How often should you change the water in your fishtank?

Question

the water is suddely geting really foggy. Do I need to change it? How often should I? Is there anything I can do to help prevent it from getting really foggy?

Answer 1

The fog is a bloom of bacteria that in your case, is growing because you are probably over feeding your fish. You should be changing 25% of your tank's water every week using aged tap water. A gravel siphon is a really good idea as it remove large bits of waste that your filter has not pulled in.

Answer 2

This depends on many variables. How many fish are in the tank? what is the size of the tank in gallons. Do you keep coldwater fish, freshwater fish, or saltwater fish? does it have live plants or fake decor. I clean my 55 gallon tank tank which has 15 large fish and fake decor every 10 days. Becuase my fish are big they require cleaning more often.

Knowing nothing about your tank I would clean it every 15 days. This is rather standard for most tank set ups. To stop the foggy stuff use dechlorinator and a tank stabilizer each time you clean it. This usually stops it right away. If it does not your filter may not be working properly among other things. The best idea would be to take a picture of the foggy tank and take the picture to a fish shop. They are gods at diagnosing this stuff.

Good luck,
Silence

Answer 3

How new is the tank? This is what I learned from a fish store owner. When you first get a tank, it needs to be seasoned. The best fish to do it are gold fish. The more expensive fish need an already seasoned tank or they'll just die.

During the seasoning process, the water will cloud up for a couple of days, then clear. Then it will cloud up again and clear one more time. At this point you can start adding the expensive fish as there's now enough bacteria in the tank to support them.

NEVER change more than one third of the water in the tank at a time. You want to retain the bacteria. Unless you have major fish diseases, you don't need to empty the tank, wash the gravel, scrub the tank, etc. Just empty the tank by one third and add the new water (properly treated water). You will want to get one of those algae eaters and a bottom feeder to keep the tank clean.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

What kind of fishtank? Is it a small like a fishbowl, or is it a tank? You can have several filters in there (a tank)--an under-gravel filter is like a grate you put between the bottom of hte fishtank and your gravel. Then, there's a bubbler system where you set up a mini air-compressor with plastic tubing that goes into the tank. These bubbles keep the water movign which keeps the crap in the water from settling. Also, keep your Ph and Chlorine in check by using drops (you can by them at your local pet store). It's also a good idea to treat your water for Ick and Algae periodically--drops and/or tablets. Again, pet store. There is also "good" bacteria to add to the water in the same manner--it's good for the fish's "slime coat" and keeps the water cleaner. Keep your water at a good temp. for your fish (depending on the kinds of fish you keep in there)--you can buy a water heater at a pet store. If you have a light in there, keep it off as much as possible. The light encourages algae growth. Then, when you see crap start to accumulate on the walls, just take a tank cleaner (again, petstore)--a little spongy scraper thing, and clean the sides. If you do all that, you probably don't have to change the water as often--maybe a couple times a year.

Answer 5

i hope u not feeding them 2 much,,,u not suppose 2 change the the whole thing u suppose take out 1/3 of the water and put it back in once a month,,,i have 3 tanks,,,so i have 2 know that,,,never take all the water out!!,,,some time changing the water 2 much can cause fogginess,,,and u can also go 2 fish store and the will give u something for the fogginess,,sometimes when u need help u can call any fish store and they will help u out...good luck

Answer 6

You should change at least 1/3 of the water every week. Make sure your filtering system is adequate for the size of your tank. I have a 30 gallon tank and the filter I use is for a 50 gallon tank. Keeps the water crystal clear!!!

Answer 7

I wipe down the tank walls once a week and change the water about every other month,but if it's murky then I go ahead and change it.Always leave at least a third of the original water in the tank to help reduce the shock some fish get with clean water.it really depends on your fishes size and how many you have.Get some bottom feeders if you don't already have them.

Answer 8

With a filtered, mature tank you need to be doing weekly water modifications of between 25-50%. The clear out is popping ammonia and nitrites into nitrates, and leaving it at that. on a similar time as no longer almost as poisonous because of the fact the different 2, Nitrates can nevertheless be risky in severe stages. Its as much as you to take the nitrates out with water modifications.

Answer 9

We do a partial water change in ours about every 2 weeks. We just replace about 1/4 of the volumne of the tank.
If your tank is THAT dirty you may want to change about 1/2 of it. Then in a few days change 1/2 of it again. Repeat the process until the water is clear.
You don't want to COMPLETELY change the water in your tank any more often than you have to. WE do it about once a year.
When you DO clean it completely be sure you don't use any type of chemicals. Table salt makes an excellent abrasive. It also sterilizes. JUST BE SURE TO RINSE IT COMPLETELY 3 OR 4 TIMES TO MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE ALL THE SALT!! And don't let the salt sit in the tank to "soak" very long. You don't want to kill ALL the bacteria, some are beneficial.
GOOD LUCK!!

Answer 10

I was always taught that you should change 10% of the water every day.

For example, if you have a ten gallon tank, then dip out 1 gallon and replace it with clean water.

The tablets do work, but only for a couple of times, then there is too much contaminant/particulate matter in the tank for that even to work.

Goldfish tanks are expecially bad about clouding up, as you have to have extra good filtration for them... love goldies, but they are "dirty" fish, lol.

The best way to keep the water clear is to make sure that you have a sufficient filtration system set up on your tank, make sure the water is extremely well aerated, don't overfeed the fish and don't overcrowd your tank - 1 inch of fish per gallon only.