water changes

[jsb1jsb1]

hi. i have had my marine set up for about a year. i was told from the start that i didnt need to do water changes, and i never have, i top it up from the tap i dont use RO water.
whats everyones opinion on this as the more i read the more i see that most people do change their water often. i have never had any problems with the water except my phosphate levels have been slightly high.

thanks in advance

[Macca]

hi. i have had my marine set up for about a year. i was told from the start that i didnt need to do water changes, and i never have, i top it up from the tap i dont use RO water.
whats everyones opinion on this as the more i read the more i see that most people do change their water often. i have never had any problems with the water except my phosphate levels have been slightly high.

thanks in advance

sounds very poor advice. You should water change and you should use ro for top ups.

James

[darreni5god]

Now since visiting this site I have found the advice quite humbling - that is that I have been keeping fish since I was a boy but marines for only a year or so. I thought I was getting quite knowlegable until I met this lot! I have learned more on here in the last three weeks than I have in the last year about marines, I'm even a bit embarassed to get any real pics up after seeing these guys ones!

But mate - sounds to me like your LFS need shooting!:( The poor bloody fish. They have been swimming in their own piss & shit for a year cos they told you not to change the water. I have heard of very large set ups not needing a water change very often but thats a very established set up with a lot more water to compensate for the irregularities. With smaller set ups you need to change the water a lot more & I'm very suprised to hear that you have normal readings.

Also sounds like you have rather a lot of fish for 125ltr tank. Bad advice has lead to the death of your fish I'd say.

What do you recon guys?:wallbash:

[jsb1jsb1]

Can understand what you are saying but would it really take a year for this mistake to kill my fish?
Also how many fish would you say is acceptable for a tank my size as I only had 6 in there.
How much is RO water and where can I get it from

Thanks for the advice

[piglet]

Can understand what you are saying but would it really take a year for this mistake to kill my fish?
Also how many fish would you say is acceptable for a tank my size as I only had 6 in there.
How much is RO water and where can I get it from

Thanks for the advice


Rio 125 are not that big in gallons etc depending on the fish 6 may have been too many it isn't like tropicals where you can have loads of fish

6 gobies ok 6 angels bad :eek:It is a depends what fish kind of thing :confused:

Water can deteriorate over a period of time and it may have taken a year for the water to get bad enough to kill:(

Piglet

[piglet]

Look at the ROman website best bet is to get a unit it will save you ££££in the long run

Piglet

[darreni5god]

Can understand what you are saying but would it really take a year for this mistake to kill my fish?
Also how many fish would you say is acceptable for a tank my size as I only had 6 in there.
How much is RO water and where can I get it from

Thanks for the advice
Not sure about the year bit to be honest. Coinsidence?

It's not just the number of fish it's the size that makes the difference really. The bigger they are the more bi-products they give off (wee, poo & sweat). You need really good filterage on marines there are a lot more perameters to consider than with fresh water set ups.

Your nitrate sounds to be very high, especially for three months & no change. Maybe it was this? I am no expert though mate just trying to help.

RE- RO water; it's 50p/gal in my LFS but a unit will save you money in long run.

[mad pierre]

Ive been reading this thread and no one seems to have mentioned skimming:eek:. It is important with a marine system to have a good skimmer to reduce the bio load on your systems filtration and this in turn helps keep your nitrates down. It also aerates your water much better than an airstone. Deltec are a good make of skimmer but im sure others on here will advise of other suitable types.

Just a thought.. have you moved your rocks recently? I was moving mine to a different tank and all the fish keeled over after I lifted the rocks out. It was probably due to Sulphur gas being released when I lifted the rocks from the sand...Ive since learned that putting the rocks on the sand was a bad idea ...Doh

Good luck with the re-stocking, but get as much advice as possible, and dont be afraid to ask about anything on the forum as everyone on here is very helpfull, as I have found out myself in last couple of months.

Peter:)

[Scooby_uk]

Can understand what you are saying but would it really take a year for this mistake to kill my fish?
Also how many fish would you say is acceptable for a tank my size as I only had 6 in there.
How much is RO water and where can I get it from

Thanks for the advice

If you think about the amount of chemicals and metals contained in ordinary tapwater including chlorine. These may not kill your fish immediately but as you are adding tap water to replace that that evaporates you are also adding more and more metals and chemicals to the system. Eventually you will probably find that your fishs health will start going down hill and eventually lead to death. By this time your tank is that full of chemicals and metals that most things would not be able to survive. So to answer the question in short YES.

Cheers Scooby_uk

[sexyanemone]

My god ive only been in this hobby for a year and learned water changes were important from the beginning,that was really bad advise,we have pumps blowing behind our rocks too blowing the excrement through so as not to stay and poison the fish,we have our skimmer running 24/7 unless meds added hardly ever and a uv light in sump,ozone runs too but not all the time.I know its a silly question but can you smell the water when you are near it as the water must be pugnant,no offence start doin them asap bit at a time as not to shock fish they will wonder whats going on the poor loves and get back to the person who told you no and slap them lol,they obviously have no experience and need sacking.:)