Hello everyone =) I would like to clarify that that point of the video isnt to completely stop doing water changes. But to maybe think about how doing too many water changes may actually hurt your aquarium. I feel too many people rush to do water changes when something doesnt seem right. There are many variables and nothing is absolute. But outside of huge ammonia or nitrate spikes water changes may not be the answer to your problems.

I only do a small water change when my houseplants need water 😆

I'd like to chime in with what has worked for me. I started in the 60's and followed all kinds of advice from the so called experts. People aren't going to like this... You NEED test kits. Once your tank goes through the beginning cycling stage your goal is to have an established/seasoned tank. Which is nothing more than the tank staying stable with minimal intervention from the hobbyist. As the water in a tank ages the chemistry changes. First off, DON'T chase a different pH keep it the same as your source water such as your tap. Here's where the test kits come in and why they are important. GH is important for fish and plants. KH is important for fish and plants plus helps stabilize pH. The older your tank water those minerals get removed from the life in the tank. With the lowered minerals and addition of waste your pH will drop. Seems like everyone only monitors the nitrates and panics if it's 40 or higher. Monitoring nitrates are fine but pH is really important too. Let's say you test your water every week. The nitrates are 20ppm but your pH dropped from 7.0 to 6.6. Time for a water change! Let's say your GH changed from 5 to 2, water change. Same for KH. Once you learn when after testing for weeks one of those changes you'll get an idea how often to change your water. Think of driving your car. You should check your dip stick occasionally. People already figured out for you how often to change your oil. Well that's what you have to do, figure out how often to change your water. Hench the need for test kits. I tried to keep the explanation simple without any science thrown in. 😉

I have been in hobby for 45 years and have learned when my tanks need one. In my experience its not that often. I top off with aged water, not straight from the tap. I literally have had no trouble in all those years. Key, don’t overcrowd. Beginners tend to do just that.

Ahhh, I always forget to say it all! Some additional context, and talking points I missed, for todays video: • I have 30+ aquariums and ponds ranging from 2-300 gallons • These have been set up anywhere from 2 days to 2+ years • They vary in stocking from oscars to nano communities, from shrimp to larger communities, planted nanos, blackwater tanks, breeding tanks, quarantine tanks. From 20+ fish in a 40 gallon community to a dozen Corydoras in a 200g pond. I have solo bettas in 2 gallon established planted nanos and solo bettas in 20g tanks less than one month old. 2 sets of oscars at two different ages in 2 different size tanks with different levels of filtration. • I have deep well water, in the woods - high GH, low to medium KH, and low PH. I need stable water and seasoned tanks for healthy fish. •• All this variety and countless variables, and I was giving them ALL a 40% water change every 5-7 days, treating them all the same (obv. Some variables). • More often for tanks where the fish would be struggling, 'solution is dilution'. With my water source parameters, heavy dilution in newer or bare bottom tanks would cause more harm than good, quarantine tank or not. • I do manual, hose/phython water cbanges. • I was living in water change jail and was ddyyiiinnggg As I had to prioritize the other tasks of the fishroon, I peeled away from that standard and started focusing on the priorities based off the individual tank and have hap hazardly build a schedule around that. All the while feeling guilty I was 'behind'...and yet my problem tanks aren't problems anymore. I am able to enjoy the tanks and make forward progress more. Every tank should be treated as it's own to a certain degree, with the fish types and their compatibilities in mind. With your life and capabilities in mind. Variables on variables on variables....long story short, there isn't just one way to do it, ever. Find the way that works for you, your fish, their tank(s)sssss), and build a routine around that. Routine I think is as important or more than frequency in terms of any care. Happy Sunday all!

THANK YOU for this video!!! I was feeling guilty for not changing my water frequently! I realized top offs were working when I noticed my tank flourishing, fish growing and popping color. I'm still a beginner and this made me feel so much better about my fish care. You guys rock!

20% water change every week with a light gravel vac. No live plants in any of my tanks yet...that will change soon, but my tanks are fully cycled, and the water has remained excellant. My first aquarium in 1974, I had a lot of less than success. That being said, 46 yrs later, 99.9% of my fish deaths are of old age🙂👍🏻 Excellant video! Gives me hope I can learn the video magic too. My first and only video a couple of days ago, shows I need to do a lot more work! Thanks so much.

I think it all comes down to what's in each tank. Fake vs real plants, stocking, ect. My water change schedule varies from tank to tank. Testing water isn't something I do a whole lot of anymore, I can pretty much look at my tanks and know when it needs something. That comes with 30+ years in the hobby though. It works for me.

The place in San Francisco was extremely heavly planted. I think for beginners measuring parameters is important and adding fish slowly to a cycled tank. You cant just say don't do a water change without understanding what is going on in the quarium. Most beginners don't even cycle a tank and over stock causing ammonia and nitrite spikes. Keep an eye on filtration if the filters a extremely dirty the beneficial bacteria isn't going to survive in the areas. Example is to not wait until your sponge filters are completely clogged before cleaning them. It is extremely important to measure parameters when beginning and watching your stocking. Of you breed guppies and your tank gets overstocked then you may need to up your notrifying bacteria filtration or increase water changes. I saw this youtuber say that one sponge filter does the same amount of filtration as two and that's not a hundred percent true. It depends on your stocking. One sponge filter can only hold so much bacteria where of having a stock size adequate for one sponge filter, then yes the youtubers statement would be true, however, if your stocking is more than what one sponge filter can handle (housing an amount of beneficial bacteria) than one would house as much as two. There's alot that goes into the chemistry of tanks and we need to be careful when over simplifying things. I thing you did a great job explaining this.

100% agree - I have three nano aquariums and one mid size - all heavily planted and with snails, shrimp and small tetras/endlers. Used to change my water every weekend and lost many shrimp/fish/plants. Now I perform a 30% water change every 5-6 weeks and everything is flourishing. I live in London UK. Thank you for your channel - great advice and content.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. When I first started back into the hobby, I was in several groups and it was like, oh you need to do a water change, repeatedly. I was driving myself nuts!!! And I did not remember all of this hulabalue 25yrs ago when I was in the hobby. So I cycled my tanks and sit back and watch and enjoy them, instead of pulling my hair out!!!!

Glad you clarified at the end that you shouldn't stop doing water changes completely. Been in the hobby for 30 years and water changes should always be determined by the chemistry and stock of your tank. I have a 150gal heavily planted tank that gets a water change every 4-6 months, because the plants use up most of the nitrates. Most of my other tanks gets a partial water change every 4-6 weeks though. And yes, after three decades of fishkeeping, I've become adept at being able to tell when the chemistry is off, but I still use a test kit to verify.

My secret to success is water changes, BUT almost all my tanks are heavily stocked. If I don't keep up with the water changes, I start getting black beard algae. I'm also breeding Longfin Super Red Plecos, so lots of them in their tanks with lots of food and poop, causes bb algae there also w/o weekly water changes. I had to get an RO unit because our well went crazy high with nitrates, so would love to not have to do them, but until I can reduce my stock level it doesn't seem to work for me.

People do mess to much and bring about issues. But how about that heavily stocked tank with no plants (typical African Cichlid set up) with tons of ammonia production? There is a risk (possible errors) with water changes and that is the down side of too frequent water changes. Good topic.

I hate all the confusion. I was doing monthly . Then when asking about some issues was chided about how infrequent it was. When I moved I switched to weekly. Then I ended up selling my tank because I didn’t have a good place in my apartment for water changes. Between health problems/ disability and confusion in the hobby I felt it was best to put a pause on the hobby. I hope someday to get back into it.

Comparing yourself to the fish store pulling bags of water out all day and topping off but "never doing water changes" (despite actually doing constant changes) is like comparing yourself to that breeder. The point is you need to learn why you do what you do and figure out what works instead of trying to emulate someone with a totally different situation.

I want to add too that once I learned what the cycle was I already had a betta. I did daily water changes for that little guy and the tank would not cycle. I finally gave up on that the tank cycled pretty quick. Since then I dose with prime daily, use some sort bb booster, and I do not touch the water for ammonia or nitrites if for some reason a cycle crashes. That’s the advice I’ve been giving and it was finally confirmed a few times that I was right.

