# 25% Water Change Everyday..



## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

How much water is a 25% water change for 55 Gallon fish tank? I wanna do this for everyday to make my levels back to normal..

Ammonia: Normal Results: 0.0 - 0.25 mg/L (Mine is .5)
Nitrite - Normal Results 0.0 - .05 mg/L (Mine is .5)
Nitrate - Normal Results 0 - 40 mg/L (Mine is 80)
pH - Normal Range: 6.7 - 8.4 (Mine is 6.2)
Alkalinity - Normal Range: 80-300 mg/L (Mine is 20)
Hardness - Normal Range: 75 - 300 mg/L (Mine is 300)
Chlorine is 0


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

13.75 Gallons


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

thanks


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

Why not change 50% and get there faster? Drain the tank half way and refill.


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Dont do 50% water change!


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## Mr.Dempsey (Jan 4, 2012)

bluejack23 said:


> Dont do 50% water change!


Why? Large water changes are what you need to get a tank back to normal, if i was him i would be doing 50%+ daily till the tank was back to normal, ammonia starts kills at even low levels.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

you can kill your fish if you do 50% a day! i will not do 50% if 25% takes longer than so be it but im not gonna risk killing my fish


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## Mr.Dempsey (Jan 4, 2012)

ryanjamesg said:


> you can kill your fish if you do 50% a day! i will not do 50% if 25% takes longer than so be it but im not gonna risk killing my fish


You can't kill your fish doing 50% water changes daily (as long as your doing it right) lol if this was true why do people do large daily water changes on fry tanks? if it was going to kill anything it would kill small sensitive fry, also alot of people do large daily waterchanges on discus tanks and those guys are real finicky when it comes to their water.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

I'll probably do a 50% water change once a week and then have the rest be 25%  i did a 75% the first time i started so friday ill do a 50%


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

if your going to tell people to do water changes of that size, the least you could do is explain how you do so correctly. What if hes new to fish and has no idea? To me its irresponsible to throw around suggestions that could possibly harm someones pets without an explanation of how to do so.


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## Mr.Dempsey (Jan 4, 2012)

If he was that new he wouldn't have a test kit as that is the last thing most new people get, and if he wasn't using some kind of dechlorinator his fish would be dying of chlorine poisoning so I was quite confident he could handle such a task. So if you're seeing somthing im not by all mean tell me cause all I see is someone who let their tank go to long with out a water change and just needs some "large" water changes to dilute the poison that has built up in his tank. And I put "(as long as your doing it right)" so if he wasn't sure on how to do a water change he should have said something asking on how to do a water change.


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## Mr.Dempsey (Jan 4, 2012)

This was a double post.


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Im not saying its bad if done correctly but some sort of nutrients must be added. And most "new" people these days get used tank with all kinds of test kits/suppliments. I just feel that a helpful post should be supported better is all.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

I've had a fish tank for around a year now. I just went too long without a water change cause i was way busy. but GOOD news 

8/24/2012 (OLD TEST)
Ammonia: Normal Results: 0.0 - 0.25 mg/L (Mine is .5)
Nitrite - Normal Results 0.0 - .05 mg/L (Mine is .5)
Nitrate - Normal Results 0 - 40 mg/L (Mine is 80)
pH - Normal Range: 6.7 - 8.4 (Mine is 6.2)
Alkalinity - Normal Range: 80-300 mg/L (Mine is 20)
Hardness - Normal Range: 75 - 300 mg/L (Mine is 300)
Chlorine is 0

8/30/2012 (NEW TEST)
Ammonia - Normal Results: 0.0 - 0.25 mg/L (Mine is now 0.00)
Nitrite - Normal Results: 0.0 - 0.5 mg/L (Mine is now 0.2)
Nitrate - Normal Range: 0 - 40 mg/L (Mine is now 50)
pH - Normal Range: 6.5 - 8.4 (Mine is now 7.0)
Alkalinity - Normal Range: 80 - 300 mg/L (Mine is now 40)
Hardness - Normal Range: 75 - 300 mg/L (Still 300)
Chlorine - 0
Temperature - 80 Degrees

So its getting a little better  pH is way better


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Keep using prime if youve got any left. And remember the tank wont have a chance to cycle if you are changing brand new water every day. Id feed them every other day and keep using prime. I dont think daily water changes are needed any more. Maybe 10% every 3 or 4 days.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

okay so wait now for 3-4 days and then do 10% water change. and feed them every other day? So i fed them today i won't feed them today and ill feed them saturday.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

& i think i might be using too much prime but idk i did 5 buckets of 12 liters today and put 2 capfulls of it in there.


