Procedure for water changes

L

Litespeed

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Nov 27, 2007
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We haven't done our first water change yet, still waiting for the tank to cycle. My husband doesn't quite know what method would be best when we go to do the change. He was thinking of bringing in a 20 gallon trashcan (only used for this purpose), placing it next to the aquarium and running a hose from our bathroom faucet (closest faucet we have) to fill the trashcan, that way he can try and get the temperature correct before refilling the tank. Then we would add the conditioner and then pump the new water back into the tank. We have an 84 gallon tank that is a little on the tall side, so he would have to do most of it. He's not real excited about the thought of having to do weekly water changes, figuring it's going to take a couple of hours to do each water change. Any easier suggestions?:help:
 
It really depends on what you're keeping. For most fish there is no need to contain the water before puting it into your tank. I've learned, through similar threads, that many people run water directly from thier sink to the tank. All it requires is matching the temp of the tank as closely as possible and adding Prime, or what ever conditioner you prefer, before, during, and after refilling is complete. This will also save your back... pouring in buckets of water is not fun at all.

Edit: Missed that you were going to use a pump to get water into tank. For the price of the pump and trash can you could buy a Python.
 
definitely cheaper to get the python. . . pumps that will efficiently move water from the bottom of the trashcan into the tall 84g tank will cost $$$. plus the can itself and the length of hose.
 
Thanks for the tip regarding the python, I will have my husband look into it. Since we have a fairly tall tank, can the siphoning tube be changed out to accommodate a longer tube?
 
Litespeed said:
We haven't done our first water change yet, still waiting for the tank to cycle.

if there are fish in this tank you need to do water changes whenever ammonia or nitrite is .25 ppm or higher. failing to do this will kill the fish in due course

My husband doesn't quite know what method would be best when we go to do the change. He was thinking of bringing in a 20 gallon trashcan (only used for this purpose), placing it next to the aquarium and running a hose from our bathroom faucet (closest faucet we have) to fill the trashcan, that way he can try and get the temperature correct before refilling the tank.

don't sweat the temp too much. plus or minus a couple of degrees is fine. test with your fingers versus tank temp

Then we would add the conditioner and then pump the new water back into the tank. We have an 84 gallon tank that is a little on the tall side, so he would have to do most of it. He's not real excited about the thought of having to do weekly water changes, figuring it's going to take a couple of hours to do each water change. Any easier suggestions?:help:

a python would be best for that large a tank. weekly water changes of minimum 20 - 25% are basically a must when cycled
Click to expand...

also, you seem to be cycling with 5 danios...bear in mind that when you get to the end of the cycle, i.e. ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrates slowly increasing, there will be sufficient bacteria for those fish and no more. you must therefore stock extremely slowly, to allow the bacteria colonies catch up with increased fish load - with 5 danios, add no more than 1 medium fish or 2 or 3 small danio size fish per week. adjust this pace of stocking as you increase the fish in the tank.
 
A piece of advice I found here has turned out invaluable for me with regards temperature matching straight from the tap - spend some time originally playing with the pressure and temperature, then grab a permanent marker and do some 'dots' on the tap/s.

It saves soooo much time, I do a quick recheck every time before I fill, but it has always been 100% accurate so far :D

Oh yeah - don't forget to add your dechlorinator BEFORE refilling :)
 
If you use a python, how do you know how much water you are putting into your tank? Don't you have to know how many gallons you are putting in so you can put in the correct amount of conditioner?
 
when adding water directly to the tank from the fawcett..treat the amount of water in the tank..not the amount you are adding.(Prime)

I spoke with seachem regarding this..it seems some of the chemicals bind with chemicals in the tank water.
in your case you would add 2capfuls of prime to treat the water.(it is safe to slightly over dose prime)
 
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