# Water changes



## k3ch0ng (14 Oct 2016)

Hi guys, 

I'm new to all this fish keeping stuff but learning 

What are the best tips on reducing water changes or ways to speed it up, as its a bit of a chore.

I have a planted tank with shrimps, dwarf plecs and siamese algae eaters.

I have a Juwel Rio 180 with a Bioflow 3.0 filter - will adding an extra filter help much ?


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## Jamie McGrath (14 Oct 2016)

it takes me about two hours each week to do my water change and clean my filter out and im probably messing about in there every day. During this time I also prune the plants if they need it and check all my other equipment is working okay. You must dedicate some time to aquarium maintenance if you want a chance of success, you must also be prepared to spend time on your equipment, and to check how you plants and fish are doing. There are not really any shortcuts and if you rush things it can cause problems or kill fish. In my experience the only things that happen really fast are problems like algae blooms or dying plants.
I hope you dont lose patients and keep with the hobby, with hard work comes good rewards. Or you could fork out lots of money and pay a shop to come round and preform routine maintenance for you.


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## kadoxu (14 Oct 2016)

Automatic water changes is a thing, if you have the space and money or DIY skills


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## Jamie McGrath (14 Oct 2016)

What are automatic water changes then?


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## kadoxu (14 Oct 2016)




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## PARAGUAY (15 Oct 2016)

If put The Aquascaper George Farmer into search check George's Vlog videos look for Holiday Prep he simplifies the water change ,handy if you have a garden too


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## k3ch0ng (15 Oct 2016)

That automatic drip system looks like a good idea, only problem is the big bulky buckets. Is there no way to clean the water and recycle it back in ?

I've seen a few tanks like this on kickstarter "...no filter cleaning or water changes..."

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/avo/avo-the-self-cleaning-tropical-fish-tank

I'm guessing these systems only work on small tanks ?


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## kadoxu (16 Oct 2016)

k3ch0ng said:


> That automatic drip system looks like a good idea, only problem is the big bulky buckets. Is there no way to clean the water and recycle it back in ?
> 
> I've seen a few tanks like this on kickstarter "...no filter cleaning or water changes..."
> 
> ...


Hum... It smells fishy to me... (Pun intended)


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## dw1305 (16 Oct 2016)

Hi all,





k3ch0ng said:


> I'm guessing these systems only work on small tanks ?


They don't work on any tanks.

cheers Darrel


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## k3ch0ng (16 Oct 2016)

Is this aquaponics stuff BS too ?


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## dw1305 (16 Oct 2016)

Hi all,





k3ch0ng said:


> Is this aquaponics stuff BS too


 No, it isn't BS, but it is a very specific set of circumstances. You would have no chance of keeping the goldfish in that tank without the aquaponics element.

<"Planted trickle filters"> are the Rolls Royce of filters.  You also get a lot of  evaporation from them, so in the video you are actually having some _de facto_ water changes. Plants with access to aerial CO2 aren't CO2 limited and can make use of all the nutrients available to them.  You can see how healthy the Cucumber plant looks, it is getting plenty of nitrogen.

Densely planted tanks with floating or emergent plants (and particularly tanks with planted trickle filters) are much more stable and resilient than non-planted ones, but all tanks need water changes. 

Have a look at <"Walstad Revises">.

cheers Darrel


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