So you say you change your water?

[emeraldtroph]

my nitrates hit 25 every 5 days, so I do a 50% wc twice a week

[Mastiffman]

Originally Posted by emeraldtroph

my nitrates hit 25 every 5 days, so I do a 50% wc twice a week

You might be able to get away with less twice a week. Do you find that you have any extra food laying around after feedings?

[emeraldtroph]

Originally Posted by Mastiffman

You might be able to get away with less twice a week. Do you find that you have any extra food laying around after feedings?

Nope, I do the 20 second feeds 4 times per day, and since the tanks are bare-bottoms, I siphon every morning. Thanks to powerhead flows, the poop is usually in one corner, ready to be siphoned out easily. 80 degrees and lotsa stock produce the nitrates. I think this year I will gradually lower the temp to 77-78, and feed just a tad less. The stats of 25 ppm every 5 days is kind of a general average between 4 tanks. I have Discus, 2 single species troph tanks, and 1 mixed troph tank

[lmod58]

1 times a week @ 75%+ each time.

[Vman]

If nitrates and nitrites are a problem I'd stuff my filters with purigen and use more prime.Id never change more than 50%/week on Trophs. These are not discus.I've had times when I didn't change water for 2 weeks.I have about 70 fish that are 2.5"-4". I feed 4 times per day.

[Kosmo]

I do weekly water changes that takes the water in a 150 gallon tank down to about 3 to 4 inches left in the tank.....about 90%, I guess. The change happens on the weekend. The ilangi love the water changes, and start doing the dancing and wiggling for each other.

[raemaruk]

I do 50% of actual volume approximately weekly, so I chose the 50-75%, but would have preferred if there was a 'stand alone' selection for those of us who do just [approx 50%].

Last year I spent 4-5 weeks away from home, my fish endured no water changes in that period. I had put just a single hydor auto feeder on each of my tanks to sprinkle Tetra vegetable crisp once a day. I would guess each fish would get about 3-4 crisp at one feeding. I have petros and tropheus.
When I got back, my tanks were sparkling and fish looked be doing well. I had some new fry in one tank between rocks which looked like they were spat a week or two ago.

Anyway, my main observation was that the water was sparkling which was very surprising to me. So I have to assume that because of the reduced amount of food, it is the main reason why conditions remained so pristine. Now I know that 'all that glitters is not gold' but I could tell from the fishes behavior that they were happy within themselves.

My aquariums all have 3ft trickle filter towers packed with bio-balls incorporated into a sump.

[gw12269]

I do 30% every 7 to 10 days. Sometimes go 2 weeks. Haven't tested nitrates in years.

[Mastiffman]

Originally Posted by emeraldtroph

Nope, I do the 20 second feeds 4 times per day, and since the tanks are bare-bottoms, I siphon every morning. Thanks to powerhead flows, the poop is usually in one corner, ready to be siphoned out easily. 80 degrees and lotsa stock produce the nitrates. I think this year I will gradually lower the temp to 77-78, and feed just a tad less. The stats of 25 ppm every 5 days is kind of a general average between 4 tanks. I have Discus, 2 single species troph tanks, and 1 mixed troph tank

Gotcha. Sounds nice and Easy.

Originally Posted by gw12269

I do 30% every 7 to 10 days. Sometimes go 2 weeks. Haven't tested nitrates in years.

Yep. If you're not overfeeding or stocking with ample fitlration that's doable.

[Vman]

So I did my first time ever water test last night.I haven't changed my water in 2 weeks and kept the feeding at a normal rate. My ph is 8.2,ammonia 0,nitrite 0 but the nitrate hit 160. Is it normal to have nitrates without the others?