Water Change Procedure - Opinions please :)

[Oonallee]

Hi there,

Just posting my water change procedure (this was advised when I got in to discus).

Change 30% weekly

Treat the water that has been replaced (e.g. approx 80 litres) with the following;

- Bactonex
- Amazon water conditioner
- Chlorine remover
- Plant food
- Good bacteria (about 6 drops) Put this in recently a few weeks in a row as I had been having issues. I now think those issues were related to water problems from the substrate.

Would love to hear opinions on whether it should be changed in any way. Thanks in advance :)

[Oonallee]

Forgot to add, I'm on town water.

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Oonallee,

The first thing you need to know is what is in your water source, ie, amount of minerals often expressed in Parts Per Thousand (PPT) and in General Hardness (Gh) and Carbonate Hardness (Kh), acidity or alkalinity (Ph), and what additives the local council is adding, ie, chlorine or chloramines, fluoride, etc. you might also like to know the amount of iron (Fe) and calcium (Ca) though many people don’t consider this necessary. You need to know what these chemicals and minerals do and if they need to be removed.

You will find that many people recommend changing 30% three times per week. In spawning/grow out tanks 50% daily or even bi-daily is not unheard of.

If Chlorine is added to your water and you are able to prepare your water 24 hours before a change (aerate, heat) this should not cause you a problem. Chloramine (Chlorine and ammonia) is more difficult to remove.

Most people report that their discus are happy with water that is between 60 – 100 ppt for hardness and slightly acidic (Ph 6 – 6.5).

At my location the water is 385 ppt and 9+ for Ph, as a consequence I use Reverse Osmosis (RO) water to which I add RO right (at recommended levels), and Kent Marine Discus Essentials minerals. I often also use Indian Almond Leaves (IAL see members market place) to produce the high levels of tannin and characteristic “blackwater” that discus like.

If your water conditions are not appropriate for discus you may want to invest in either an RO unit or De-ionising unit. Both of these will produce water which is more suited to discus than most tap water in Australia. Some RO units come with a variable dial on which you can determine the hardness of the water you are producing. These are quite hand as the less you take out the less “grey” water you will produce.

You will find many posts in this section discussing water parameters and how to set-up cycle a tank.

By the way, discus are a schooling fish and tend to do much better in a group of five or more.

Regards,

[Decapper]

Everyone is different.. there are a lot of views on water changes. I think there is even a post on here where test are done and the findings are that higher filtration gets you better results than water change.

I have a mate that does not even add any water ager or heat the water at all.. right from the tap about 30% every month. I don't think he gets great growth but they all look fine. Its when you have a problem that you don't know about and the fishes immune system is keeping it in track until you stress them in some way and then your in trouble

[Chillinfish]

Depends on your fish and what you are doing with them. If they are not adults and you are looking for growth and good health, I'd do 60% every other day. My tap water is low ph and soft water, and i just use chlorine remover in the water. That's what I've done and it works great. But like everyone already said, everyone is different.

[BigDaddyAdo]

I have a mate that does not even add any water ager or heat the water at all.. right from the tap about 30% every month.

That is not good advice. The fact that he doesn't get very good growth results shows it is not the right way to go about it.

[Oonallee]

Hi Oonallee,

The first thing you need to know is what is in your water source, ie, amount of minerals often expressed in Parts Per Thousand (PPT) and in General Hardness (Gh) and Carbonate Hardness (Kh), acidity or alkalinity (Ph), and what additives the local council is adding, ie, chlorine or chloramines, fluoride, etc. you might also like to know the amount of iron (Fe) and calcium (Ca) though many people don’t consider this necessary. You need to know what these chemicals and minerals do and if they need to be removed.

You will find that many people recommend changing 30% three times per week. In spawning/grow out tanks 50% daily or even bi-daily is not unheard of.

Regards,

Thanks for the advice everyone (although it was quite conflicting!)

How do I find out all these other parameters, I know my water is currently Gh 40 and Kh is about 40.

[Ghoti]

How do I find out all these other parameters, I know my water is currently Gh 40 and Kh is about 40.

I'm afraid test kits are the only way. I don't bother with Fe (Iron) or Ca (Calcium).

My tap water is GH 50ppm (3 drops), KH 0ppm, pH6.5 - 7.0. I draw 200lt into a food grade poly barrel, add 2 tsp Aquasonic Tropical Conditioner and if the water is low pH 1 -2 tsp Aquasonic Carbonate Hardness Generator. I am aiming for a TDS of 150ish and a ph 7.0 - 7.2. This is then heated to tank temperature (29C) & circulated for 24 hours.