So glad you brought this up. I stopped doing regular, scheduled water changes years ago. Top offs, maybe 25% change every couple of months if that. I have plants, deep substrates, and pothos in most of my tanks. Fish are healthy, plants are thriving, algae is almost non existent. My houseplants also thrive on sporadic trims and watering only when they are bone dry. Let nature do it's thing peeps, it knows far better than we ever will. 👍💓👍

Weekly 20% water changes, heavily planted dirtied tank, medium stocking with Endlers, add ferts EI method. Everything great, no algae, no fish issues, plants healthy. Interesting video. I agree every tank is different according to fish kept, stocking levels, local all water parameters. Can’t beat a mature tank as you say. Don’t get the aquascapers at all. I would hate to keep tearing down a tank once it’s settled, a mature tank is a joy!

I like it when I see a video that goes against common fish keeping convention. I have a 10 gallon betta tank. No plants other than 3 small marimo balls. I've had the tank for 2 months and have only done 3 water changes. I also rinse my sponges in tap water. I test weekly. All is well. Thank you for justifying my young fish keeping routine.

My lfs owner told me he hasn’t did a water change on his saltwater tanks since 2000 when he set them up he just tops of the tanks from evaporation and he just tops off his fresh water tanks as well unless he has sick fish !

I been fish keeping for 25+ yrs .. I only ever surface vac (if seriously needed) & top off ! unless moving fish. *Touch wood* my fish DONT get sick or 'just die' . ●i think it's great you've posted this video and you may cop alot of positive but also negative differences of opinions by other fish keepers, but im with you guys on this one👍

I fell back in love with the hobby when I quit doing weekly water changes. I found (through water testing for the initial few months, I don't test anymore) that a larger aquarium (say 40g plus) with adequate filtration (biological mainly) that my nitrates stayed under 20ppm when I kept the stocking reasonable. For example I have a 75g with an aquaclear 110 full of rings and a ziss bio filter, the stocking is 2 schoudenti puffers, a pea puffer, 4 gobies, 20+ pigmy Cory's, 1 bristlenose, 1 blue phantom pleco. I feed flake in the AM and feed frozen (heavly) in the PM and I change water once every 6 to 8 weeks or when the plants get a little brown algea goin on. I maintain my mom's 75 gal with the same filter combo and the tank is stocked with 3 large fancy goldfish and several ramshorn snails, the nitrates stay below 15ppm always. I change water every 4 to 5 weeks because the filter needs the gunk cleaned (big goldfish=big poops) not so much because it actually needs a water change. My reef does require a biweekly water change just to keep the minerals balanced, but it's 1 tank so not so bad.

This great for reaffirming a conclusion I recently arrived at. After a year or so back in the hobby I was starting to realize I was doing water changes because I liked doing them rather than the fact they were really needed! Also, house plants would prefer if we quit messing with them so much and let them settle in and do their thing!

I do 50% weekly on my tanks. I feed too often and don’t run live plants. I only keep Tanganyikan cichlids so the most I have is Val

Salt tank 12 years 7x2 feet surface area. Divided tank into 6 sections. Weekly sucked gravel in one section and 10 % water change weekly. It took 6 weeks to suck the crushed gravel substrate. Nitrates stayed low. Cleaned filters alternate weeks, never all on same week. A part of the tank was cleaned weekly.

Justin at Ocean Aquarium in SF has lightly populated small tanks with deep sand beds. Feeds4x/week. He uses diatomite filters for bigger tanks with larger fish like angels. I monitor growth of plants and bacteria. People get idea from breeders like Mike Hellweg who use minimal plants. Have test strips and kit but don't really use them. Got my first tank in 1960. Seat of the pants

I find it's all about balance. My nitrates have reached a level where they usually stay the same due to the plants. At the same time, my substrate becomes dirty quickly and algae starts growing without some water changes and gravel vacuuming. This leads to more problems down the road if not addressed, and I find gravel vacuuming during a water change helps. It's also a good opportunity to clean the canister filter and replace the filter pads. Also, my plants seem to do better with occasional water changes, which I believe has to do with replenishing some of those nutrients after they've been used up. But I have to be careful not to do too much. My substrate buffers my pH to about 6.8. Which used to be similar to my tap water, so it wasn't a huge deal, but my tap water pH has jumped to 8.4. So now I have to prepare my water in advance, using peat to get the pH as close as possible. This is a huge headache and makes me not ever wanna go through the trouble. It also means because the tap water is now so different, I can end up doing much more harm than good if not careful and doing water changes in moderation.