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

you can use prime up to 5x the recommended dose


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

ooh nicee


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

Thanks for helping me out! Your a great person to talk to about this haha.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

bluejack23 said:


> some sort of nutrients must be added.


What exactly are you talking about here? No different doing a large or a small water change; declorinator is all that is needed. If the tap water has chloramine then something that breaks the chlorine-ammonia bond .....Prime is a good example of one product that will do this. If adding tap water directly to the tank by hose, follow the instructions on the bottle and add before, based on the total volume of the tank. But don't count on Prime itself, to fix your nitrite or ammonia problems.

I agree with Mr. Dempsey.
Ammonia and nitrite are poisenous to fish. Fish like JD and RD are very hardy.....sure they will probably live through it, but definately not good for their health; can even do permanent damage to the fish. A 50% water change really isn't all that large.....it's going to take a few of those to get your water back to good quality. Don't beat around the bush with 10% water changes......your just prolonging your fishes exposure to toxic ammonia and nitrite.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

BillD said:


> Why not change 50% and get there faster? Drain the tank half way and refill.


This is the correct advice. 
0.2 ppm nitrite is still not good, at all. Nitrite is usually considered to be even more toxic then ammonia. 50ppm nitrate.....generally, that's an indication that your water quality is not so good.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

yeah but its way better than what it use to be.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

bluejack23 said:


> And remember the tank wont have a chance to cycle if you are changing brand new water every day. Id feed them every other day and keep using prime. I dont think daily water changes are needed any more. Maybe 10% every 3 or 4 day.


The tank is cycled; You wouldn't have high nitrates if the tank wasn't cycled. Feed them once or twice a week at most, until your water quality is good. Change water until ammonia and nitrite measure zero in parts per million and nitrate is 20 ppm or LOWER and keep it there, or lower, all the better. Yes, prime is a good product, IMO.


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

If there is nitrite the tank is absolutely not cycled. Cycle kits "detoxify nitrite and ammonia". A cycled tank should read 0 nitrite 0 ammonia and nitrates are normal but become more harmful the more there is.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

bluejack23 said:


> If there is nitrite the tank is absolutely not cycled. Cycle kits "detoxify nitrite and ammonia". A cycled tank should read 0 nitrite 0 ammonia and nitrates are normal but become more harmful the more there is.


No, whatever. Yes, should read zero. But the tank was neglected as the OP mentioned, so didn't do regular water changes for some time. So the system is backed up! If there was no beneficial bacteria there would not be such high levels of nitrate.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

ah stop talking so scientific haha i don't get it.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

Showing more color now than before ;D i think my water is getting a lot better.
Still have been feeding them cause they come up to the top looking for food. 
Think i might do a water change tomorrow ;D!


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

Pretty much here is what happened. without water changes the buildup of organic compounds (food and poop) started to decay. and when organic compounds decay they create Ammonia. Usually this isn't a problem for a cycled tank because the bacteria in your filters/decor changes it to Nitrite then over to Nitrate. Ammonia and Nitrite are harmful your your fish in any level other than 0ppm.

Without the water changes your bacteria couldn't handle the ammonia load and started to slow down. Thus creating a buildup of Ammonia and Nitrite.

What your goal is now, would be to start changing water every day until both Ammonia and Nitrite come to a 0ppm reading. Nitrate should be under control too (>30ppm).

