# Water change frequency for shrimp



## OldJedi (Dec 1, 2009)

If the water is stable, you are doing enough water changes. With plants, the necessity for water changes diminishes.


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## Rob in Puyallup (Jul 2, 2009)

The bit of experience I have with these shrimp has shown me that the fewer disturbances the better. 


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## R.sok (Sep 24, 2012)

I change 1 qt everyday, but I have a wet dry so the shrimp aren't bothered


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## rodcuda (Jul 25, 2012)

That's good to hear. Hopefully what am doing is good. The numbers are good but I was curious what others were finding.


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## ravensgate (May 24, 2012)

I pretty much do a water change once a week on all my tanks currently, 10-15%. However, back when I had a booming population of PFRs I only did water changes every 2-3 weeks....then some of them got hit with the vorticella <sp?> parasite so I went back to water changes every week and a half. Not saying that's going to happen to everyone who extends water changes out of course, that's just what happened to me.  Currently I have neos, crs, cbs, oebts, goldens, and tibees, oh and crays.

I don't know how true it is but I've read that it's detrimental to babies to have a temperature swing of over 2 degrees either up or down during water changes. So I always keep my water temp the same or a degree warmer (colder tends to induce molting).


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## Unikorn (Jun 14, 2012)

*re:*

I do 50% WC once a week. :fish::biggrin:

I EI dose ferts because its planted, that's why I do such a large WC.


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

50% is a little much 15-20% a week keeps the water clean will help baby survival and will not affect shrimp. I do it and all my tanks are booming right now


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

i will admit im bad with water changes and i dont recommend doing what i do. but i have noticed with a heavy planted tank i dont tend to do more than maybe one wc a month in most of my shrimp tanks. i get babies from all the types i keep. i have crs in 2 diff tanks, rili and my greens right now. the main thing is stable water parameters. so i would test often and keep track of tems. if something is off from the norm do a water change but make sure the water is the same temp so you might have to let it sit at room temp for a while to get it as close to the tank temp as you can.


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## rodcuda (Jul 25, 2012)

I'm just trying to decide how often and how much to change. Parameters are very stable and the plants use up all the Nitrates, but there have to be other things that build up that can be detrimental so as I said originally I'm just looking for a good regimen.


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## ravensgate (May 24, 2012)

Some people only change water when their TDS gets over a desired level cause that can definitely creep up over time.


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## rodcuda (Jul 25, 2012)

I do watch the tds, but at what point does the majority of the tds become the unwanted components and not the remineralization additive being used?


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## kuro (May 21, 2010)

Well that depend on how much of the compound you added in the beginning, i use ro/di and remineralize it to 140 ppm and if it get to like 160ppm in the tank you know the other 20 ppm is not any of the compound you added so you do water change to dilute it some. However, i rarily do waterchange in my 8g nano CRS/CBS tank and they breed like crazy. I do change my water if the TDS ever creep up above 180ppm though.


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## ravensgate (May 24, 2012)

When it starts going up. If you remineralize say to 150 and that's where your tank normally sits then when you test it and its at 230 a couple of weeks later it's safe to say you didn't add that in. I used to change my neo tank any time TDS got above 200. Worked well for my tank even though many keep them in levels way higher. Some people go on a schedule, some only change if something goes up like nitrates or TDS. You just have to find what works best for your colonies.


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## rodcuda (Jul 25, 2012)

I understand all of that, just putting some thoughts out there to see if I can learn anything new. Just trying to refine my shrimp husbandry!


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

I find that I get the best results and have the most tank stability with weekly water changes that range from 10% to 20%, depending upon the tank and its population density. 

While I think most of my tanks would be okay with water changes every 3-4 weeks, it's just an easy thing to do in order to have some added security. Means I have to worry less about mineral creep with the addition of foods and additives, gives me a chance to inspect sponge filters and do tank trims as needed and just generally serves my tanks well. 

Also find that doing smaller, weekly water changes takes less time in the long run. I dedicate about an hour per week for tank maintenance and water changes. Nice, relaxing time to geek around.


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## rodcuda (Jul 25, 2012)

Thanks for that input, that is about where I am at now, 10% a week based on what I have seen in my tanks and what others are doing.


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