Love this- I am turning into a water change warrior. I started a year ago with no one telling me a tank has to be cycled all the way to I’m breeding a bunch of fish including guppies, mollies, corydoras and medaka and my seasoned tanks are practically bullet proof at this point. Embrace the mulm and “dirty” water that actually has perfect stable parameters

I’ve been in the hobby for 2 years. I used to do weekly water changes. Few months ago I stopped doing water changes and just top off and my aquariums have been doing amazing.

I had a guppy and a frog die in a 20 gallon with 12 white cloud mountain minnows. They literally disintegrated. Didn't change the water and all the minnows are still alive. Lots of plants and a deep substrate. Stopped doing weekly water changes. Now do monthly. All my tanks are 6 to 8 months old. I started in the hobby 8 months ago. That 20 G is a green water tank.

I have 3 planted tanks with soil. I only did water changes initially to remove excess nutrients in the water column or tannins from driftwood. I’ve also added a top layer of sand to create an anaerobic layer (which devour nitrates) thanks to the insights of Father Fish and now when I test the tank parameters, they are great. I may do a teensy water change now and then when I do a major trim on plants but I mostly just top off.

I use test strips and change water only as needed, been doing it that way since the mid 90’s

I have a heavily planted, appropriately stocked 55 gallon that I do very small water changes (10-15%) with very light gravel vac twice a month. As long as I stay on top of my sponge filters, changing my filter floss, and not over feeding... the tank is pretty good on its own without massive water changing. My heavily planted shrimp tank never gets water changes. I only top off every now and again. My shrimp have been happy and healthy! I loved this video. Seeing people chase water parameters drives me crazy!

I have an African Cichlid tank that does require water changes every few weeks. My other tank is a 20 gallon with guppies and shrimp that has only had top offs since November and the shrimp are breeding like crazy, happy tank.

I was doing 10% once weekly + top off for 3 or so weeks and then I decided it wasn't necessary and clearly made things worse, especially when you see the bacteria bloom after the water change. Now I'm only going to do a water change if the test results change to a less favorable level. I think I'm just going to be doing top offs unless the testers tell me a change is needed. Once I add more fish to my tank this might change. We will see!

Well said Bob! Around my house it depends on who feeds the fish as to how often I have to change the water.

I just posted about this under another video - In my early fish-keeping years I think I lost more fish prematurely by being too diligent with water changes and general cleaning, it doesn't hurt the fish if the tank gets grungy once in a while if you're too tired, sick or depressed to keep on top of things, as I've been for a few years. I think it helps to keep fish that are suited to your water. I have really hard water so I try to keep fish that thrive in that, if I were to keep low ph lovers I'd constantly be fussing and tweaking the water, it seems like trying to put a square peg in a round hole so why not make life easier for yourself and have a greater chance of success. Just leaving things well alone and topping off has been working really well for me and my fish.

I have 6 tanks all are seasoned now, I do monthly changes on my 40gallon planted tank but it’s a bit heavier stocked, I think I’ve gone 2 or 3 months on few of my other tanks just topping them off with zero issues, I have guppy grass and water lettuce in those tanks and whenever I test everything is always good.

Also notice that many of the so called never water change outfits have a huge connected system with all the tanks linked up to the same system. And the more water volume one has circulating the more stable it is.

The key factor to a no water change is plants, plants balance the water like it does in nature. I have a nano tank heavily planted and I only do top offs and I have fish that have been in there for over a year, no fertilizer also.