If I were you (this happened to me last week due to forgetting to turn filters back on), I would change 50% of your water everyday until you get a normal reading. When changing water, drain, then add it back in. 
If adding directly from tap, add in Prime (or other dechlor) before you add new water and dose for entire tank. 
if adding from buckets just dose accordingly for the volume of the bucket. 
Also do your best to keep the new water the same temperature as your tank water (usually you can guess by just comparing with your hand)

I've kept a discuss tank in the past and I'd change 90% of the water everyday. This is a common practice. 
If you do it correctly, there is never TOO much clean water.


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

I misunderstood the age of the tank as I was talking to him in other posts about jds he had for 4 days and mistook that for a new tank. I understand large changes would be needed to correct the water. And im glad the fish are doing better than they were before.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

i have no idea where to buy prime today. haha everything is closed. i don't think zamzows has it, or petsmart.


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Are your levels still bad?


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

Well the male JD is VERY dark and beautiful with his colors The other male is very pale, i think the male & female have been beating up on him. i don't know what to do to medicate the hurt one. last time i used miraflax or whatever it messed up the tank water. thats why i am having trouble getting the water back to normal.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

also the female isn't that dark either she is kinda pale but kinda dark with tiger brown and blue on the top like a zebra.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

But pale at the belly


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Id re home the other male. What are your levels?


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

Don't know i haven't gone in to get it tested otherwise i have that stupid freshwater master test kit by API that i paid 35$ for and it seems to not be the same readings as petsmarts.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

But here are the test results after i used the freshwater master test kit:
8/24/12
pH - 7.2
High pH - 7.4
Ammonia - .25ppm
Nitrite - .00ppm
Nitrate - 100ppm

9/3/12
pH - 7.6 
High Range pH - 7.4
Ammonia NH3/NH4 - 0ppm
Nitrite NO2 - 0ppm
Nitrate N03 - 60ppm


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

I always test my own water. Water seems fine but high nitrate. How often are you feeding?


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

alrighty.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

mm 2wice a day lol. i will not feed them tomorrow and then feed them the next day once and so on over again.


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Yeah high nitrates are most likely from over feeding.


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## phinexswarm35 (Aug 4, 2011)

since the amount of ammonia in your water i would advise 50% till water measurement back to normal
of course then go back on routine 35-50% water change
take care of them :thumb:


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

phinexswarm35 said:


> since the amount of ammonia in your water i would advise 50% till water measurement back to normal
> of course then go back on routine 35-50% water change
> take care of them :thumb:


He just said ammonia is 0


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

NEW TEST RESULTS

8/24/12
Ammonia: Normal Results: 0.0 - 0.25 mg/L (Mine is .5)
Nitrite - Normal Results 0.0 - .05 mg/L (Mine is .5)
Nitrate - Normal Results 0 - 40 mg/L (Mine is 80)
pH - Normal Range: 6.7 - 8.4 (Mine is 6.2)
Alkalinity - Normal Range: 80-300 mg/L (Mine is 20)
Hardness - Normal Range: 75 - 300 mg/L (Mine is 300)
Chlorine is 0

9/5/12
Ammonia: Normal Results: 0.0 - 0.25 mg/L (Mine is .25)
Nitrite - Normal Results 0.0 - .05 mg/L (Mine is 0)
Nitrate - Normal Results 0 - 40 mg/L (Mine is 30)
pH - Normal Range: 6.7 - 8.4 (Mine is 7.6)
Alkalinity - Normal Range: 80-300 mg/L (Mine is 100)
Hardness - Normal Range: 75 - 300 mg/L (Mine is 200)
Chlorine is 0


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Ammonia should always be Zero.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

the guy told me it was fine so .25 isn't as bad as .5 to me


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## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

If you say so. Ammonia is bad in any quantity.


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## ryanjamesg (Aug 26, 2012)

I know but its so much better than what it use to be. and its probably because i fed them before i took that water to get tested.


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

Keep changing 30-40% daily until ammonia is 0ppm. Then once 0 is achieved, test water every day for a week or two to make sure that all is well. and of course, keep up with regular water changes.

Like bluejack said, ammonia is bad in any quantity. So is Nitrate, but it seems your filters can convert that just fine,


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