0:00
One of the most important aspects of keeping large fish like fantail goldfish also seems
0:05
to be one of the most misunderstood tasks the fish keeper needs to carry out. In my
0:10
opinion water changes are a crucial part of keeping goldfish. In this video I will share
0:16
with you why, when and how much water I change in my goldfish tanks. Hello friends welcome
0:22
back to the channel. If you are new here my name is Richard and I am a fish and shrimp
0:26
breeder based in the UK. I've been keeping fancy goldfish since the 1990s and I have to be honest
0:33
when I first started I had no idea what water changes were or why we needed to do them. Needless
0:40
to say in those early days my goldfish never grew very large and in fact never lived very long
0:46
Luckily I have since learned how important water changes are so let's start by looking at why we
0:51
need to carry out water changes in the first place. When our fish go to the bathroom their
0:57
waste is high in ammonia and ammonia is highly toxic to fish. Even if ammonia is present in very
1:04
low levels it can still prove fatal to our fish. Fortunately there are bacteria present in our
1:12
aquariums that convert the highly toxic ammonia into the slightly less toxic nitrite. Fish can
1:20
tolerate slightly higher levels of nitrite than they can ammonia. However nitrite will still
1:26
prove harmful to our fish if levels get too high. Once again we are fortunate that there is another
1:35
strain of bacteria in our aquariums that converts the nitrite into the less toxic steel nitrate
1:42
The process of fish waste being converted all the way from ammonia to nitrate is known as the
1:48
nitrogen cycle. Whilst the aforementioned strains of bacteria will cover all surfaces in the aquarium
1:54
equally, the highest concentration of these good or beneficial bacteria can be found in our aquarium
2:01
filters. Essentially our aquarium filter's job is to convert fish waste from ammonia to nitrate
2:10
No matter how good your filter is, it won't remove nitrates from the aquarium water
2:16
And whilst nitrates are far less toxic to fish than ammonia the nitrate levels in the water can build up over time and they can reach levels that start to affect the health of our fish The most effective way for us to lower the nitrate levels in our goldfish tanks is to
2:34
change a portion of the water on a regular basis. Draining out some of the aquarium water and
2:40
replacing it with fresh dechlorinated tap water will reduce the nitrate levels in the aquarium
2:45
water. So that is essentially the why of changing aquarium water and now we understand why let's
2:55
look at how much water we should be changing. With tropical fish such as guppies, angelfish
3:01
mollies etc common wisdom will tell you that a 10 or 20% water change will be sufficient. Truth
3:08
be told I agree with that advice on the whole for the majority of my tropical community aquariums
3:14
a 10% water change is usually sufficient. However, most of those tanks house small fish
3:22
each one only measuring maybe two or three inches. Fancy goldfish, on the other hand
3:27
are large fish. They eat a lot and they produce a lot of waste
3:32
As such, I will typically replace anywhere from 50 to 75% of the water in my fancy goldfish
3:40
aquariums at each water change. In my experience carrying out such large water changes leads to
3:47
fish that are healthier and grow faster compared to when they are kept in aquariums that do not
3:53
receive such large water changes. There are even occasions when I will drain down maybe 90% of the
3:58
water in my fancy golfish tanks replacing it with fresh dechlorinated tap water. I know many people
4:05
will say that is too large a water change but in my experience it works. Providing the water I am
4:11
adding back has roughly the same pH and temperature as the water I removed I don't find the goldfish
4:17
show any signs of ill effects. I have had people comment in the past that I could lose all the
4:24
beneficial bacteria in my tank by carrying out such a large water change. However the bacteria
4:29
is not free floating in the water column but rather attached to the surfaces in the aquarium
4:34
such as the plants, the decorations and most importantly the media in the filter
4:40
I've never found that carrying out a large water change affected the beneficial bacteria in my
4:45
aquarium In the tank on screen I carrying out a water change of roughly 50 I not too precious about measuring the exact amounts of water I change One time it might be 45 the next time 55 The exact amount doesn matter It more about