One tank. In a year I have lost two fish. They were given to me along with the rest of an established tank. I feared I would lose all but even those two lived almost a year. A Zebra with a hump back and a too shy black tetra. I only feed about every three days. My plants are beautiful and the snail population stable. No water changes in close to a year.

I honestly have never been able to do weekly water changes. Lol. I spent a lot of time testing each tank and getting to know it though. Every so often I pick a tank and follow parameters daily to learn what’s going on on that tank, with those fish, and those plants. I will say I heard you say one time to do water changes for the plants. I though air was just getting trapped and landing on plants but they were pearling. So, now when I feel plant growth is slowing I do a water change to remineralize. I did confirm this by testing ph, gh, and kh regularly and now I really can just tell when I need to do something. It’s awesome.

4 fancy tail goldfish bare 60g tank weekly water changes. 50g tank 2 fancy tail goldfish weekly water changes. bare tank. Tanks are 3 and 4 yrs set up,back wall algae growth. Thanks for your vids!

I have to be honest in past I have been guilty of doing weekly water changes. but now I only do my over stock tank once a week and just do more water testing to establish a better routine to when that will need water changes. Great subject!

i test to establish a base point. established tanks are a wonder.

I Keep plants and snails in every tank, I breed all my fish in community tanks, I don't even own a test kit, quit using test strips about 4 years ago, and only change maybe 25% water on highly stocked pleco tanks. Has been working well for me.

I’m with you Bob, having QT is important. Years ago I was on the weekly method, now I let the aquarium tell me ( test the water). Usually it’s monthly now.

I haven’t done waterchanges in months. Deep substrate planted tanks and bottom fish and smaller feedings with skipped fasting days

I used to do weekly 50% water changes on all my tanks. I'd notice some of my fish would act odd for a bit afterwards, so went with 30% weekly. Now I top up as needed, and do 50% water changes every 2 weeks or so. Most of my tanks have sand and plants, so I don't vacuum them very often.

I had to laugh at this. I have been breeding cichlids and right now I have nearly 100 in 30 gallons (few plants). I do 50% 3 times a week.

Having a tank full of clown loaches, you should do a weekly water change, for their health and happiness!!

When I got back into the hobby I was keeping goldfish and everything I read preached the importance of multiple water changes per week because goldfish are so dirty, but I’ve found it isn’t necessary unless you are overstocked and power feeding. My non-goldfish tanks are all planted now, but because they are stocked a little heavy I have to do water changes every two to three weeks. The plants do the rest. Test strips are a game changer as well. I could never get the liquid test to accurately read nitrates even after beating the bottle to heck and back. You definitely have to learn your tanks, because each one is different. Thank you, Bob, for this video. More tubers should expose water changes like this.

I change water based on the tank. I’ve managed to balance quite a few of my tanks. Those can go months without a water change. I have others that need water changed every week [goldfish] or every 2 weeks.

Had to leave the country for a whole month, had friends take care of my aquariums and fish, made it easy for them with less feeding schedules and no water changes and when I came back everything was fine. Really made me question the whole weekly water change debacle.

I stopped doing water changes and gravel vacuuming. Only top off and feed weekly and my tank is fantastic and stable. Also haven't tested in years...

I do a 50 percent water change on all my tanks once a week and I have all bare bottom tanks. I do them to give the fish fresh water whether they need it or not. I don't test water either

A note. I kept a 30 gal tank for years with monthly changes but my water was so hard I started getting bad calcium buildup. That’s the only reason I do weekly changes.

I keep my 55g a little heavy on the stock and I do a 10-15 gallon water change every three weeks. My plants love the nitrates and as long as the ammonia and nitrite are down it’s not an issue.

I used to do weekly water changes but I now have a shell dweller aquarium and I only do water changes when I clean my canister filter every 2-3 weeks and do a little gravel vac on the sand

Been keeping fish for over 40 years. Hardly ever change water and I don't even know where my test strips are. Nearly 20 tanks are going strong. Oh yeah, you don't really need heaters either.

every other week or so I will vacuum the gravel pulling about 10 to 15%of the water. my tank is a little on the heavy side and other than one loss within the first few weeks they have all been doing well (I think she may have had something when i got her).

