How often to do a water change

choward1980 · Mar 13, 2014

I have a niocube 29. How often should I be doing a water change and how many gallons do I need to change

Reefing Madness · Mar 13, 2014

5-10% weekly
Or
10-15% every other week
Or
25% once a month
The water will tell you when you need to change. Or you get into a routine and pick one of the above, doesn't have to be exact. You just need to watch your nitrate levels, or alk and cal numbers, if the alk and cal come down to much and your not going to dose then do a water change, if the nitrates creep up before the alk falls do a water change. But if you let it go to long, and the Trates have risen to high, then you will need to do a few water changes in a row to get them back down.

choward1980 · Mar 13, 2014

Ive been doing a 5 gallon water change every week. Every time I do a water change I have fish die. Am I doing something wrong.

Trex · Mar 13, 2014

What kind of water are you using? Tap or RO/DI ?

How do you go about mixing up your water?

What do you do during your water change?

choward1980 · Mar 13, 2014

I get pre mixed ro di from my LFS. I just turn all my pumps off and take out 5 gallons and pour 5 gallons back in and turn my pumps back on.

Trex · Mar 13, 2014

What is the salinity/SG of their water? What is the salinity/SG of your tank's water?

How quickly do you dump the water back in?

vlangel · Mar 13, 2014

I have a 36g and I also do a 5g WC every week. I never have fish die so that in itself is not the problem. I mix my own and I try to match the temperature and the salinity as close as possible to what is in my tank. That is a good time to check the PH in your tank as well. Generally doing that amount of WC in your size tank should keep a good stable PH though unless something is drastically wrong.

choward1980 · Mar 13, 2014

Tank is 1.026 and new water is 1.024

I dump it all in within about 5 min 1 cup at a time.

vlangel · Mar 13, 2014

It doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong. Are these fish fairly new purchases? Sadly sometimes new fish just fail to make the adjustment to our tanks and the stress of the WC might be what does them in, but often those fish are doomed anyhow.

Trex · Mar 13, 2014

What were the 4 fish that died, what fish do you have remaining?

Was the yellow tang in this 29?

choward1980 · Mar 13, 2014

3 clowns, a clown golby and a lawnmower blemmy. I have a small yellow tang and a small clown in there now with 2 peppermint shrimp. All these fish have not all been on here at the same time. I had 2 clowns that died and I replaced them and the other one died yesterday about 7 hours after a water change.

marine2463 · Mar 13, 2014

Your specific gravity should almost match. Are you doing top offs everyday to keep specific gravity the same? Also temperature and the ph of your premixed water should closely match. I would also try to keep a wave pump going while putting in the water to help circulate. Ounce I have enough water inside I try to run my main pumps before adding the rest of the water

Trex · Mar 13, 2014

Why did the first 2 clowns die?

Have you been using a QT?

If it was 7 hours after the water change, I don't think that was a factor at all --- perhaps a disease

choward1980 · Mar 13, 2014

I'm not sire how they died. I'm not using QT. How do I set one up.

Connie · Mar 13, 2014

In the past I have done a 7 - 10 gallon water change weekly, siphoning the sand bed every other week. The past couple of weeks, however, I have been doing a 7 gallon water change every 3rd day. I can actually see a difference. I'm trying to be a coral whisperer...lol

MatteZ · Mar 13, 2014

It could also be the quality of the water from the lfs.

sbitt79 · Mar 13, 2014

Does this happen everytime you change water? Are you checking the temp of the water? When I do water changes my tank is set at 78. I heat the water change water to this temp also before I change. If your tank is 78 and dump in water that's lets say 68, you could be shocking the fish as well

sbitt79 · Mar 13, 2014

In addition, I wouldn't keep three clowns together. Especially in that size tank. I have a BC 29 have two fish and feel three would be pushing it. They say you should keep single clown or in pairs