Re: NANFA-- RE: diseased sunfish
Mysteryman (bestfish_at_alaweb.com)
Tue, 22 Apr 2003 11:26:41 -0700
unclescott wrote:
>
> > I usually change 100 % in breeding tanks or species tanks (mostly killis)
> every week. With young fishes I do this 2 to 7 times a week depending on
> species and size. My philosophie is that fish are the healthier the more
> frequent water changes they get (with some limited exceptions for highly
> specialized fish from not-running biotopes).
>
> Hello Steffen!
>
> When I hear of someone making 100% water changes my thoughts range from
> admiration to jealousy to a little bit of apprehension. The first two
> emotions are my problem, but I've a question pertaining to the third.
>
> In the tanks in which you change 100% of the water, do you have filtration
> and/ or gravel and plants which would hold most of the beneficial bacteria?
> I recall reading somewhere that most such bacteria actually does not reside
> in the water, but on tank sides and presumably upon any other physical
> structure. On the other hand, there was a fish care book written some time
> back which warned that large water changes (presumably in bare tanks) might
> actually reverse the nitrogen cycle.
>
> I would assume that frequent massive changes from the same water supply
> would not allow the water's chemistry to change so significantly as to shock
> the tank's residents. I've just never had the nerve and the time/ resources
> to maintain such a regimen.
>
> By the way, a number of killinuts were dismayed some time back to discover
> that your killie book issued by Barron's was no longer being printed. It was
> terrifically handy to pack an extra copy or two and when a person new to
> killies would repeat the magic question, "Do you know where I could get a
> good introduction to killies?" to pop a copy of "Killifish; A Complete Pet
> Owner's Manual" out of a brief case or fish box and present it to them. :)
>
> All the best!
>
> Scott
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The trick to 100% water changes is doing it often. That way, as you
surmised, the water chemistry remains largely the same. The bacteria of
course live in the filter and on all the surfaces in the tank, so
changing the water doen't really affect them.
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org