Question about Aquarium Water changes? Please advise?

Question

I have a 10 gallon aquarium with 3 rather small goldfish..every 2 weeks i am siphoning out the gravel and removing about 30% of water..Is this a proper procedure, ya think? Should i leave the filter on when i do this, or turn off? Do you think i should change the water less frequently...perhaps about once a month since not many fish? i do use the Start up drops, i have been turning the filter off when i empty water...but it seems so dirty in the tank in the midst of siphoning the water with the filter off. Please advise?

I noticed in some previous answers that people are doing weekly partial water changes...but if there are only 3 rather small fish in a 10 gallon tank...is this still valid? I mean i look at it like i am disturbing them, and their home for nothing...not that i am too lazy to clean..just don't want to upset for no reason..

Answer 1

Weekly partial water changes are what is best for your fish. Goldfish especially are dirtier than regular tropicals so you should actually be doing 40% changes every week. There is no need to do gravel siphoning every week, you could stay with doing that every other week so it doesn't get too tedious siphoning every week.

I do weekly changes and only siphon one half of the tank about every three weeks, but I don't keep goldfish. Always remove water from the lower part of the tank even when you are not siphoning the gravel, that is where the chemicals (ammonia, nitrite, phosphate and nitrate) build up the heaviest. Not at the top where the most oxygen is located.

It shouldn't get dirty in the tank while you are siphoning, all the dirt should go up the siphon tube. Proper procedure is to position the tube over the gravel and just push it down into the gravel, wait until the water is clear in the tube and then pick it up and move it to another spot. Only do half the tank at each session, you don't want to remove too much of your beneficial bacteria living in the gravel (that's where most of them are, other than in the filter media). Very little bacteria live in the water (they are all residing on "surfaces" in the tank).

The only time you see bacteria in the water is when the tank gets cloudy with a bacteria bloom. This is the result of poor water quality management and with regular partial water changes you will not experience it unless you are feeding way too much too often. Once a day, only as much as they will eat in 2-3 minutes is plenty. I even skip a day once a week. Nobody is starving or even skinny in my tanks.

As others have said, you will eventually have to get your finny friends a bigger tank. I would say when they reach 2" each you should upgrade to at least a 20 g and a 30 g at that point would allow you to keep them in that for many years without another tank purchase.
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Answer 2

I would recommend that you do weekly changes. Even though the fish are small, they eat (and poop) so their wastes build up. You don't mention how long you've had them, but among the first waste products are ammonia and nitrite, both of which are toxic to your fish. Eventually, these get converted to nitrate, which is less toxic, but can still be harmful in amounts over 50 ppm (parts per million). While you may not be getting levels that are harmful yet, your fish are still growing, and you'll find you'll get there sooner than you think in a 10 gallon tank. Weekly changes will also remove more of the gunk you see when you're siphoning so it doesn't have the chance to build up.

Fish in general don't care for big changes in their environment, including their water quality, and changes from bad to good are included. The smaller the change the better, so you don't shock your fish. This is another reason for not going too long beteween changes.

Also consider that your tapwater contains calcium, magnesium, sodium, and other beneficial minerals, even in small amounts. So not only are you removing the "bad" compounds built up from your fishs' wastes, you're also replenishing minerals they need which they've removed from the water.

A weekly change of around 25% is the best, although there's no set rule - some depends on the size and number of fish, size of the tank, filtration, whether or not you overfeed, etc. I like 25% because it's an easy amount to estimate (1/4 of the height of the tank, or measured into a 5 gallon bucket). Doing the changes weekly also makes it easier to remember to do the change if you set aside a certain day and time each week as part of your schedule, plus if something should happen that you would need to miss a week, the previous changes give you something of a "cushion" because you've kept the water quality higherbefore that change.

You don't specify what type of filter you use, but I'll assume here that you have a hang-on power filter. As far as whether it's necessary to turn off the filter, anytime you draw the water level down, you're putting more strain on the filter motor to pull the water upward. It's not absolutely critical that it be turned off for the short time it would take to clean the tank and do a partial water change UNLESS the water is drawn down below the level of the intake. If this happens, water (and some debris) will be siphoned down the tube where the water is pulled up into the filter (this can also happen on some models when the filter is unplugged as well!). An alternative to turning the filter off so this doesn't happen is to remove the entire intake (just pull up on the tube). This way, no water enters or exits, the water that's already in the filter just circulates until you put the tube back into place. A heater would be more important to turn off, as once these are out of the water, they can shatter if left plugged in, but since goldfish are coldwater, you shouldn't be using one.

