What are effects of not changin water for long periods?

I havent had time to change water in about 5-6 weeks due to some work and
family related issues. Took time to add treated water though. There seems to
be no ill effects and the water readings are pretty good and consistent with
the exception of the water being a little hard. The water is becoming
somewhat cloudy. What are some of the problems I might come across with not
changing water for long periods?

20 gal. tank
Clown Loaches
1 Pleco
3 Black Molly
2 Swords
4 tetras.

1 real plant (Cant remember what its called but its long and thin and grows
very rapidly)

Thanks
J

JeffinMS wrote:
I havent had time to change water in about 5-6 weeks due to some work and
family related issues. Took time to add treated water though. There seems to
be no ill effects and the water readings are pretty good and consistent with
the exception of the water being a little hard. The water is becoming
somewhat cloudy. What are some of the problems I might come across with not
changing water for long periods?

If you don't have lots of fast growing plants, nitrates will accumulate.
Which is not good for fish.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

"JeffinMS" wrote in
:

problems I might come across with not changing water for long periods?

The build-up of organic and inorganic wastes; dissolved in the water table
as well as trapped in the substrate and in your filter.

These byproducts will gradually increase the stress level of your fish and
drop your pH potentially making your fish more susceptible to infection or
shock.

The accumulation of these wastes can eventually impact the efficiency of
your filter too possibly leading to an ammonia/ammonium or nitrite spike
which spells toxic shock/stress for your livestock.

"JeffinMS" wrote in message
...
I havent had time to change water in about 5-6 weeks due to some work and
family related issues. Took time to add treated water though. There seems
to be no ill effects and the water readings are pretty good and consistent
with the exception of the water being a little hard. The water is becoming
somewhat cloudy. What are some of the problems I might come across with not
changing water for long periods?
===================
The water will get harder and harder as it evaporates and you replace it
with more water. Organics will build up and the tank can suffer a deadly PH
crash. It's really not a good idea to let it got for long periods without a
partial water changes.
--
KL....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*

"JeffinMS" wrote in message
...
I havent had time to change water in about 5-6 weeks due to some work and
family related issues. Took time to add treated water though. There seems
to be no ill effects and the water readings are pretty good and consistent
with the exception of the water being a little hard. The water is becoming
somewhat cloudy. What are some of the problems I might come across with not
changing water for long periods?

20 gal. tank
Clown Loaches
1 Pleco
3 Black Molly
2 Swords
4 tetras.

1 real plant (Cant remember what its called but its long and thin and
grows very rapidly)

Thanks
J


reduction in water clarity is a big one
also the water can lose the ability to hold as much oxygen
the main prob is the water becomes less like the tap water and the fish will
stress more from a large change if you have to do one.

Take a look at
http://www.barrreport.com/forums/

There, Tom Barr discusses low-light, non CO2 tanks where you never do
a water change...... strange but true..

I can't comment myself, as I have a high-light, CO2 flooded tank..
I follow Tom's EI dosing strategy with great success.

Best wishes
Pete

On Mon, 11 Sep 2006 01:09:21 GMT, "JeffinMS"
wrote:

I havent had time to change water in about 5-6 weeks due to some work and
family related issues. Took time to add treated water though. There seems to
be no ill effects and the water readings are pretty good and consistent with
the exception of the water being a little hard. The water is becoming
somewhat cloudy. What are some of the problems I might come across with not
changing water for long periods?

20 gal. tank
Clown Loaches
1 Pleco
3 Black Molly
2 Swords
4 tetras.

1 real plant (Cant remember what its called but its long and thin and grows
very rapidly)

Thanks
J


The "cloudy water" may be signaling a problem. Over feeding is more
likely to be a problem than not changing water.

I am totally dedicated to routing water changes over anything else
except care about over feeding.

How can you not worry about the water conditions, just the disolved
solids issue alone? (see old tank syndrome.)

It is my observation that filters are actually "strainers." They hold
the larger solids, but the water passing by is eroding the solids and
letting the stuff to return to the tank. Oh, woe is me, I predict
disaster due to negligence.

