like you have some things reversed. If you're going to have silly high CO2 then it's better if that happens at the beginning of the photoperiod. The plants do not need high CO2 at the tail end of the period. There is no way water changes interfere with stability. NOT doing water changes disrupts stability by causing buildup of toxins. If there is little to no algae then you can try just a single change per week but it's normally suggested to keep up the multiple water changes up to around the 6 week mark.
As far as I'm concerned, one can't do enough water changes but there's no point mentally burning out on water changes either, so just relax the schedule and monitor the health of the tank...
Cheers,
thanks Clive that's my terrible uses of the English language again. probably should have read. "ferts are EI levels with easy carbo after the water changes, done when i get home. co2 is silly high 2 hours before lights on and throughout photo period". sorry if it wasn't for spell check i might as well be writing in hieroglyphics. ill take you advice and carry on doing multiple water changes for the next 4 weeks better safe than sorry i really want this tank to work. my big tanks looking better since you sorted out my flow. thanks again.
OK mate, yeah, that's crystal clear the second explanation. If you only had a time machine...
Anyway, really I have to confess that no one hates doing water changes more than me (Major drag supreme), but it's so very important. Don't worry too much about the slower growth rates, not sure why this should be but it's bound to pick up. Are these slow growers like mosses and so forth? Are you using low light? That would be normal if so.
Glad the big tank is perking up. Did you get rid of that Alien life form?
Cheers,
Anyway, really I have to confess that no one hates doing water changes more than me (Major drag supreme), but it's so very important. Don't worry too much about the slower growth rates, not sure why this should be but it's bound to pick up. Are these slow growers like mosses and so forth? Are you using low light? That would be normal if so.
Glad the big tank is perking up. Did you get rid of that Alien life form?
Cheers,
i think the slow growth might just be low light ive raised it up high to try and avoid algae as long as the plants grow and are health ill be happy. going to take this one slow and careful get it right.
i've gotten rid of both the Alien life forms. the weekend before last, gave them away. however did have to compromise with the boss and now have 8 new golden gouramis. but after watching the other 2 i already had before im pretty sure these will be more plant friendly.
i've gotten rid of both the Alien life forms. the weekend before last, gave them away. however did have to compromise with the boss and now have 8 new golden gouramis. but after watching the other 2 i already had before im pretty sure these will be more plant friendly.
Oh, without a doubt gouramis are much more serene, and prettier too. That's a win-win scenario. Let me guess; you day job is a hostage negotiator, right?
Well I am glad you found a way to terminate them, otherwise I was going to suggest contacting either Sigourney Weaver or the Marine Special Forces hit squad. Either way it wouldn't have been pretty mate.
OK, well lowering the light intensity is half the battle, so that was clever and it ought to explain the lowered growth rates. No big deal. After 8-10 weeks you can start physically lowering the unit gradually if you wish, but keep it frosty for now mate.
Cheers,
Well I am glad you found a way to terminate them, otherwise I was going to suggest contacting either Sigourney Weaver or the Marine Special Forces hit squad. Either way it wouldn't have been pretty mate.
OK, well lowering the light intensity is half the battle, so that was clever and it ought to explain the lowered growth rates. No big deal. After 8-10 weeks you can start physically lowering the unit gradually if you wish, but keep it frosty for now mate.
Cheers,
yeah i definitely came out of that deal better. since removing them I've hardly any floating plants in the morning. and the golden gouramis are my favourite fish.as I'm doing so well i might ask for another bike. but im not sure who'd make more mess Sigourney Weaver or the plec. pretty sure shed stamp on my new hair grass, which is still planted after 4 days new record might even grow this time. as for the new set up im going to play it safe on there slow growth is better than algae growth. I'll try and get a video of it this weekend hard to get a decent photograph with my phone. thanks again Clive.