Eventually, you'll be needing a larger (at least 29-30 gallon) tank for your goldfish, as these will reach sizes from 8 inches or larger depending on their variety.

Answer 3

Here's the golden rule about fishkeeping: The water can't be too clean.

By doing water changes and gravel vacuuming every week your tank will stay cleaner for a very long time rather then gradually become filthier and filthier with a build up of waste the way it would if you only changed the water every month. the fish, instead of living, will thrive (actually this is not necessarily a good thing for you since the goldfish would outgrow their 10 gallon tank sooner).

If you disturb that much waste when you do your siphoning, then I would certainly say you can stand to do this more often, and you're already getting a taste of waste buildup. Goldfish are very messy fish, especially because most owners feed them quite a bit more then they really need, so don't be mislead by '3 little fish' - they can produce an awful lot of waste and despite a reputation for bowls and small tanks, are one of the worst choices of fish for them, especially considering how huge they get.

Also, a lot of people misunderstand some aspects of the hobby. Like the one who claims you don't need to vacuum a tank if you have sucker fish. They don't realise sucker fish don't eat fish poop, but they do contribute lots. There is no livestock in te world that replaces human cleaning in these closed systems. And naturally, a lot of people just don't really care about taking fish keeping seriously - the fish will survive if you don't do water changes. They won't grow well or thrive, but they'll survive for a while.

Answer 4

you should really be doing it more and not less -- 3 goldfish in a 10 gallon is actaully a lot. most people would recommend at least 30 gallons for 3 goldfish.

what kind of filter you have would determine if you should turn it off or not. an over the back filter is better off being turned off. if it still runs while you have 1/3 of the water out then i would leave it.

Answer 5

I've just gone thru a long 6 months of learning how to care for fantail goldfish that seemed to always get sick. I learned from 2 professionals in the fish business that you are supposed to do water changes every week about 20%. You need to keep enough of the good bacteria in the water that helps kill the bad bacteria in the tank that would turn into something worse. Only turn the filter off if it turns off from the loss of water. Remember, goldfish let off a lot of ammonia and that is very harmful to the fish if it is not cycled out, but not too much. Just 20% or so. You don't have to syphon the tank unless you don't have any algea eating fish in your tank as well like placo's or snails.

Answer 6

you're suppose to do weekly partial waterchanges of 25% with a gravel siphon

Just never take the fish itself out, that way you won't stress them.

You don't disturb your fish at all with that, you're providing a healthy environment for them with that

You definately want to turn of the filter when taking out water, because it might happen that it runs dry, and with that burns out

That it's dirty when siphoning is absolutely normal, because you take out waste and food particals from the gravel


As for the goldfish itself, you know that you will have to upgrade right?

For 3 goldfish you will need at least a 30 gallon tank in less then a year, if you don't upgrade, you will stunt the growth of your fish and they will die a cruel death

After you have siphoned out the water, you should replace it with conditioned water and turn back on the filter

The cloudiness usually settles in 24 hours, and you have a glass clear tank again

To get of the dirty film in the inside of the tank, you can buy yourself a glass magnet



Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

Answer 7

If you don't want to upset them then clean the gavel one week and the next just take the water from the top of the tank. But do a water change every week weather you have one fish on a million, after a while their waste will begin to poison them.

Answer 8

Goldfish are very hardy fish and does not required that many water changes. I would do it once every month, just to remove any waste. And it's ok to leave your filter on while siphoning it. just do like 10%-15% of the water and you should be good. Every water change you do just add water conditioner.

Answer 9

I think that you can probably go a little bit longer without changing the water, maybe like once every 3 or maybe 4 weeks, unless it seems dirty to you by that amount of time, and when you are messing around in the tank it will usually stir up stuff from the rocks and that is most likely what makes your tank look dirty when you change the water.

Answer 10

I'VE heard goldfish are "dirty" fish?
i also had a friend who's house & 2 dogs were destroyed from faulty aquarium wiring, be careful