No water change ever ?
- Thread starter BlueBaron
- Start date
you could find a way to put a filter rated for 100000 gph on a 5 gallon tank, but EVENTUALLY nitrates will build up... algea could somehow build up. You can find ways to prolong the itme between water changes, but it will always be needed for the healthiness of your tank
sorry for the crappy little sthing about a 1000 gph filter on a 5 gallon tank
sorry for the crappy little sthing about a 1000 gph filter on a 5 gallon tank
Well... to answer your question, yes it is possible to set up a tank that requires no water changes.
However, that does _not_ mean those tanks aren't a lot of work. It invovles a lot of plants and a light fish load. Without years of fishkeeping experience, I wouldn't sugggest trying it.
If you're looking for a hobby that requires less than an hour of work per week, fishkeeping isn't for you
Running an oversized filter will not reduce the frequency of water changes. It will ensure that the cycle runs the smoothly all the time, but the end result of the cycling process (Nitrate) will build up just as quickly and have to be removed just as often.
~Josh
However, that does _not_ mean those tanks aren't a lot of work. It invovles a lot of plants and a light fish load. Without years of fishkeeping experience, I wouldn't sugggest trying it.
If you're looking for a hobby that requires less than an hour of work per week, fishkeeping isn't for you
Running an oversized filter will not reduce the frequency of water changes. It will ensure that the cycle runs the smoothly all the time, but the end result of the cycling process (Nitrate) will build up just as quickly and have to be removed just as often.
~Josh
Here I am. Yes, it is totally possible to have a no water change (NWC) tank. In my 20 gallon loach river tank I went without water changes for about 7 or 8 months with no ill effects. The only reason I started with the water changes (albeit very infrequent and not for the purpose of lowering nitrates, which often go to ZERO) on this tank is because it is the cheapest way to introduce trace elements to the system, which a hi-tech tank will go through quickly. There are some things to take into consideration when setting out on a NWC tank, namely that people will really try to talk you out of it.
Seriously, if you have fast enough plant growth to totally consume all of the nitrates, and if you are willing to add trace elements and keep up on fertilization, and have plants like vals and some others that can do something called biogenic decalcification, then you can do it easier. Some plants are capable of breaking down bicarbonate ion to obtain CO2, which is useful if you are only topping off evaporated water with tap water, which over time will tend to increase your carbonate hardness (KH). Using pure RO water would be an alternative to using tap and worrying about KH rising over time, but the whole idea of a no water change tank is to minimize work, and acquiring, or buying special water for topping off is more work than just doing water changes.
Also, I think if you do all of the above, you also need a fast tank filtration turnover rate, as pruning plants will stir up the gravel, and if you're not doing water changes, then you're not gravel vacuuming, and there'll be a ton of mulm in the gravel. My loach tank has a 400 gph powerhead hooked to 2 sponge filters and a mini HOB, so I get tank turnover rate once every 3 minutes, so even when I stir stuff up pretty bad, the tank is crystal clear again in 10 minutes. Filtration, filtration, filtration.
A lot of people argue about TDSs (Total dissolved solids) building up and inhibiting fish in all kinds of mysterious ways, but I really do think that is all conjecture at this point in time as there seems to be no proof of ill effects, or at least no proof that anyone could present to me when I was interested in doing a no water change tank and looking for answers.
Another way to do a no water change tank is to do what Diane Walstad does, a method she calls "El Natural", where there is a low fish load, low light, no CO2 addition, no ferts added, but a good rich soil and slow growing rooted plants. Her site is a great source of information, and Roger Miller is on there as a moderator and he is an expert to be learned from.
Seriously, if you have fast enough plant growth to totally consume all of the nitrates, and if you are willing to add trace elements and keep up on fertilization, and have plants like vals and some others that can do something called biogenic decalcification, then you can do it easier. Some plants are capable of breaking down bicarbonate ion to obtain CO2, which is useful if you are only topping off evaporated water with tap water, which over time will tend to increase your carbonate hardness (KH). Using pure RO water would be an alternative to using tap and worrying about KH rising over time, but the whole idea of a no water change tank is to minimize work, and acquiring, or buying special water for topping off is more work than just doing water changes.
Also, I think if you do all of the above, you also need a fast tank filtration turnover rate, as pruning plants will stir up the gravel, and if you're not doing water changes, then you're not gravel vacuuming, and there'll be a ton of mulm in the gravel. My loach tank has a 400 gph powerhead hooked to 2 sponge filters and a mini HOB, so I get tank turnover rate once every 3 minutes, so even when I stir stuff up pretty bad, the tank is crystal clear again in 10 minutes. Filtration, filtration, filtration.
A lot of people argue about TDSs (Total dissolved solids) building up and inhibiting fish in all kinds of mysterious ways, but I really do think that is all conjecture at this point in time as there seems to be no proof of ill effects, or at least no proof that anyone could present to me when I was interested in doing a no water change tank and looking for answers.
Another way to do a no water change tank is to do what Diane Walstad does, a method she calls "El Natural", where there is a low fish load, low light, no CO2 addition, no ferts added, but a good rich soil and slow growing rooted plants. Her site is a great source of information, and Roger Miller is on there as a moderator and he is an expert to be learned from.
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interestingly enough, my younger brother (14 y.o.) has a ten gallon freshwater tank and has not changed the water since he set it up about a year and a half ago. all he has ever done is top off the water level by adding fresh water to it. all of the fish are healthy and nitrates are low.
he does, however, keep the lights off most of the time and feeds the fish usually once every two days. he has no algae, beautiful fish, and crystal clear water. lucky!!
he does, however, keep the lights off most of the time and feeds the fish usually once every two days. he has no algae, beautiful fish, and crystal clear water. lucky!!
I guess if you don;t feed the fish enough for them to poop regularly, then there would be less waste, but I don't like the thought of having fish that may never poop. Plant and algae growth, in whatever amounts allowable and possible will eat the poop, so it would be better to feed the fish enough to poop, but have an organic process there ready to eat the waste up.
Again,..."Anything is possible"
Again,..."Anything is possible"
well, after reading your comment NoDeltaH20, i went to check if there is any poop in the tank. i stirred up the gravel a bit and there was some food/detritus and lots of stringy poops down there, and one of the fish was in the process of relieving itself (lol). therefore, i would guess that he feeds them enough to actually poop. he must have an awesome nitrogen cycle or something.