New Member

Posts: 1
From:Pittsburgh, PA
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 09-23-2003 07:52 AM         

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I was given a 400 gallon tank and I don't know how to set it up because it is a big step from a 55 gallon. I would think with a 400 you wouldn't have to change the water every week. If anyone can give me a little lesson in this size of a tank that would be great.

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Registered: Jan 2003

posted 09-23-2003 02:55 PM         

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The main reason for doing the water changes is to keep the aquarium balanced especially the bacterial filtration. Also by letting the water go longer before changes you will have more ammonia buildup and a larger PH drop. The problem with the PH drop is that when you do your water changes you can get massive PH swings. Also by spreading your water changes you could possibly create a problem with increased water hardness. I have never maintained a 400 gal. freshwater tank, but I can tell you what we found with Marine tanks. We found that with Marine tanks smaller than 30 gallons it was harder to keep it balanced and had more bacterial problems. Once we broke the 30 gallon barrier we found the tanks to be much easier to keep balanced. At that point we developed the theory that the larger the tank the easier it would be to keep balanced. We soon found out that was not the case in maintaining a 300 gallon Marine aquarium. Once we got over 250 gallons, following the same stocking, feeding and maintenance schedules we had the same problems as those with the tanks smaller than 30 gallons. The 300 gallon also had the added protection of a UV sterilizer and protien skimmers that the others did not have. Our findings were that the easiest tanks to keep balanced were from 30 gallons to 250 gallons. We were running roughly 50 Marine tanks from 20 gallons all the way up to 300 gallons. You can get by with more in a freshwater tank with regards to bacterial filtration, but it's still not a good practice. Here's a little tip. When you do your water changes just think of all the good fertilized, nutritional water that you have for your houseplants and garden.

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