Background: I have had atleast one aquarium continuously since the mid 80's. Both fresh and saltwater setups with a maximum of 13 tanks at once. I've made plenty of mistakes along the way all the while establishing what works for me and the tanks inhabitants.
Given: The keeping of fish by home aquarists seems to be as much art as it is science.
Recently I established a 150g African Cichlid tank. That is why I found this forum. Lately I have been giving much thought to the frequency and quantity of water to change out of the system which led me to the following observation. I made the following caculations this morning regarding partial water changes:
25% weekly wc is equivalent to a 50% monthly wc and 2X contaminates remain,
50% weekly wc is equivalent to a 75% monthly wc and 1X contaminates remain,
75% weekly wc is equivalent to a 92% monthly wc and 0.33X contaminates remain.
Where X = weekly contanimemts (ie. Nitrates and other pollutants)
Ideally a continuous wc would be best for the tanks inhabitants.
Given: The keeping of fish by home aquarists seems to be as much art as it is science.
Recently I established a 150g African Cichlid tank. That is why I found this forum. Lately I have been giving much thought to the frequency and quantity of water to change out of the system which led me to the following observation. I made the following caculations this morning regarding partial water changes:
25% weekly wc is equivalent to a 50% monthly wc and 2X contaminates remain,
50% weekly wc is equivalent to a 75% monthly wc and 1X contaminates remain,
75% weekly wc is equivalent to a 92% monthly wc and 0.33X contaminates remain.
Where X = weekly contanimemts (ie. Nitrates and other pollutants)
Ideally a continuous wc would be best for the tanks inhabitants.