# how does water changes help fish grow



## will231017 (Feb 1, 2014)

Everybody says a lot of water changing help them grow. If so how does it help ? Also want does make them grow faster? For sum reason my fish won't grow , I have fish that are 11 months old and only an inch and a half . Is that normal ?


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

Living in a healthy environment promotes good health. Included with a healthy place to live, lessens the stress the fish has to endure. A healthy and happy fish will likely grow faster than a sickly one.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

I'm not sure it's known exactly how water changes affect growth, but it generally has to do with the amount of nitrates in the water. It probably also has something to do with the fact that high nitrate water promotes more bacterial and microorganism growth = fish has to spend more of their resources on fighting infections rather than growth.

What are your nitrate readings in your tank? What is your water change schedule.


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## will231017 (Feb 1, 2014)

honestly i do a 50% wc every month but a have two 40gallon hob filters and a 60g hob filter and I have a 55gallon tank


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

will231017 said:


> honestly i do a 50% wc every month but a have two 40gallon hob filters and a 60g hob filter and I have a 55gallon tank


If you changed 50% water every week, I guarantee that you'll see better growth of your fish. Filters cannot remove nitrates from water (nitrates are completely soluble in water)


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## Cloud (Jan 30, 2014)

will231017 said:


> honestly i do a 50% wc every month but a have two 40gallon hob filters and a 60g hob filter and I have a 55gallon tank


It doesn't matter how well it is filtered as long as you have enough bb to keep the ammonia and nitrites down. It is all about water changes, and I can assure you that you don't do enough water changes.


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## gverde (Mar 3, 2010)

You should be doing 50% water changes every week and not once a month. That's probably why they aren't growing. My fish grow from fry to 2" in 3-4 months.


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## Mschn99 (Dec 24, 2012)

nitrates have been shown to be a huge part of it. There is also a thought process that the most dominant fish or two in the tank releases endorphins that slow the growth of the other fish. This is a mechanism to keep dominance. I do not know how much truth there is to this, but *** heard it talked about by some pretty knowledgeable fish breeders.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

How many fish in your 55g? Mine is overstocked pretty bad now (trying to get rid of some), but I do weekly 50-60% water changes and sometimes, I do it 2 days in a row to keep nitrates down. I am also overfiltered, but that won't get rid of nitrates. Keep an eye on those filters as they can become "nitrate factories" if too much goo gets caught in them. Just make sure you use tank water to clean the biological media and thoroughly rinse the rest in tap water. Since you have 3, I'd suggest cleaning one every water change...

I agree with others, nitrates are probably the main factor your fish won't grow and that's why water changes help their growth rate.


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## jlose600 (Aug 6, 2012)

I have to agree with everyone in regards to water changes. High levels of nitrates can stunt a fishes growth. My primary tank is a standard 75 gallon and I have it stocked with sixteen medium sized mbuna. I do two 50 percent water changes a week and the fish are growing at an average of 3/4 inch per month. I also feed them New Life Spectrum twice a day. I feed them all they can choke down in one minute each time. Doing this my ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 and the nitrate level never goes above 10ppm. I can't over emphasize the water changes of at least 50 percent per week. The largest and most expensive filtration will not get rid of ammonia and nitrites. If you had access to clean non-chlorinated water and could turn the tanks contents over at least once an hour your wouldn't need filtration. I hope this helps.


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

jlose600 said:


> I also feed them New Life Spectrum twice a day. I feed them all they can choke down in one minute each time.


1 minute? For malawi cichlids? They choke down food at lightning speed. 1 minute of feeding sounds like an awful lot. I feed my fish what they can consume in about 8 seconds.



jlose600 said:


> *The largest and most expensive filtration will not get rid of ammonia and nitrites*. If you had access to clean non-chlorinated water and could turn the tanks contents over at least once an hour your wouldn't need filtration. I hope this helps.


Yes it will. Any biofilter will convert those to nitrate.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

Fast growth is a product of lots of high quality food and lots of water changes. The more you feed the more water you need to change. When I was raising angels, I did about 60% to 70% daily. Once when I went 3 days without a change the entire spawn was ruined. The fins were squared off on top. They never fully recover from this. So, while my case was extreme, with a large spawn in a not large tank, it demonstrated the need for clean water.


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