I see the Preach already has a question about water changes in another thread. I started a new one as to not interfere with his.

OK,,,,lets give this a whack 'eh.

All this time we have been giving opinions and such about the whens, the whys, and the hows of water changes. Maybe we have just been misinterpreted about what water changes really are to US.

My idea of doing water changes are,,,,actually cleaning the whole aspect of the tank. Such as,,,syphoning,,,,moving things,,cleaning under gravel, under rocks, you know,,doing a good cleaning. 25-50% PERIOD. Tres Bien!
Please dont tell me you do this every week or two. :FAINTLY:

CLEANING THE FILTER THE SAME TIME.....NO NO NO,,,,thats my "cycling" period.


Now theres this,,,people doing water changes by,,replacing it. What I mean by that is,,,taking out 5-10% of the tanks capacity,,,and water ONLY. ?????????

To me,,,thats just an evaporation level missing. idunno When the water evaporates,,,you replace it. Do you concider that a water change????? Hmmmm

I think we are being misunderstood when we say we do water changes once,twice a week,,,,what do you concider water changes. So when you say your doing those water changes ( to many of them),,,are you actually just replacing it?????

If this doesnt make any sense,,,forgive me,,,I am just trying to keep you active here. Nanananaa
(Derek would like this) Giggly


AP.

My idea of a water change is...

1. Siphon off 25% of the tank's volume
a. This would include gravel/sand vacuuming of substrate
b. Turning over rocks to hide the algae once in a while
c. Rearranging the tank's decor once in a while

2. Clean the algae off the inside walls of the tank

3. Clean the outside glass and wipe down the tank's hood and light

* I clean my power filters (HOB) once a month

* I clean my canister filters once every 3 months or if there is diminished flow
of water from the canister filters!

Okay, this is what I consider a water change and I do this every week.

1. Suck out 50% of the water
2. Wipe down the inside walls of the tank, filter intakes and outputs
3. Trim any plants and replant trimmings
4. Pull off any melting leaves
5. Treat tank with Prime
6. Wait 10 min. and start refilling
7. While refilling tank wipe off lids and light
8. Clean outside tank walls

I clean the canister filters once every 3-4 months and not at the same time.

Oh and for my shrimp and qt tank, I do nothing special.

Suck out 50%, add prime and refill. Wipe down lids and squeeze sponges in old tank water.

wabawhat??

I got this far and I stopped reading. What the h3ll does this say/mean?

Replacing evaporated water is not a water change. idunno

To me, a water change is removing and replacing water. And while I'm at it, I vacuum up the poop, and wipe down the glass. That's really all I do with my weekly water changes.

I don't normally move the rocks around. For cave-like areas that the vacuum won't reach, I wave my hand around and push the poop out into the open to vacuum it out.

wow, cturner that's impressive. I do a 25% water change which includes vacuuming the gravel. If I notice any algae on the tank wall I'll wipe it off. Sometimes I trim the plants and add seachem flourish after I refill the tank. I cleaner filter every few changes and try not to clean both filters at the same time.

Hey Les,,,Mr. "Politically correct",,,

If you read some of the other posts,,,then maybe you'll understand what I was trying to say, kinda all falls into place with everybody else answers????

If there were a middle finger smiley,,,you'd get that a lot on here. the Clap

If I had wrote,,,"what water change really mean to others"????
OR,,,define what you believe a water change would be, and gave the choices?

Would that make you feel better????? Tres Bien!

Thanks for all your responses,, Hmmmm , EVERYBODY else.

Les> stepie


AP.

Admit it AP, you articulated yourself poorly Giggly

Yeah I guess,,,but at least my other FRIENDS understand. Maybe,,, Hmmmm they are just as whacked as I am???? take that and that!

Besides,,,,if it's THATS confusing for you,,,,,stop posting here. Tres Bien!

My other friends love me for the way I am. Cloud 9

AP.

I'm a little fried!

Fry....

Anyway, I change 20% of the water out of my tanks, and I use a algae magnet to wipe down the 2 most viewed sides of the tank when I change out the water. If my pleco isn't keeping up, I will do the the glass on the end that I normally don't do. I have yet to do the back glass. But that has only been 4 months on the 75 gal. And well the 90 gal I've only had for 14 days. fishy
I remove the glass covers and clean them under running water with the "Amazing Cloth" from germany, super water sucking cloth (actually it works quite well).
Only doing this since February 20th 2008, so it likely doesn't rate much to those who have been doing it for years.
Oh, and I keep a daily diary for both tanks, noting the temperatures at each feeding. Any deaths, or supplements added. Figured that it would be interesting to go back and read at a later date.

Anyway there's my Fried Fry observations.

Cheers