I'm not sure you can generalise to that extent, water changes are dependent on a number of different factors. The example you gave of the tank that has had no water changes for 20 years is Father Fish. What you should have clarified is that this tank has a 10 inch deep dirted substrate bed. The whole tank has masses of plants and the stocking level of fish is not that high. The amount of beneficial bacteria living is that much substrate is far greater than you will get in the biggest bestest canister filter. The bioload of the plants eats ammonia and nitrate at a huge rate. The water quality will remain good almost indefinitely. At the other end of the scale I have seen a video of somebody keeping discus in a bare bottomed tank with no decoration and no plants, effectively it is just a glass box and it contains nothing but water and fish. The surface area for the bacteria to grow is restricted to just the glass. He is doing a 50% water change 3 times a day and with that set-up he's probably right to do so. Most of us are not keeping fish in such extremes. we fall somewhere between the two. I have a 100 gallon tank which is 6 feet long. It contains 8 large discus plus numerous other fish too. It is nowhere near maximum stocking capacity. It also has a dirted substrate, not 10 inches deep but 4-6 inches. It contains driftwood for the plecos and has so many plants that it looks like a jungle at times, I have to prune them every week. I have frogbit floating on the surface, every week I thin them out so that I only have about 10% of the surface covered. By the time a week has passed it virtually covers the entire tank.The fact that they grow so fast is an indication of how much ammonia, nitrite and nitrate they are sucking out of the water column. I still do a 15% water change every week but I'm sure that I could reduce this considerably.

I like to only water change a tank that has over stocked fish or over feeding when Nitrates are not being removed by my plants.

I knew what he meant and what for and I've only been keeping fish for 10 months. I also cycled a 75g with a boat load of fish in it! I water changed every other day! No problems with it. Hmm, I guess you could say I used my brain like I did when the video came out.... Now I top off because every time I tried to vaccum the gravel there wasn't much to pick up. I have tons of plants too.

I havent done water changes in over a yr lol. Though I have plants in every aquatic setup. I just do water ''Top Offs''. One time my Danube crested newts climbed out of the water after moving them from a 20gal to a 40gal, I thought if i moved all the plants and sponge filter over Id be good. I was wrong, like he said, sometimes it takes months(maybe 6) before a new setup is really considered to be settled in.

All of my tanks are heavy planted. I do 10-14 day 25% water changes. The one exception is my 10 gal. I just top off. It has been up for over a year. Mulm and stuff is on the bottom but the fish are fine. I do water changes because that is what I read, told and became accustom to doing. Maybe I'll try going 3 weeks without changes and see what will happen. All tanks except one have double filters. Why, I want nice clean clear water.

I have a 75 gallon bowfront community tank. It's been running for years with only a few actual "water changes". We top off. Just tested my tank today and the numbers are still perfect!

I do water changers once a week. Use prime at correct dose. I vac every time and clean filter every two weeks. I have all Nano tanks and I do believe the water should be changed so to loss of nutrients in the water that is lost if you wait too long between water changes. Also I hate detritus worms. Thanks for the video. I haven’t had trouble abs I test the water regularly.

Depending on the conditions!!! Heavily stocked, heavily fed, plants, type of filtration, pre filters, filtration cleaning schedule, gravel vacuuming, substrate type, and the list goes on. I’m the old-timer with some tanks up and running for over 25 years. My clown loaches are 14. My various Rainbows are 7. I do 90% - you read that right - every two weeks. A few planted tanks, mostly not. My shrimp tanks probably go 2-3 months with a 30% water change. Tanks without earth eaters or other diggers get vacuumed every 4-6 weeks. Run mostly canisters and a few hobs. Split filtration on bigger tanks - one canister for bio and one for mechanical. Prefilters everywhere that get TOTALLY cleaned with the high pressure garden hose every water change. Remove stuff before it has a chance to break down is the key. I can tell by the algae that starts to grow when I am overdue. Water changes are your friend! In lightly stocked, planted tanks you can go longer than two weeks. Each tank is different. In my opinion, anything less than a 50% change is a waste of time. TFH (Tropical Fish Hobbyist) did a study a few years ago called water change math. They came to the same conclusion. Test your water and learn the rate of nitrate accumulation for each tank. Base your changes on that. And lastly... more cat please!

