New common clownfish

[killerwilsh90]

Hi I wonder if someone can help me I have recently bought 2 baby common clown fish (Thursday 15th April) and was wondering when I should do a 20% water change



(sorry new to marine) lol

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

its not really about when to do a water change, but why to do a water change. Fish require water with certain parameters to live, ideally 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and low nitrate. When nitrate climbs high you perform a water change. Or when phosphates climb high you perform a water change to export the nutrients. Or if you have corals that suck elements from the water you perform water changes to replenish the elements. I perform weekly water changes, some people do it biweekly, some do it monthly, some very rarely. Everyones tank is different. I would start by testing your water and listing your parameters so that people here can offer some suggestions.

 

[Billdogg]

its not really about when to do a water change, but why to do a water change. Fish require water with certain parameters to live, ideally 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and low nitrate. When nitrate climbs high you perform a water change. Or when phosphates climb high you perform a water change to export the nutrients. Or if you have corals that suck elements from the water you perform water changes to replenish the elements. I perform weekly water changes, some people do it biweekly, some do it monthly, some very rarely. Everyones tank is different. I would start by testing your water and listing your parameters so that people here can offer some suggestions.

^^^This^^

More information about your tank would help us help you. What is a "common" clown? If you are not sure, pictures would be good. How big is the tank? When was it set up? Sump? Amount of rock, and was it already "live" or did you start with dry rock? Current water parameters are very important it making any decisions. Testing the water yourself is almost mandatory, so reliable test kits are pretty much a must-have. (I prefer Salifert for ease of use, repeatable results, and price, fwiw)

The first few years, I did water changes weekly. As I got more comfortable with my systems and they matured, water changes became biweekly. Now, over 30 years in, I know the signs to look for and do water changes when the tank tells me to, usually every 4-6 weeks, more often if something seems out of whack.

The more you can tell us about your system the better.

 

[killerwilsh90]

Hi it’s a 120 litre tank running a fluval u3 and a protein skimmer no Corals just clownfish x2 hermit crabs x3 snails x3 and my nitrite levels have spiked so doing a water change today ammonia is good nitrite and nitrate are high ph is 7.9

 

[Tamberav]

If it is not cycled... then do water changes to keep ammonia low. Also dose some bio-spira to seed the tank. Ammonia is very toxic to fish, so that is the main thing to monitor.

Don't be shocked when everything gets covered in brown nasty diatoms.

 

[killerwilsh90]

Hi it’s a 120 litre tank running a fluval u3 and a protein skimmer no Corals just clownfish x2 hermit crabs x3 snails x3 and my nitrite levels have spiked so doing a water change today ammonia is good nitrite and nitrate are high ph is 7.9

Sorry ph is 8.1

If it is not cycled... then do water changes to keep ammonia low. Also dose some bio-spira to seed the tank. Ammonia is very toxic to fish, so that is the main thing to monitor.

Don't be shocked when everything gets covered in brown nasty diatoms.

thank you