Water Changes

[oscar]

Just a quick question to spark a little conversation and to find out people's views.

Which of the following two (if either) is better for discus keeping:

30% water change twice per week.
OR
60% water change once per week.

I'm interested to hear people's opinions.

P.S. I don't think we need to go down the path of spelling out general rules of discus keeping, i.e more, more, more. I'm simply using this to compare the same amount of water change, but in different portions.

[Ben]

A, B or C?
I would go C, do water changes every second day with a minium of %25.

Most likely not what you wanted to hear, so A out of those 2.

cheers,
Ben

[oscar]

Ben,

Just used the numbers as examples. Could have easily been 25% every 2 days or 50% every 4.

Secondly...i was looking for the why more so than the which?

Thanks for input anyway.

[DR.V]

Well from your option 30% water change twice per week would be good.

But I do mine 3 times a week.

[Merrilyn]

To keep the water in a discus tank as stable as possible with regard to pH, KH, GH, and nitrate, frequent smaller water changes are the way to go.

By changing the water frequently, pollution never builds up to a dangerous level. The tank is constantly being flushed with clean water.

Doing a large water change only once a week, means that the water has reached a pretty poor state before being refreshed. A sudden influx of clean water could well alter the pH reading quite a lot, to the point where the fish are distressed.

Tryhing to keep conditions as stable as possible is the safest way to keep discus.

[the_oracle]

Guys,
It may sound a lil bit crazy.........but, I WC daily.............At least 80%.......
You can call me a discus fanatic and I wouldn't mind. :lol: :lol:
Don't follow what I do cause this works for me but it might not work for you guys............
You see, we're pretty lucky SG's water is acceptable for discus keeping............And I use the cheapest filter you can find here in SG. Corner filters stuffed will wools...........And a cheap airpump (Resun 9904) to go along...........
You should ask Ben how simple my set-up is.........
One word of warning: Don't Try This At Home...............


Sanie.