Another Stupid Newbie Questions - Water Changes and Extra Additives

[Faith_at_Large]

This may seem silly, but I am still getting the hang of doing things "by the book". My home tank is cycled and my test results are remaining good, pH of 8.0, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrates, 5 Nitrates and a temperature of 79 deg F.

I changed my tank water after I finished my cycle and also changed my filter in two stages over the weekend of Februrary 17. Since that time I have been monitoring my water parameters and topping up as required and changing the filter foam on the filter intake of my power filter about each week.

I have seen instructions to do water changes weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and as required. My test kit says that when my nitrates reach 110, I should do a 25% water change. As mentioned above, my nitrates are at 5, do I wait for this to rise to 110 on my Nutrifin Mini Master Test Kit before doing another water change? Or should I be doing water changes regardless of test results and doing extra water changes in the event of high readings? I just don't want to mess up my nicely cycled tank.

Also, I have a bottle of AmQuel+ which removes Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Chlorine and Chloramines. I have not used it in my new tanks, I normally use Aqua-Plus to remove Chlorine and Chloramines. It says that it can be used to reduce the number of water changes, but is it good for the fish? I was wondering if it might be beneficial for vacations when I am away. It doesn't seem like something I would want to use on a regular basis.

I also have a bottle of Crystal Clear from Aquarium Products. It says that it clears cloudy or murky aquarium water. I bought it when I first set up my home aquarium tanks to deal with the bacterial bloom in my tank. Is this good for my fish? Anyone ever use it for algae in their water? I am not certain what is considered to be murky water.

With respect to Aquarisol and Melafix, are these completely removed by carbon filters. I am thinking about getting a Mystery or Apple snail for my tank, but some meds are not good for snails. I can remove the snail during treatments, but I want to know when or if I can put the snail back into the tank. I don't have any snails yet.

Thanks for the help.

[Lady Hobbs]

I don't know what kind of test kit you have but nitrates should not go above 20 or to 30 max. Regularly weekly water changes and gravel cleaning helps control this. You apparently have a test kit I am unfamiliar with so I can't help you much there.

Once your tank has cycled for you and you have added a "few" fish each week, it's not even necessary to keep doing testing. That is if you keep your tank cleaned by water changes regularly and vacs. You need not change out your filter media that much, either. All these ammonia, nitrite and nitrate reducers are totally unnecessary.

The bacteria your tank has produced will eat away at any ammonia in your tank as well as nitrites themselves.

Just keep your water clean and you'll do fine but for now, I wouldn't do any vaccuming at all or you will upset things again. Tanks can be pretty touchy the first 3 months.

As long as you have good filtration and not over-stocked, you can even go two weeks without a water change.

[Chrona]

Water changes are not only beneficial in removing nitrates (although that is their primary purpose), they also replenish trace elements in the water, as well as the water's buffering ability. Over time, the water will turn acidic due to the nitrogen cycle, and neutralize the kH or alkalinity on the water. After all of the alkalinity is gone, you will see wild pH swings because the water has no buffering ability. That being said, you certainly do not have to do biweekly water changes unless you are trying to get a very difficult species to breed or something (ie crystal red shrimp), but it does help. At the very least, I would recommend a 50% water change every 2 weeks. I try to aim for 50% every week, as 25% really doesn't do as much as you would think.

Amquel+ should only be used to treat an ammonia spike in an exisiting aquarium. Otherwise, it's just a short term fix, as you are removing ammonia and nitrite the nitrifying bacteria need to survive, so if you use it often enough, you'll have to cycle the tank again. I believe Amquel was originally designed to treat tap water that you are adding to the tank, not the tank itself. In any case, I would just get a regular dechlorinator and save the Amquel for emergencies.

As for the murky water, is it green at all? If so, then make sure the tank doesn't get direct sunlight, and (assuming you have no live plants) black out the tank for 48 hours or more. There isn't much you can do (or should do) about the bacteria, but if any readings get too high, you can do a partial water change (this is just to remove the toxins, it will do little to nothing for the cloudiness)

In regards to snails, I believe they are only sensitive to medications used to treat ich, such as copper based meds. I believe Melafix will work with all organisms (save the bacteria ;) ), but don't quote me on that. I don't know what aquarisol is nor have had any experience with it, so I can't say.

By the way, does the fish tank currently have fish? The tank won't stay cycled without the addition of more ammonia or fish.

[cocoa_pleco]

yeah, water changes are necessary.

A little off topic, but faith, if you want a deal, go to the superpet by 184th st. (by wal-mart). They have tank maintenance buckets for 29.99, reg. 40$, and it has a bucket, vacuum, conditioner, cycle, waste control, and 2 algae scrapers. They also got new plants in.

[Faith_at_Large]

Yes the tank I am asking about has fish and has completed the cycle and the readings have been fairly good, consistantly. I am in the process of cycling a second tank without fish and I am dosing with Ammonia regularly.

I never assumed that it would be good to never change your water although I did read about an experienced aquarist who did this successfully for an extended period of time - his intent was to show that it was possible to create a stable ecosystem in an aquarium. However, I am not that experienced and my ten gallon tanks just wouldn't be suitable.

As for the maintenance bucket - I bought one when I started cycling my first ten gallon tank, from PJ's Pets in West Edmonton Mall. I read elsewhere that it is useful to have a dedicated bucket for water changes and big buckets make things easier. It was good advice and the siphon works great. I have already used some of the many coupons that came with it to purchase my Mini Master Test Kit from Nutrifin, a large bottle of Aqua-Plus to replace the stuff I used up from the bucket, and a few other items for my medicine chest and tank supplies.

Thanks for the advice on the Amquel+, I figured as much which is why I haven't been using it. I think it was bundled with something else that I bought. And I know that Aquarisol is not recommended for tanks with invertibrates including snails, but I am hoping that my filter can remove it all before I get a snail, and that it is a short process to do this in case I need to treat my fish again. I am using Aquarisol for my male Platy, his fins appeared to be clamped, although not constantly. I figured that this would help him and it appears to be working. Earlier I even removed the filter cartridge (with carbon) for a few days to allow it to work better. Lately I have been leaving the filter in, the carbon is wearing down and the dose not for any other visible symptoms.