# Never doing a water change again.



## King of Hyrule (Apr 29, 2013)

Well almost never.

I've been doing some reading, and learned that with a low tech setup - which mine 29G is, mostly* it's suggested not to do frequent water changes. The water change just upset the natural balance a tank achieves on its own after a while. 

So this week I didn't do my water change as normal. I _did_ test the water. 

pH 6.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40
Phosphor 2.0
GH 6 drops
KH 1 drop

Its hard braking a habit, and I'm a little worried. The fish seem happy, the water seems safe, the area the algae has covered hasn't grown, it might even be shrinking. 

I pruned the plants back, and cut out algae affected leaves in the most effected areas of the tank. It looks like the snails are having an impact on the algae. I'll have bring in more larger snails. (I have a few bigger Rams horn snails, but the dwarf puffer hunts down all the smaller ones) There are effectively only a few sizable snails in the tank. When snails get large enough for the puffer to eat, they are doomed. The Puffer leaves the larger ones along for the most part. 

The bloodfins tetras like having a more open space above the plants. Which is why I prune the plants once a week or sometimes once every couple of weeks. 


Any advise from _those that don't change their water_ which would be a totality cool name for a cult or rock band. 

*29G tank
MGO capped with Eco-Complete 
Finnex Planted+
Fluval 206 (with sachem Purigen and Phosguard)
Lots of Filigree Bloodfin Tetras
Lots of plants
No CO2.
No ferts added.


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## mstamper (Jun 5, 2012)

I suggest you do a bit of searching on here. This topic has been discussed several times to great length with a lot of heated exchanges. 

I will tell you that the gist of the discussions is that an aquarium is a fixed body of water and that through evaporation the mineral content rises, which effects PH and other factors as well. It might not hurt the fish or plants right now, but it will. 

Unlike a river or other naturally occurring body of water that has a more natural water change over several times a minutes, our tanks with their flora and fauna do not get that benefit. Hence the need to do water changes.

I am sure there are other points to be made about this topic. I am just relating a few. Again, to find more on this, I would search the past posts about this and learn what has already been hashed out.


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## twentypoundtabby (Dec 7, 2013)

FWIW, even my outdoor extremely well planted pond needs water changes. The plants don't remove everything and there will be buildup of excess minerals.
Your fish may seem fine, but you'll have a lot of trouble adding new fish.


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## fulanit01 (Oct 21, 2013)

There's also the issue of its effect on your own health since the aquarium is pretty much an incubator for anything.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I've only made it about a year with no WC before bioacidification started to ruin the tanks.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

The actual scientific reasoning for no WC has to do with plants' rubisco enzyme fixing carbon, but it does not address all the problems that can arise from it.


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## King of Hyrule (Apr 29, 2013)

See... I was feeling strange about the whole thing... Maybe I'll change the water monthly, rather than weekly (or never).


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## GadgetGirl (Oct 11, 2013)

I feel like this works well in a *heavily* planted, low bio-load aquarium. I do water changes once a month (20%). I never have any ammonia or nitrite. Nitrate never goes above 5. Ph stays stable at 7.4.

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## THE V (Nov 17, 2011)

No water changes only works if there are no inputs or outputs from the system. Closed ecosystems are tough to create but can be done. 

If you are feeding the fish or replacing evaporated water you need to do a water change. The frequency and amount of water changes depends upon the rate at which you are adding in inputs and the sensitivity of your stocking. 

The 50% weekly water change recommendation to most newbie's is generally much more than is needed. For most situations it works and is an easy direction to follow.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

King of Hyrule said:


> See... I was feeling strange about the whole thing... Maybe I'll change the water monthly, rather than weekly (or never).


Some do that, but there's no good argument for changing the water on a low light tank unless you add too many fish, overfeed them etc, do not have enough plant biomass etc.

ALL non CO2 tanks remove the KH, so the pH is going to drop over time, this is not an issue over time. 

There is a lot of export out of a non CO2 no water change aquarium also, it's called plant trimming and cuttings, biomass.

The main gripe is really the water color over time. Gets a bit yellow, so carbon or a water change is done. Every 3=6 months, a decent trim to beat back some species is required for most tanks, then a water change post hack is welcomed IME.

Floating or emergent plants can buffer any lower plant biomass in the submersed areas or excess feedings, too much light, or higher fish loadings also. 

I dose about once every week or two.
Non CO2 tanks tend to run low on Nitrogen the most.
And they can look every bit as good as a nice top of the line ADA tank.


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## Nathaniel (Nov 30, 2013)

One reason I like to keep up with my water changes is to keep tank parameters close to tap parameters. This served me well the day I had an emergency (poisoning) and felt comfortable to do 75% WC several days in a row, knowing the livestock would not be subjected to big swings in their parameters. I do about 20-30% weekly - my tank is only 55G so it's not too arduous.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

Not to beat a dead horse but I'll do it anyway.

There's a huge difference between thrive & survive.

