Hello. So this is my 60L tank, has been running for 5 weeks now. I use a layer of dirt/soil (1 inch of JBL Aquabasis plus) capped with 2 inches aquarium sand (.4-.8 mm). It has a filter running (the one came with my tetra tank). As you see, I have plenty of plants. I got in it:
6x Male Guppies
9x Green Neon Tetras
5x Cherry Shrimp
1 Nerite Snail
6 Malaysian Trumpet Snails
I never did water changes. Water parameters are pretty good and water is more of less clear and fish as far as I can tell are very active.
Should I keep pushing it and not do water changes as long as water parameters are good and fish look ok? What are your views on the issue.
Posted by oabozeid
4 Comments
Water changes are not necessary but they sure help in reducing excess waste if you have any. Excess waste is a fast ticket to algae blooms.
Most of us are not able to perfectly control the amount of food we feed or the amount of waste produced or the amount of fertilizers to the exact so having water changes is a nice way to reset the excess. If you are able to have a perfect equilibrium in your tank then by all means leave as is and just top off.
The mandatory cleaning though is filter. Your filters will eventually get clogged with waste and if you donāt clean those the filtration capability is drastically reduced.
I’m kind of surprised the trumpet snails haven’t yet churned some of the dirt out from under the sand.
The parameters you *can test* look good, what about the ones that you canāt/donāt?
What if your tests are inaccurate? Are you performing them the exact same way every single time? When were the reagents bottled and when do they expire? Do you have a way to calibrate or verify your results on a consistent basis?
What about the waste/byproducts that arenāt being consumed by plants/bacteria? What about the wastes/byproducts being produced by plants/bacteria?
This question comes up quite a bit, and there are a variety of factors those who advocate against water changes donāt take into consideration. The <1hr process it takes once a month is a small price to pay to keep living animals healthy and happy IMO.
My take: you can go a long time between water changes if you have plants consuming nitrates, but without any water changes itās just a matter of time before things go downhill.Ā
This is because itās not only nitrates that build up or cause an imbalance. There are Ā organic compounds, metals, etc which donāt only come from top ups, but also from fish food, decay of anything that dies in there (including plants and microorganisms that were introduced), and so on.Ā
Some peopleās tanks will keep limping along for years, but I have yet to see a no-maintenance tank that was obviously thriving after the first year. Iāve seen people post their āthrivingā tanks, yes; but there are obvious problems theyāre not noticing somehow.Ā
That said, I think in some cases itās reasonable to do water changes only every 3-6 months.Ā
Oh, also If you have frequent notable inputs (like fertilizers), then frequent outputs (water changes) arenāt optional IMO. Fertilizers in particular arenāt used up evenly, and can cause problems much more quickly than fish food does.Ā