# Large water changes,any danger to fish?



## Goodygumdrops (5 Jan 2009)

As per the title,my two foot tank got a really good hoover on Sunday and I would hazard that in the process almost all the water was changed.
Couple this with a light hoovering of visible doodoo most days,will these large,almost complete,well,probably more than 100% per week changes harm my fish?(They seem pretty good so far).


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## YzemaN (5 Jan 2009)

Once the fish have initially been aclimatised to tap water I don't see any problems. I've performed two 80% water changes in a row on several occasions with no ill effect. Fish seems to be a lot livelier afterwards.


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## aaronnorth (5 Jan 2009)

Discus breeders do 100% water changes daily on their fry tanks.


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## JamesC (5 Jan 2009)

Large frequent water changes are fine but large infrequent water changes may cause problems. This is due to the tank water's parameters changing over time.

James


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## Goodygumdrops (5 Jan 2009)

Thanks guys,you're putting my mind at rest.Like I said,the fish seem fine,they even seem to enjoy both the new water and the actual changing of it,weird fish,even the plecs seem to come out to 'play' during water change.
Frequency is not a problem,the one thing I DO NOT like about sand is that it gets dirty looking on a daily basis,not with algae etc,but fish waste.And with the size of the tank,there really is no getting round losing loads of water if I want to hoover thoroughly.


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## vauxhallmark (5 Jan 2009)

It sounds like the water changes are working fine. If you are really keen to reduce the amount you're changing, you could leave the bucket of water you've just syphoned out for five minutes to let the dirt settle, and pour (or syphon) most of it back into the tank. Or strain it through floss as you're removing it, and you can put it straight back in without waiting. (Both assume bucket is fish only, and not used for chemicals!)

Or you can buy air or battery operated vacuums that trap the mulm without removing any water from the tank. 

But if you're happy to continue with your current regime it doesn't seem to be causing any problems.   

Mark


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