I went about 6 mos doing 10% daily water changes in my low tech tank. In part to see what would happen although it started due to being an under-employed American that could not afford a new heater. Too keep my water temps inline I did daily, sometime 2Xs daily (5%) water changes with warmer water. The results were phenomenal, super growth in my plants, Fish & Shrimp consistently reproducing, no algae issues, that tank was just about perfect.

To me water changes are part of the hobby, like cat owners cleaning a litter box or dog owners walking their dogs. If it really is that troublesome, possibly Legos might be a good substitute. :red_mouth

I would offer this challenge: Don't do a W/C of 90days, take pics every 30days. Then do them daily for the next 90 days, again pics @ 30,60, & 90 . See what your tank thinks about the topic.


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## jmsaltfish797 (Oct 27, 2012)

i think it comes down to personal preference and fish load. i have a 20 gal long with a half dozen amano shrimp, a few rasboras, and a high plant load.water conditions stay well within safe ranges without weekly water changes. i top off as needed and do a w/c every 6-8 weeks. other then that, just cleaning the filter as needed, add some ferts in small doses, and trim plants as needed.


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## PeterN1986 (Jun 15, 2011)

I did no water changes all of 2013 in my 20g low-tech. I do have a lot of plants that have been well-established, with the newest plants added 6 months ago. Fish are happy, no buildups of anything on the glass that I can tell, and a bag of purigen in my 2217 makes the water super clear. I did clean out the 2217 last month though. The 2217 is overkill for a 20g, but I am also a little bit overstocked with fish and have a good plant mass. So if you overfilter, overstock, and overplant, or at least do any 2 out of those 3, you might be okay with no WC's.


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## Fletch (Mar 18, 2004)

*Easy, lazy water changes without lugging a bucket*

The absolute best thing I ever made was a PVC pipe overflow and sump filter for my 55g. There are lots of videos on how to do this; I used a modified version kinda like here: 



The PVC overflow hangs on the back of my 55g, and takes the water to a 25g plastic container with a DIY filter made of plastic scrubbers, filter floss, and expanded shale gravel from a hydroponics store. You could also use those expensive Fluval ceramic pasta things for about 20 times the price. The sump also has an overflow and drain that runs through the floor into my laundry tub. When I do a water change, I just run a hose with temperature corrected water from my sink. I put the hose right on top of the pump, so the new water runs into the tank, and the old water returning to the sump overflows into the basement drain. I can run speeds from 5 gallons every 30 minutes (10g per hour), to 5 gallons in 5 minutes (60g per hour), as measured by putting the overflow in the basement into a bucket and measuring. This setup seems to be keeping my chronic black algae problem at bay, and makes my life a lot easier. Other tanks in the house have HOB filters, but I use a PVC overflow just for water changes. I run hose water into the tank, and drain the overflow into a clean toilet. Be careful to match the input to the output, or you will get flooding. I clamp the hoses to the tanks, set a timer, and play computer games until my fish are happy. I then add my water treatments, and marvel at why I didn't think of this years ago. I also have no water change bowls brewing in my house, but that is another story.


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

This is what I do for years. Never replacing water, almost never, except rare occasions, when I want to siphon out some excessive muck on the gravel. Plants grow well and fish do well also: 7 Tiger barbs and 7 Otos in 29 g tank. My other tanks are three 10 g each and one 40 g long, the same, never replacing water on purpose, just adding as needed. I keep power filters in each.


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## Zoombie (Feb 5, 2012)

My tank is lightly stocked and has Ottos, snails and shrimp so I hardly ever do water changes as well. Like the guy above me ^, just the odd time to vacuum gravel. Don't even need to feed my tank for weeks and everything is fine.


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## CoffeeLove (Oct 31, 2012)

I didn't change my water for a couple months got around to doing it and the fish just seem way livelier and happier with fresh water. 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

PeterN1986 said:


> I did no water changes all of 2013 in my 20g low-tech. I do have a lot of plants that have been well-established, with the newest plants added 6 months ago. Fish are happy, no buildups of anything on the glass that I can tell, and a bag of purigen in my 2217 makes the water super clear. I did clean out the 2217 last month though. The 2217 is overkill for a 20g, but I am also a little bit overstocked with fish and have a good plant mass. So if you overfilter, overstock, and overplant, or at least do any 2 out of those 3, you might be okay with no WC's.


I assume that tank is covered, well enough that water loss from evaporation is minimal. Otherwise the GH would increase continuously until you change the water. Starting at a very low GH that might not be a problem, but if you start out with fairly hard water, after a year or two the water could be excessively hard.


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## PeterN1986 (Jun 15, 2011)

Hoppy said:


> I assume that tank is covered, well enough that water loss from evaporation is minimal. Otherwise the GH would increase continuously until you change the water. Starting at a very low GH that might not be a problem, but if you start out with fairly hard water, after a year or two the water could be excessively hard.


