Do you need to do water changes on a planted tank?

[@Black-Templar69]

Thanks for this valuable video.

[@Philip-qx3he]

That's a beautiful tank,plants look amazing as do the fish.l only have small tanks with different nano species and all are heavily planted but I still do a weekly water change but on,y around 10 /15 per cent.Seems to work for me ,lose the odd fish occassi9nally still but no major losses.Good luck with your tanks they all look great.

[@BenTodd]

So i have a planted tank and i have never done a water change. Only top ups. It has now been 486 days! I lost some fish at first but now, i haven't lost one in over 6 months and their population has doubled, as well as the vegetation.

[@RodsAquatics]

@BenTodd maybe I was over feeding! Since addingnthe corydoras I have to feed more so the food reaches the bottom. The rainbowfish are so fast.

[@sharolcuevas7780]

if you overfeed then you need to do water change. fish can survive without food for a week.

[@RodsAquatics]

@sharolcuevas7780 this is true I've done it many times. I just trying to figure out how to feed the Cory's without the rainbowfish stealing it

[@kishannandivada9278]

@@RodsAquatics If they like to eat boiled cucumber ? or i used to feed shrimp food which is of tablet form circular shape. It dips into water and reaches bottom, throw few under driftwood or rocks

[@RodsAquatics]

@kishannandivada9278 the rainbowfish always find it I'm tell you they're savages

[@Tush_Burkey]

Love the tank, I'm jealous of your torpedo barbs keep it up

[@jefferybruce2332]

Have two 10 gal tanks with only 12 small amber tetras & another with 3 ambers & 12 ultra small chilli Rasboras, Both have 100+ neocaradina shrimp, a few amano's, oto's n snails plus lots of plants n fast growing hornworth in them. One's been up 12 months & other 6 months, check water quality weekly & never have do anything but top off evaporation. Might be the fast growing hornwoth that's absorbing the nitrates. You need Fast Growing plants to do that. Slow growing plants not so much.

[@RodsAquatics]

@jefferybruce2332 your very right! This tank is also covered so if I just did top offs it's not much new water. I have a 10 gal similar setup as you and I've never changed the water because the top off are more frequent

[@nicholasabbott9128]

lol ...slow growing plants don't suck up nitrates nearly as fast as fast growing stem plants

[@RodsAquatics]

@@nicholasabbott9128 so true I should have mentioned this more clearly!

[@DashDrones]

You need more plants for that many large fish and probably feeding too much. I do a 30-50% water change once per year and nitrates are never above 25ppm.

[@RodsAquatics]

@@DashDrones I've never had an issue until I added the Cory's! I think it's a combination of both of what you said

[@greenmachinesweden]

What does red means on your nitrate test?

[@RodsAquatics]

@@greenmachinesweden on the API test kit when the nitrates are very high they show red.

[@greenmachinesweden]

@RodsAquatics I do understand that red means high. I was just curious about how high?

[@RodsAquatics]

@@greenmachinesweden bright red between 40 and 80

[@greenmachinesweden]

@RodsAquatics ok. There are no conection between 40-80 ppm nitrate and fish health or death. The lovest level a peer revied article has established connection to fish health is 800 ppm. The connection was to growth speed in salmon farming. The huge tanks in public aquariums where water changes is troublsome always have over 100 ppm. I have seen healthy shark tanks at 1200 ppm. So you need to look for other reasons for popeye and fish death.

[@RodsAquatics]

@greenmachinesweden everyone is good now! Thanks for the comment!

[@tktropicals4997]

yes you still need do water changes.

[@AndrewFishman]

Slow growing plants, rosette plants and their type do not take up a lot of nitrate. Certain mosses are alright if CO2 is used, but not great. Bunches are a pain to maintain. Better to just water change.

[@RodsAquatics]

@AndrewFishman you're so right! Everything was find until I added the Cory's biology wise I believe

[@Haseeb2-q8d]

If you had a deep substrate along with a heavily planted tank, then you wouldn't need to do water changes.

[@RodsAquatics]

@Haseeb2-q8d i agree with the substrate but I would say this thing is healivy planted. Just not stem plants which does work better

[@Haseeb2-q8d]

@@RodsAquatics The stem plants will facilitate the complete nitrate - nitrite cycle in a deep substrate aquarium. My set up is mostly water wisteria and I have gone 8 months so far without a water change.

[@flaviodesignaquariums1690]

Yes

[@stephane123123]

Car ram rod