My tank is 4 months old. 2 more months and we are seasoned! I do water changes every two weeks in my twenty long with 60 platies but pearlweed cover half the tank so they help a lot.

Great video guys. I'm lucky if I change water once a month in my 9 tanks. If I don't lose a fish in the 1st week of owning it they generally live their full life. I rarely use test kits. I only use the strips if the behaviour of the fish changes or I add something that might change the water chemistry. My brother was constantly changing water and chasing levels (pH, GH KH etc) and was constantly losing fish. Since I told him to stop messing around he's had hardly any losses.

Thanks for this video! It's a good one to share with beginners who are bombarded with contradictory information. I like the new terms "Seasoned Tank" as I think it perfectly descriptive. For instance, on my Seasoned Planted (no EI) 90 G, I find that I can do less and less WC - you and cory helped me feel less guilty about that! :) On my new 72 Planted (No EI), I am having what I now know are start- up issues - hair algae in particular, but also excessive tannins, and I find that regular weekly WCs help me feel more in control. Having the idea that I'm working toward Seasoned Tank Time is very helpful - Great Video!

I never do water changes on my 55 gallon, only top it off. It’s been running about 4 years. No problems!

I change water based off the individual aquarium. My 40 gallon with a heavy fish load and growing fry gets weekly water changes. My paludarium gets a water change every 3-4 weeks but could probably go longer with a the plant growth.

My 20 Gal tank is about 8 months old with 10 tetras and about 10-12 crystal red shrimp, 1 Otocinclus that's about 2 months old and a Mystery snail that's about 7 months old. Also I have tons of java moss and a couple plants like Swords. I do about a 15% change once a month. My tank flourishes with no hair algae or anything. I have never chased after any kind of numbers. My TDS is at a steady 200-212 when ever I check. And my paper stick kit is always in the good if not great in the little colored boxes. I learned from my first tank I had to not do to many water changes, especially gravel vacing, as it messes with the biology and can cause more damage than letting your substrate get a little dirty.

I only do water changes when the bio load out weighs my plants' ability to process it. I have a total of 11 tanks and only do small water changes on 2 because they are overstocked.

I set up all my tanks as dirted tanks and one of the reasons I’d eventually I have won’t have to do many water changes. I live in Barbados and we got a lot of ash from St Vincent recently I have my tanks outside. Since then to had all of them covered and haven’t done any water changes the water cleared up the fish are thriving on e the tanks are cycled you don’t have to do as much also I don’t use any filter or air stone .

I just top mine off if I siphon any water out its usually to suck algae out. The longer they go the better they get.

I only change water when my nitrates are high. Which is on probably every 3 months or so. I have a lot of plants and they do all the work. I also have bottom dwellers and heaps of snails. I've never cleaned my glass for over 8 years.

I do 10-15% water changes in my 30 gal every 1-2 weeks depending on how busy I am. I do notice algae start to grow once I stop doing water changes. I once went 3 weeks without doing water changes and the fish were fine, but so was the algae.

That’s exactly what happened to me! Now my tanks are heavily planted and I just rinse the filters in water I take from their tanks and top them off and they never looked better.

THANK YOU!!!! I've been keeping fish for most of my life. Years ago, unless you were a show breeder, we virtually never did water changes, only did top offs. I don't know where this trend of weekly or even more frequent water changes has come from. I get that tank size and stocking does matter, of course. Bigger cichlid tanks and that are heavily stocked will likely need to have water changes more often. But average tanks for average hobbyists just don't need to have water changes that often.

Great topic and info! I usually do weekly 10 to 15% water changes as not all my tanks have live plants and some have heavy stocking levels. I test for Nitrates weekly and don't chase other parameters my water is super hard and PH is a stable 7.8 in all 9 tanks. I don't have any issues with my fish they breed like crazy (endlers/platys/mollies) and my amano shrimp, CPD's, BNP and Bettas etc are long lived and healthy. I set up two cherry shrimp breeding colonies out of 12 shrimp I lost 2 in the past 6months and I see a few berried females( I think this is successful so far) any suggestions? I started cutting back to 2 monthly water changes on my heavily planted tanks though. I think my biggest secret's of success are patience I don't buy fish often and when I do they go into my quarantined tank for a month I also don't overfeed I keep things simple I also believe quality filtration is a must.

