daily water changes?

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ApacheDan
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daily water changes?

Post by ApacheDan »

I'm starting to build my colony from scratch & presently got 5 zebras, ranging in size from 3/4" to 1". They are currently housed in a 20 gal tank, sand substrate, bogwood, slate rocks, plenty of hiding places. Water temp is 82F, ph 6.5, outside filter turns water 5x/hour. In addition I got wand airstones & air difusser to add movement, water circulation & inject more air.

I'm gearing for the long-run with this; maybe I'll be pleasently surprised 2-3 years from now. I expect to increase the number of zebras to 12-15 (hopefully) all around the 1" mark. These guys are so tiny & seem so lost in this sized tank that I tend to overfeed a bit and scatter a bit in the front of the tank, just to make sure everybody gets their share. I'm doing daily cleanup with a syphon to a 5 gal bucket (just in case one of them gets accidentally syphoned out). Water gets replaced from a holding tank, and it is about 4 gal, or 20% water change daily. Is there any problem with this routine? Thanks for any advise. Dan :)
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thebuddy
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Post by thebuddy »

I think its a matter of prefrance but I wouldnt do daily water changes somtimes it upsets more sensitive fish.
Thebuddy is planning his tank
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John
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Post by John »

I use the same method on my young plecos, only my percentage is 5% daily, i allready use this method for 3 years with no problems and healthy good growing fish.
IMO with 5% daily i keep my watervalues almost constant and they don't get the shock of a big weekly waterchange.
Greetings,
John
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ApacheDan
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Post by ApacheDan »

Thanks guys. Nice to know I got the right idea. I'll probably decrease the daily % changed. I'm used to daily water changes from years of dealing with discus.
Dan
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n00dl3
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Post by n00dl3 »

John wrote:I use the same method on my young plecos, only my percentage is 5% daily, i allready use this method for 3 years with no problems and healthy good growing fish.
IMO with 5% daily i keep my watervalues almost constant and they don't get the shock of a big weekly waterchange.
totally agree... except I only wish i got that much time each day to do 5% water change. I find it hard enough to do weekly water change...
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Post by smithrc »

Ours have just spawned after 6 weeks without a water change....

After a year of monitoring TDS PH hardness etc, Tap water Ro water, large weekly changes, small irregulay changes... Matched temp - Cold water changes... ant it took 6 weeks of leaving them alone for them to spawn.

enough said if you ask me. :)
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[url=http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/gallery/plecs][img]http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/assorted/PlecSig_sm.jpg[/img][/url]
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ApacheDan
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Post by ApacheDan »

smithrc wrote:Ours have just spawned after 6 weeks without a water change....

. :)
congrats on your spawn :D hopefully I'll be there someday.
The case is different with growing juvies, 3/4" to 1", which is the only thing you'll find on the market today. Maybe I'm paranoid about getting them all a chance to eat, but I don't mind the daily chore if I achieve the objective. I already ordered an outside Magnum hanging canister filter just for cleaning & returning filter water to the tank. That way I can control the % changed. Dan
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Post by smithrc »

True - I'll be over feeding anf will be doing water changes regularly with the fry...
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[url=http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/gallery/plecs][img]http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/assorted/PlecSig_sm.jpg[/img][/url]
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Miezekatze
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Post by Miezekatze »

hi

yesterday i made a waterchange in my 200L tank with 11 L-46. The last waterchange was about 2 1/2 weeks ago. You see, the plecos are not as problematic to breed as everyone thinks.
Kind Regards
Christian

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n00dl3
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Post by n00dl3 »

I think the bottom line is... what work for you don't mean it will work for others. Same as "one man garage is another man treasure" or something like that...
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Post by smithrc »

Miezekatze wrote:hi

yesterday i made a waterchange in my 200L tank with 11 L-46. The last waterchange was about 2 1/2 weeks ago. You see, the plecos are not as problematic to breed as everyone thinks.
Shhh... dont tell everyone :)
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[url=http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/gallery/plecs][img]http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/assorted/PlecSig_sm.jpg[/img][/url]
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