5:02
making sure I carry out the water changes on a regular basis. As you may have noticed at the
5:08
start of the video, I use water changes as the ideal time to scrape down the glass on the aquariums
5:15
Typically, I'll only bother to scrape down the sides I look through. With this aquarium
5:19
we only view through the front and the left panel so I don't bother to scrape the backs or the right
5:25
hand side. These sides end up covered in algae but algae is actually surprisingly beneficial in an
5:31
aquarium so I see it more of a helper than a problem I need to eradicate. Often I will also
5:37
use the water change as an opportunity to gravel vac but I only gravel vac around once a month
5:44
Gravel vacuuming helps remove any fish waste and uneaten food that has become trapped in the
5:48
substrate. Both fish waste and uneaten food release ammonia into the tank as they break down
5:54
so if we can remove them by gravel vacuuming then so much the better. Typically I will coincide
6:00
gravel vacuuming with changing the floss in my filter. In case you're unfamiliar with the term
6:05
floss, filter floss is that fine white matting material that catches all the fine particles from
6:11
the water as it passes through the filter. I only clean the sponges within the filter about once
6:19
every three or four months. This routine seems to work well for me, although your filter may well
6:24
need cleaning more or less often depending on your particular setup. If you're finding value in this
6:30
video, please take a moment to tap the like button. So now we know why we need to change water in our
6:37
goldfish tanks and how much water we should be changing let's consider how frequently we should
6:42
change that water. The official answer to how often you need to change water is however often
6:48
your test kit tells you to. Aquarium test kits either strips or liquid test kits will measure
6:55
the amount of nitrates present in the water. These nitrates are usually measured in ppm or parts per
7:02
million. Some fish keepers will tell you you need to keep your nitrate levels at 40 ppm or lower
7:08
Others will say that numbers should be 10 ppm or less. And some will even say only 0 ppm of nitrate
7:15
is acceptable In my experience goldfish do absolutely fine even if the nitrate is at 80 or even 100 ppm I appreciate some will be horrified by those numbers however just look at these goldfish
7:29
They're healthy, they're eating well and they're growing large. I'm a firm believer that the goldfish will tell you how they're doing
7:36
So in theory, you should change water every time the level of nitrates rises above a level that you find unacceptable
7:44
In reality however I found that carrying out a large water change once a week works well
7:51
I don't bother to test the water these days, I just drain the tank down every Sunday night
7:55
and refill with fresh dechlorinated tap water. So when it comes to refilling the tank after I've drained it down, I'll typically hook the hose up
8:06
and adjust the water temperature so it's more or less the same temperature going back in as I took out
8:14
our tap water here in the UK has chloramine yours may well just have chlorine either way
8:22
a good quality dechlorinator will make the tap water safe to go into the goldfish aquarium
8:28
there are many different dechlorinators on the market I'm a big fan of Seachem Prime I've used
8:34
it for many years however you can use whichever one you're comfortable with I typically will just
8:41
add a couple of capfuls of Seachem Prime into the tank once I start adding the fresh water
8:49
Whilst the footage in this water change video is sped up to about 300%
8:53
the whole process of changing the water in a tank this large takes me about 40 minutes start to
8:58
finish. To be honest it's a job I quite enjoy, I don't see it as being a chore. I'll typically put
9:03
a pair of headphones in, listen to a podcast and get the job done. So that is essentially my
9:10
goldfish water change routine in a nutshell. I change about 50 to 75 percent of the water
9:15
about once a week. I simply drain it down, scrape the glass, change the floss in the filter
9:22
and then refill with fresh dechlorinated tap water which is about the same temperature as
9:28
the water I took out. Now if you're wondering what's the ideal water temperature for your fancy
9:33
goldfish, check out the video I've linked on screen. Thanks for watching
