Water Changes

[claire]

hello everyone. just wondering if a partial water change once a week is enough for my axie tank.i dont want to do it any more than that if possible because i have to get my axies out every time i do it. because of this i dont want to get them too stressed.or will this not stress them if i have to do it more times?

ill appreciate any suggestions

 

[brendan]

Partial changes are fine depending on the size of the tank and the quantity of the axies.

Once a week every tuesday i vaccum the gravel and in turn it takes the water out then i just replace the water. I normall take out about 1/2 - 3/4 of water each week and change it.

Also of course if ur tank looks unhealthy you should always try a partial change and if that fails try a full tank clean.

With my babies whenever i do a full tank clean it is so crystal clear and that normally lasts about 2 weeks.

Dont take my advice as gold because im still in my own way a newbie.

 

[claire]

thanx well my tank is 2 foot by one foot then i fill it up about 6-7 inches up.i take around half of the water out or less every sunday.the water is quite clean b4 the change.i siphon the dirt out which also removes the water so im jus doin d same as u. . after moving the rocks around wen im tryin 2 get all the dirt is usually goes all cloudy and dirty from the dirt floating around. but it has all settled by the next morning.

 

[brendan]

Yep, cool.

Just keep doing as your doing. Remember to fully clean your tank about every 8 weeks.

Just another little tip i do.

I run the hose into my tank turn it on and while i siphon the gravel the hose replenishes the water in the tank so i dont really loose anywater but still adding cleaning water. This is good if all your wanting to do at the time is clean gravel and not worry about performing a 'proper' change 'proper' being taking it out and adding new.

Anywho, good luck with your axies.

 

[joan]

This business about 'fully cleaning your tank' is nonsense. A well established tank should never be dismantled for no apparent reason. And a well established tank really only needs 20% of the water changed or so once a week. And your change should not disturb your animals, nor should you have to remove them while cleaning. If so, you should find another method.

 

[mik]

Brendan, You shouldn't be cleaning your tank as intensively as you are doing. Joan is quite right in what she says.

There is plenty of advice on tank cycling and set-up in this forum and on axolotl.org. I would suggest that you are disturbing your tank far too much. Remember some of that dirt contains the bacteria you need to maintain an effective environment. It's good to be keen but try not to be too enthusiastic. Remember you are trying to artificially create an environ in your tank.

 

[claire]

well i havent done any complete water changes and i dont intend to. is it ok if i take all the rocks and the pot out of the tank then siphon all the muck out but leave most of the water in? then top up with the new water.

 

[kim]

Claire, It fine to tank out plants etc this well help you clean out and poo etc thats hidden. You ned to do a water change every 2 weeks this is because if you just replace the normal water that is lot you will have a built up of Ammonia, nirates and nitrites. This is why we do water changes.

Good luck

 

[cynthia]

Claire - What kind of rocks are you using?

If it is gravel, you do not want to remove it, just vacuum it. If you just have a couple of big rocks for decoration then removing them is fine.

You are right, you don't need to do a complete water change. On an established tank a partial 20% water change weekly is the norm.

 

[claire]

Kim - i take my plants out and ornaments and clean them when i do my partial water change.

.

Cynthia - i have 20-30 or so large rocks. i normally just siphon around them and just try to get the big bits out. this week i took all the rocks and ornaments out and rinsed them them put them back in when id siphoned all the muck out.then i put the water back in. the reason i had to take every rock out was because my axie has had lots of eggs and for some reason the water went cloudy. also because the gooey bits that sticks the eggs to everything was just everywhere.lol.

 

[amy]

When i clean my tank i take my axy out, syphon about half or more of the water out, depending on how dirty it is, i rinse the filter out with water from the tank, then i re-fill the tank with clean water. Taking my axy out doesnt seem to stress him out at all and it makes it a lot easier to use the syphon. I usually clean my tank weekly or every second week depending on how dirty it is. Syphon = your best friend when cleaning your tank. I don't know how on earth i coped without one.

 

[brendan]

When i mean fully clean tank i mean take most of water out. Leave just enough to cover axies.

Clean the inside of the glass, siphon the gravel. Clean ornaments if dirty.

Is there a problem with doing that???

 

[kim]

Brendan,

If a tank is cycled and well maintained there is no reason to remove most of the water, this mean your tank will have to start cycling all over again.

 

[claire]

is cycling just when you have a filter?

 

[kim]

Claire,

Search "cycling" on google...

But in breif no.. its when you are building put the bacteria in the tank to make the ammonia and nirate (i think) non toxic.

 

[claire]

thanx ill check it out.

well i dont think i let mine cycle.but when i got my axies from college i used 2 bucket fulls of water from the tank they were in so that had the bacteria in for them.