But, what do I know? There is more to life than fish - well, maybe.

dick

Hi..

I havent had time to change water in about 5-6 weeks due
to some work and family related issues. Took time to add
treated water though.

Demineralised water or treated rain water were a better
choice..

There seems to be no ill effects and
the water readings are pretty good and consistent with the
exception of the water being a little hard. The water is
becoming somewhat cloudy. What are some of the problems I
might come across with not changing water for long
periods?

Depends on stocking and organic input, too..

20 gal. tank
Clown Loaches
1 Pleco
3 Black Molly
2 Swords
4 tetras.

That tank I suppose is much too small for clowns and even
for swords and this might finally be the _main_ problem you
will get or have..

Unfortunately nobody cares..
--
cu
Marco

Dick wrote in
news
It is my observation that filters are actually "strainers." They hold
the larger solids, but the water passing by is eroding the solids and
letting the stuff to return to the tank. Oh, woe is me, I predict
disaster due to negligence.

That's not a strainer, that's just a filter. The primary media traps
debris allowing heterotrophic bacteria (not just flowing water) to
consume it and break it down efficiently into smaller particles which
pass on to the later stages of the filter. Nitrifying bacteria, living
harmoniously with the heterotrophic bacteria, processes the nitrogenous
byproducts of the break down of organic material.

A strainer would be the physical trapping of debris in the absence of
anything else. A diatom filter could be described as an advanced type
of strainer. Any filter that has been broken-in or cycled is not a
simple strainer.

Essentially there are three stages to aquarium filters, mechanical,
biological, and chemical.

Mechanical filtration involves the trapping of physical waste particles.
These are generally the primary and final stages of your filter (that is
if you are using something like polyfiber at the end stage of your
filter to prevent very small particles returning to your aquarium).

Biological involves what I described above. Heterotrophic bacteria
decompose physical organic debris, and nitrifying bacteria go to work on
the byproducts of that decomposition, especially in the later stages
where there water flow is less impeded by the build-up of physical
debris.

Chemical filtration is optional and can involve a wide variety of media
which can trap within them an array of different substances. The most
common types of chemical filtration media are active carbon and Zeolite.

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 19:20:36 -0500, dc wrote:

Dick wrote in
news
It is my observation that filters are actually "strainers." They hold
the larger solids, but the water passing by is eroding the solids and
letting the stuff to return to the tank. Oh, woe is me, I predict
disaster due to negligence.

That's not a strainer, that's just a filter. The primary media traps
debris allowing heterotrophic bacteria (not just flowing water) to
consume it and break it down efficiently into smaller particles which
pass on to the later stages of the filter. Nitrifying bacteria, living
harmoniously with the heterotrophic bacteria, processes the nitrogenous
byproducts of the break down of organic material.

A strainer would be the physical trapping of debris in the absence of
anything else. A diatom filter could be described as an advanced type
of strainer. Any filter that has been broken-in or cycled is not a
simple strainer.


I don't understand much of what you said, but I have 3 different
filters on my 5 tanks. I don't use charcoal and I removed bio wheels,
so my filtration media is a "strainer." What do you believe is
happening to the debris on the media with the water pouring past?

I call it erosion. Works fine, but then I do weekly water changes.

dick
Essentially there are three stages to aquarium filters, mechanical,
biological, and chemical.

Mechanical filtration involves the trapping of physical waste particles.
These are generally the primary and final stages of your filter (that is
if you are using something like polyfiber at the end stage of your
filter to prevent very small particles returning to your aquarium).

Biological involves what I described above. Heterotrophic bacteria
decompose physical organic debris, and nitrifying bacteria go to work on
the byproducts of that decomposition, especially in the later stages
where there water flow is less impeded by the build-up of physical
debris.

Chemical filtration is optional and can involve a wide variety of media
which can trap within them an array of different substances. The most
common types of chemical filtration media are active carbon and Zeolite.