Why, How Much and How Often Should You Do Water Changes In An Aquarium?

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[KGTropicals]

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[Manix-balu]

Followed Father Fish channel, now I have deep substrate and heavily planted aquarium which houses 15+ fishes. Running without a water change for past 3 months. I test the quality every few days. Zero bad elements, I just do top up's when required.

[popculture]

Dirty tank water is an awesome plant fertilizer. I do a 25% water change every two weeks, and I pour the water straight onto my potted plants and flower beds. Works great!

[DrSleep-epcw]

I always feel I've done a Godly thing when I do water changes, I get a proud feeling of accomplishment and it makes me happy to see my fish happy, as always thanks for your videos.

[dwightking]

I do water change weekly. And I'll tell you I always look forward to Saturdays for water change after the stressful weekdays work. Yeah, it's weirdly therapeutic and subtle fun 😁

[Jason-legit]

I just started getting into the hobby with my kids. We are definitely newbies and have a lot to learn. Got ourselves a 13 gallon tank and a few neon tetras to start it off with and all the basic equipment. Just subscribed to your channel. I've been watching a lot of fish channels on here, but I have to say you are doing an excellent job breaking down the basics for us newcomers. Clear and precise advice and direction. Making it so much easier and giving us hope that we can enjoy this hobby and not be totally overwhelmed by a lot of new info. I feel more confident about testing and water changes. Thanks, we'll be watching!

[kezzstar]

Gardening and fish keeping go hand in hand. I change water every week when it's time to water the plants. My flowers are so pretty ^_^

[Soliloquist]

As someone who very quickly and somewhat impulsively got an aquarium, every single one of my questions have been answered on your videos! Thank you thank you!!

[michellelaroche]

No better feels than seeing your fish have vibrant colors and that sheen they get when they are happy with the water!!

[JonathanAmar]

Bought my first fish tank. Let it cycle through and tested it and now have some tiger barbs and gouramis. These videos have been incredibly helpful. Had no idea how much work went into this hobby but I'm enjoying every second! Thanks so much and keep up the great work!

[aquariumfanatic]

I love this video, it makes so much sense! I recently discovered this info for myself. I've been avidly keeping fish (mostly bettas) since 2017, and always did bi-weekly 25% or 50% water changes religiously. I've always had live plants, and my tanks have all been heavily planted (they all look like crazy jungles at this point!), so my nitrate has always been super low. It hardly ever goes above 5ppm, but I was seeing so many people say that frequent water changes are mandatory or your fish WILL die, so I did the water changes anyway. Due to some health issues recently, there was a point where I was not able to do much maintenance at all for about a month. I was so paranoid that it would jack up my parameters, but to my surprise, the nitrate never changed. I would've done water changes had they been necessary, but since the parameters were good, I decided it was okay to relax. I had heard a couple people online talking about the less is more method of water changes, so I decided to try it and see what would happen. The longer I went without water changes, the healthier my plants were, and my fish actually seemed happier, they got so much more colorful! It's now been about 5 months since my last water change on any of my tanks (I have two 10 gallons, one 20 gallon, and a 7.5 gallon), and my parameters are all still stable, and my plants and fish are thriving! I still do regular filter maintenance (I have sponge filters) and top off the tanks when they need it, but otherwise it seems like the less I mess with the tanks, the better they do. I am planning on doing water changes this week though, because I use IAL in my tanks, and they get messy and leave this brown sludge at the bottom of the tank as the leaves break down. I know it's good for the fish, and my snails and shrimp do eat some of it, but it looks gross to me. But anyway, all of this to say that I agree with this video 100%; if your nitrates are high, do a water change. If they're not high, you can leave it. The more live plants you have, the more nitrates they consume, therefore less maintenance is required!

[feralon]

I am personally a person who needs a routine, weekly 50% water changes happen on all of my tanks at once. I find that if I try to do the test kits and wait I find myself forgetting which tanks have been tested and what tanks need what. So it is in the best interest of my sanity to just grab the python and go around changing all of the water every week. I turn on my favorite fish tubers and get it done.

[MarkySerenada]

This is the BEST dummy guide to doing aquarium water changes. No overtalking, no added BS, just simple and practical facts. Thank you so much for this!!!

[starla]

Just purchased a used 30 gallon. I'm so happy I found your channel. I definitely needed the water change video.

[scottloessin]

I don’t have a tank yet but I was concerned about the maintenance. You make so much sense in your video. Thank you. I feel better and will go forward with my setup.

[andymillard]

I am so glad I stumbled on this video. It was so helpful because my Nitrates got out of hand. My wife bought me an aquarium last August for my 55th birthday. She was against them but knew I wanted one. I’m in the learning stage with my eye on planning for a 50-60 gallon tank in a year or so. Thanks again!

[lillyblomqvist]

Really love the animations! I'm 31 and have had aquariums for a long time and I still find it very educational! Well done!

[tylergolden]

WATER CONDITIONER IS BEYOND IMPORTANT!! I’ve owned and raised fish for 21 of my 26 years of life. This is such a important step. Lost so many fish in my beginning stages of learning fish care. I have a 13 year old koi now. He’s my homie. I also started doing water conditioners 13 years ago. Coincidence I think not lol. Kg is such a good platform for learning proper fish care!! Heck I’ve learned so much from them and I consider myself a expert. Thank you for your very valid opinions on the fish keeping industry guys!!

[livencali]

I love the way you explain things. Makes it so practical and illustrated. I've subscribed as I recently purchased my first fish aquarium 29 gallons and will be getting guppies, platies and mollies.

[beckyrupp]

Another GREAT video!! I love how you provide specific information and details in a no-nonsense approach. You definitely help make fish-keeping so fun, especially for us beginners!! Thank you so much for all the time you spend teaching and sharing your passion. 🤗