I've been told by other FishTubers to do them weekly... I have heavily planted tanks (jungles) and I just top them off (and where I live, the evaporation rate is very high), even with them covered). Unless I need to rinse out the filter media, which is about once a month because I use low-flow filters which tend to stop flowing after a month plant debris getting sucked in. Even then, I remove only about a pitcher full, just enough to rinse out the media. I got tired of testing my water every week with results always being well within the the limits. There seemed little reason to do weekly water changes so I just stopped doing since when they clearly weren't needed. If disturb a tank by trimming plants, moving hardscape or planting new plants, then I will do a partial water change. And only because I stir up a lot of mulm. Did I mention I don't ever gravel vac? That doesn't seem necessary, either, and is impractical since I use stratum for planted tanks.

I read... wastes are not the only reason water needs to be changed. You will have trace elements and minerals in the water which are important to the health of your fish as well as the stability of the water. The lack of trace minerals will eventually affect the health of the fish, essential trace elements/minerals are replaced when a water change is performed... Is this true?

I have no choice I have an overstocked cichlids tank .I bought an algae scrubber added pothos plants around tank. Nitrates still high. Going to add more plants in future .do weekly water changes, fish seem happy after water changes , everything is routine . I would be nice to reduce water changes in the future but I doubt it will happen

I totally agree. Fish love steady parameters. They hate change

once it's cycled, I just suck up junk on the floor when I see it. if nitrates are high, I'll just add in more plants that feed from the column

I do weekly even though I have excellent parameters to clean the glass and suck out the poop , I always say stick to whatever works best for the person , nice video.

Hi my water testing kit still says not cycled.. I'm doing everything right it says do 25 to 50% water change every 2 weeks on the pro scan JBL app to help the cycle tank.. Coz my levels are to high it doesn't make a difference in the cycle when I do water changes.. I no it takes months but I've got a 58 litters tank for over a month now it still isn't stable enough.. So if my water levels are high what should I do I'm new to this thank you kindly

i do 50% every second monday i find if i go longer then that i start to get a brown algae on my anubias leaves

the "problem" of water exchanges (how often, what percentage) is very complex or complicated ... Depending on the filtration, aquarium volume, biological loading, planted / sterile, you also do water exchanges ... In my opinion...

I've had my new tank for about 2 months, I have cloudy water, my readings are all good , could it be from overfeeding, or bacteria what should I do other than a water change, with gravel vacuuming?

my test kit is my water change. that usually tells me when i need one

I do water changes when nitrates start to climb. Usually in over stoked tanks.

Test kit what are they? Only really need to know if the water is hard or soft for the type of fish you have Multiple water changes a week will do good and help some fish spawn got my black phantom tetras to spawn that way Definitely in shrimp tanks small or no water changes are better my colony started to grow when I slowed down on changes Most people think of shrimp as fish and treat them like that rather than treating them as shrimp 🤔

I found out the hard way. Could not figure out why i had an amonia problem. Cause i was tools and read to do daily water changes to get rid of it. Now i don't know what to do with the nitrate.

I’m a weekly water changer. I dose dry ferts and inject CO2. I think it really depends on your goals. If you want lots of algae-free plant growth, you need to do them. When I ask about maintenance routines of my favorite tanks on the internet, they do 50% every week. The bottom line is that I want an aquarium that looks good. Water changes make my tank look good and rainbows love them, too! Other people are free to do what works for them!

So I have a 20 gal long moderately planted tank with a total of 6 snails who poop A LOT (also 8 ember tetras and shrimp). The tank’s been up since October and my water parameters are always ok by the end of the week but I feel it’s necessary to clean up all the poop which basically equates to a ~25% weekly water change. Is the argument here to just ignore the poop!?!? (As long as my parameters are within normal limits?