Hey Hoppy! Actually, my tank is not covered. I just top off with tap water that sits in darkness for at least a day. I top off with a full half-gallon jug about twice a week. I don't know any of my water parameters (I'm stubborn about test kits like that lol) but I would think if the water is hard, there would be a lot of calcium deposits, which I don't have much of at all. What's the drawback of super high GH? I must also be adding some minerals to the water when I top off each time.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

PeterN1986 said:


> Hey Hoppy! Actually, my tank is not covered. I just top off with tap water that sits in darkness for at least a day. I top off with a full half-gallon jug about twice a week. I don't know any of my water parameters (I'm stubborn about test kits like that lol) but I would think if the water is hard, there would be a lot of calcium deposits, which I don't have much of at all. What's the drawback of super high GH? I must also be adding some minerals to the water when I top off each time.


Not all plants are adapted to very high GH and not all fish are adaptable to very high GH, but other than that I don't know of any drawback. When water evaporates, the stuff dissolved in the water remains behind. Then you add more tap water, which contains more of that stuff. Do that continuously and the GH is constantly increasing. That's why many people use distilled or RO/DI water for topping off.

Your tank is doing so well, it would be a mistake to try to change anything, in my opinion.


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## King of Hyrule (Apr 29, 2013)

I'm now three weeks into never changing my water again*. My pH has dropped to 6.4 and nitrate are now at 40. Algae has begun to spring up on a few plants it has never been seen on. I have trimmed some plants, but will do more this weekend. I'll add more large rams horn snails to the tank, to help deal with the algae outbreak. I've also cut back to two meals a day for the fish, and reduced the lights to five hours a day. The lights were on extra long through out the three day weekend as my daughter (and I) enjoy seeing the fish, nearly 8 hours a day.

I'm concerned that a large scale water change might be difficult, as matching the water characteristics will be impossible. My hope is to make a mild change to keep from shocking the fish. 

I might increase the SeaChem Purigen or add Fluval ClearMax to the filter. Both products make claims to remove nitrate from the water column. 










* I plan on a water change and filter service this coming weekend (week 4).


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## gerbillo (Dec 5, 2013)

Hoppy said:


> I assume that tank is covered, well enough that water loss from evaporation is minimal. Otherwise the GH would increase continuously until you change the water. Starting at a very low GH that might not be a problem, but if you start out with fairly hard water, after a year or two the water could be excessively hard.



You hit on something that hasn't been discussed yet, that some of us have low GH tap water. My tap has a GH of 1 degrees, possibly less. I estimate that I will need 13 gallons of top off each year for my 10 gallon tank. I plan to stop water changes to see how it works out, so over a year I expect an increase of GH of about 1.3 degrees from top-off alone, which is easily negated by plants.

If I lived in a place with hard water, I would consider RO or water changes.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

King of Hyrule said:


> I've been doing some reading, and learned that with a low tech setup - which mine 29G is, mostly* it's suggested not to do frequent water changes.
> 
> *29G tank
> MGO capped with Eco-Complete


That is why I started a dirt tank. If I don't do monthly water changes I loose fish, though. First the bottom dwelling fish. I believe it is because I live near a big city.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

King of Hyrule said:


> My pH has dropped to 6.4 and nitrate are now at 40. Algae has begun to spring up on a few plants it has never been seen on.


Nitra-zorb by API in your filter may help. Think cheapest on EBay.


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## kclone (Nov 11, 2011)

You may want to cut back on feeding your fish so often. Perhaps once a day or every other day. Fish don't need that much food, and extra food or fish waste can alter water characteristics.


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## King of Hyrule (Apr 29, 2013)

i was unable to change my water last week (life as a dad), but I hope to change it Saturday (March 1st) during nap time. Last week I was able to service the filter, repacking it with carbon, and cleaning the sponges. I also added a Fluval Water polish pad (fine sponge). There are now two in the filter. I moved the older polish pad to basket with the carbon and added a new one to the Purigen/Phosguard basket. The water is crystal clear right now. 

I ran a full battery of water test, tonight (Feb 28) and here are my results.
pH 6.4
NH3/NH4 0 ppm
NO2 0 ppm
NO3 20 ppm *
Phosphates 2 ppm**
KH 17.9 ppm (1 drop)
GH 107.4 ppm (6 drops)

The numbers seem stable. In fact I worried that a water change might be adding some chaos to the claim on my tank. The Algae has died way back, only effecting a much smaller area then before. The snails seem to be handling it. (And the Pea Puffer is handing the snails)

* My nitrates seem to have fallen to a reasonable level. I was noticing an earlier trend of increasing nitrates, which had me worried. 

** The SeaChem Phosguard seems to be exhausted, and from the look of the SeaChem Purigen - it needs recharged. 

I've order Fluval ClearMax, which claims to do the same as the Purigen and Phosguard. I'll install the ClearMax this weekend. We'll see if it does a job as good as the sachem products.


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## Cthulhu (Dec 18, 2012)

I have been running with very few water changes about every 4-6 monts, on a 20g with relatively small bioload and moderately planted, it went extremely well for 5 years without any loss. Then I had to move, so I started doing WC a bit more regularly again, but I am slowly spacing them to get beck to very few WC.

I always use RO water for top-off, to avoid a buildup of KH and GH. And when I do water changes, especially if it has been a long time since I did one, I usually don't do more than 20% at once but I do 2 or 3 during the week. But I don't feel it could go forever without any water changes, at some point it needs some freshening up.


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