I then do a 30% WC (around 100L) in my discus tank and the same in my community tank once a week. Mid-week I make up a "half barrel" of water and do a 30% WC on the discus tank only. I find my tank pH is generally 5.5 - 6.0 before the change and 6.5 after.

Cheers,
Scott

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Oonallee,

As Scott has indicated you would need test kits for Iron and Calcium and most people don't bother. Calcium and Iron are both essential for healthy plant growth while calcium is also necessary for bone development and growth in your fish.

While I was in Tennant Creek we had water with a very high mineral content but none of it was calcium. Consequently I was using de-ionising units and restoring minerals using RO right.

I am surprised that your Kh and Gh are equal at around 40 as I usually find my Kh to be about half my Gh value. Would llike to hear what other people have in the water coming out of their taps.

Regards,

Bob

[Decapper]

I have a mate that does not even add any water ager or heat the water at all.. right from the tap about 30% every month.

That is not good advice. The fact that he doesn't get very good growth results shows it is not the right way to go about it.

Was not advice. Just information. Also the fact that I supplied the negitive effect of this shows that that if anything it was advice not to do it

[Oonallee]

So the additives I'm putting the in the water are sufficient?

[Ghoti]

So the additives I'm putting the in the water are sufficient?

Would seem so to me, though I don't know if the Amazon Water conditioner contains any calcium which I believge is needed to stabilise pH and provide a source for fish development.

...then again I'm also a noob myself, so you'd be better off waiting for one of the grand masters to reply :)

Cheers,
Scott

[swampy1972]

You can seriously get yourself bent out of shape hee looking for the "perfect water change". I'm a big believer in the "keep it simple stupid" principle. A lot of the theories you'll get here are from those that have read how the professionals do it. You need to remember that the Pro's are aiming for rapid growth and high turn over of juvies in order to make a living, so 100% wc per day are common. For the average hobbyist it doesn't need to be that intense.
For my Discus all I did was to change about 30-40% once a week/fortnight with nothing more than Prime and a tablespoon of sea salt for every 40L. Some people believe salt to be a natural 'tonic' (others disagree), and my fish were always in good health and spawned frequently. I also kept a small bag of crushed coral in the filter to prevent Ph crashes.
My avatar is a pic of one of them just before I sold her. She almost doubled in size in the time I had her, and I think she looks ok so I must have been doing something right ;)

[maxpayne40]

Hey Swampy,

What salt were you using?. I thought salt was only when they had injuires to help them heal?.

Thanks

[rex82]

Hi there,

Just posting my water change procedure (this was advised when I got in to discus).

Change 30% weekly

Treat the water that has been replaced (e.g. approx 80 litres) with the following;

- Bactonex-Kills bacteria
- Amazon water conditioner- waste of money
- Chlorine remover
- Plant food
- Good bacteria (about 6 drops) Put this in recently a few weeks in a row as I had been having issues. I now think those issues were related to water problems from the substrate. - Adding bacteria to get killed by the Bactonex?

Would love to hear opinions on whether it should be changed in any way. Thanks in advance :)

Sounds like a science experiment doing a water change in your house. Your fish will probably not do well in this pea soup.

Adding good bacteria to water with a bacteriacide in it is very counter productive.

Clean water is the key, with no additives in it where possible

[Decapper]

I would not add bactonex.. great product for fin rot or other bacteria infection. But I don't wipe my body down with anti bacteria everyday just in case I fall over.

Also once you have the tank cycled forget about the good bacteria. Up to you this one

Just add seachem safe. Thats all you need dependent on your PH stability

[Oonallee]

Hi guys, thanks for the feedback.

I had the same gut feeling about the bactonex, but have always followed advice from my discus supplier.

i am fortunate that the tap water has the correct parameters for discus, so I am assuming all I need to do is add;

- chlorine remover
- plant food

Should I be adding any other type of water conditioner?

Thanks :)
Oonallee

[rex82]

Hi guys, thanks for the feedback.

I had the same gut feeling about the bactonex, but have always followed advice from my discus supplier.

i am fortunate that the tap water has the correct parameters for discus, so I am assuming all I need to do is add;

- chlorine remover
- plant food

Should I be adding any other type of water conditioner?

Thanks :)
Oonallee

No

[Oonallee]

Did my first water change last night without adding any of my usual long list of additives. Felt strange, it was like hmmmmm...... just plain old water you say. Fish still alive and happy this morning :D

[Ghoti]

Well done :D

[rex82]

You should notice your fish will respond well to the cleaner water