[AquaticLife] tank cleaning?
Rob,
The particular tank I referred to with the 5% water change was a species tank. No plants were present, but a number of rockwork and flower pot caves were present. These particular fish in that tank are very sensitive to water changes and rapid changes in water quality., hence the small amount of water changed. I would vacuum as much of the substrate as I could without going over, or much over, the 5% limit (handily marked on the tank with a black marker). Next water change and I would continue with the substrate where I left off. It was a 15 or 20L gallon tank, as I recall.
I believe it was Lenny who mentioned in an earlier post that it is not wise to clean all the substrate at once, so as not to disturb the nitrifying bacteria living in the substrate. While I cannot vouch for the validity of his argument, it makes sense on its face. On most normal tanks, and take my use of normal with a grain of salt, since it may vary with your use of the word in reference to an aquarium, a 10-20% water change should be sufficient..
You mention a problem with nitrates, however, you do not give a measurement of what the nitrates are in your tank, nor do you inform us how long your tank has been in operation. Both are important bits of information in this case along with the readings you have for ammonia and nitrites. Values for nitrate and the others should also be known for your tap water. What you have for nitrates may not be, despite claims to the contrary, be cause for alarm. As with many things in the hobby, there is a lot of wiggle room here. There is much in the way of “rules” in the hobby that are based on faulty science, or no science at all. The further they get from the source and the more they are accepted as gospel, the harder it becomes to erase them from collective memory. Also, this hobby is great for copying, rather than researching, which you will note if you do enough reading of the published materials available. Some of these misconceptions have been around for longer than most of us have been alive. Ray Wetzel may be a better source for this, since his library collection is greater than mine.
\Steve//
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
