epicbattle
New member
I'll be getting a pair of juvie axolotl soon, and I want to make sure I've got things planned out correctly. First of all, let me explain a bit of background behind my thoughts on water changes:
I have had 3 aquariums in the past; a 10G pseudo-replication of a local river ecosystem, a 10G guppy setup, and a 75G cichlid setup.
The guppy tank was my first, and I went with the traditional approach of weekly ~20% water changes as this seemed to be the norm. The tank was very successful, but it was a huge pain to maintain. And despite the frequent water changes, calcium and mineral deposits from the tap water built up along the edges of the water and all over the filter etc. very quickly and I had to constantly scrape it off. It was fun to study guppy genetics by breeding, but eventually I ceased to learn from them and passed them on to somebody who would.
When I started my next aquarium project, the river-in-a-box, I initially filled the tank with water from the river I was studying. After that, I never did a "water change" at all. As the water evaporated, I replaced it with RO water(little to no minerals). Most of the minerals left behind from evaporated water stayed behind, so I didn't worry about that. When the pH started to change(usually once or twice a year), I took it as a sign that mineral levels were getting a bit low, so I supplemented with some more river water. I kept that tank going with this method for four years before returning its occupants to where they came from because I had to move. All were happy and healthy the entire time(except for the baby fish, which were preyed on by almost everything...)
I took the same approach with my 75G cichlid tank, but with treated tap water rather than river water. I was very happy with the results. No time consuming water changes were ever necessary, I never had unsightly mineral deposits to scrape off everywhere, and all my fish were healthy. I no longer own the aquarium(I sold it at the same time that I released my river critters), but the new owner has been using the same strategy as me. It has been running for 8 years and still contains all the fish that were in my initial setup, perfectly healthy.
So I have 3 questions for users here:
1) What purpose does regular water changes serve that RO top-ups does not? I assume there is an advantage to water changes, since it is the norm. But I never had any issues with water quality at all with my method, and it did seem much easier to me.
2) Is it safe to use my method for my axolotl tank? Or is there something about their biology that would make normal water changes a better choice?
3) If you think I should definitely do regular water changes for my axies, do you know of an efficient way to do it? In the past I have used siphons or pitchers to move water around.
I have had 3 aquariums in the past; a 10G pseudo-replication of a local river ecosystem, a 10G guppy setup, and a 75G cichlid setup.
The guppy tank was my first, and I went with the traditional approach of weekly ~20% water changes as this seemed to be the norm. The tank was very successful, but it was a huge pain to maintain. And despite the frequent water changes, calcium and mineral deposits from the tap water built up along the edges of the water and all over the filter etc. very quickly and I had to constantly scrape it off. It was fun to study guppy genetics by breeding, but eventually I ceased to learn from them and passed them on to somebody who would.
When I started my next aquarium project, the river-in-a-box, I initially filled the tank with water from the river I was studying. After that, I never did a "water change" at all. As the water evaporated, I replaced it with RO water(little to no minerals). Most of the minerals left behind from evaporated water stayed behind, so I didn't worry about that. When the pH started to change(usually once or twice a year), I took it as a sign that mineral levels were getting a bit low, so I supplemented with some more river water. I kept that tank going with this method for four years before returning its occupants to where they came from because I had to move. All were happy and healthy the entire time(except for the baby fish, which were preyed on by almost everything...)
I took the same approach with my 75G cichlid tank, but with treated tap water rather than river water. I was very happy with the results. No time consuming water changes were ever necessary, I never had unsightly mineral deposits to scrape off everywhere, and all my fish were healthy. I no longer own the aquarium(I sold it at the same time that I released my river critters), but the new owner has been using the same strategy as me. It has been running for 8 years and still contains all the fish that were in my initial setup, perfectly healthy.
So I have 3 questions for users here:
1) What purpose does regular water changes serve that RO top-ups does not? I assume there is an advantage to water changes, since it is the norm. But I never had any issues with water quality at all with my method, and it did seem much easier to me.
2) Is it safe to use my method for my axolotl tank? Or is there something about their biology that would make normal water changes a better choice?
3) If you think I should definitely do regular water changes for my axies, do you know of an efficient way to do it? In the past I have used siphons or pitchers to move water around.
