Weekly Water Changes
Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:32 am
OK, here's the deal. If you look at internet sources, particularly the newsgroups and forums, the overwhelming majority of people recommend weekly water changes. However, if you stroll over to the library, or go over to the bookstore, or talk to your local fish store guy that seems to know what he's doing, they will tell you monthly. Sometimes even longer. Axelrod. Konig. Dick Mills. The rec.aquaria FAQs. Monthly. Independently, I've found that monthly is what works for me -- about 30 years of Oscar keeping, usually pairs in 55s. Monthly changes leaves no time for any measureable accumulation of nitrate, and then I discover after the fact that most recognized aquaria authors that you can read down at the library recommend the same thing. The instruction manuals that come with Aquaria, Inc. products (Magnum, Aqua-Tech, Emperor, Penguin) -- Monthly. The manual that comes with the Whisper (Tetra) 30-60 filter -- Monthly. Neal Pronec -- Monthly. When you get down to it, the only place I have [i]ever[/i] seen weekly water changes recommended is in newsgroup and forum posts. (Except on a package of "Clout", as part of medicating an aquarium). So what am I missing? There's nothing [i]wrong[/i] with weekly water changes, I think, but if they are intregal to fishkeeping, then why are they never recommended in "ligitimate" literature and in my experience?
I will duck, now, in preparation for the onslought of answers:D
--Mark:cool:
I will duck, now, in preparation for the onslought of answers:D
--Mark:cool: