I've had fish in my tank now for three weeks, and I give all the credit for the fact that they are still alive and appear to be healthy and happy to the folks on the forum. Thanks you, guys and gals!
I have been a little unclear on water changes with my python, though, so I thought I'd post a detailed list of the steps I take and ask for comments. FYI, I have 10 neon tetras, 3 zebra danios and 2 otocinclus cats in the tank and waste levels have been steadily within .25 of 0ppm, usually at 0. Nitrate seems to get to be about 5ppm by the time I do a water change. Maybe this can be useful to somebody else in the future as well:
1. Attach python to faucet and place gravel vac in tank
2. Turn on water to create siphon (I can't put too much pressure on my python or the brass fitting misthreads in the plastic and I get water all over the place, but it seems to have enough pressure to clean the gravel)
3. Clean the gravel by pressing the end of the vaccum down into it and lifting out a "core of gravel" to a height of an inch or two, which then falls back to the bottom. The muck is released from the gravel and most of it goes up into the python.
4. Repeat step 3 till the water level gets down by about 6 inches which is just over 27% of my tank or about 10 galls. At this point my Emperor filter has started to grind and suck futilely so I unplug it. My heater is submerged enough so that removing this much water does not take the water level below the safe point on the heater.
5. Remove the gravel vac and take it to the sink. Reverse the flow of water through the python to clean out the vac and tubing.
6. While it is rinsing I add 1ml of Prime to the tank water with a syringe used only for this purpose. I suck a few MLs of water into and out of the syringe to rinse it a bit and start the prime mixing in the tank.
7. Put the gravel vac back in the tank and turn the tap on just barely to start filling it. I figure if I fill it very slowly the heater won't have to work quite as hard to get the new water to temp and the prime will have time to neutralize the chlorine in my tap water. It takes at least half an hour to get the 10 galls back into the tank. I try to regulate the water temperature a little bit at the tap so the temp in the tank doesn't swing more than a degree or two.
8. Once the tank is full again I turn the filter back on.
So far this has worked pretty well for me. I've done it twice a week for the last three weeks. The fish don't seem to be unduly stressed by the procedure, in fact the danios seem to be extremely curious and often swim right up around where the water is coming into the tank. The neons and otos stay down out of the way.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to make it better/safer/easier? or am I ok? TIA!
I have been a little unclear on water changes with my python, though, so I thought I'd post a detailed list of the steps I take and ask for comments. FYI, I have 10 neon tetras, 3 zebra danios and 2 otocinclus cats in the tank and waste levels have been steadily within .25 of 0ppm, usually at 0. Nitrate seems to get to be about 5ppm by the time I do a water change. Maybe this can be useful to somebody else in the future as well:
1. Attach python to faucet and place gravel vac in tank
2. Turn on water to create siphon (I can't put too much pressure on my python or the brass fitting misthreads in the plastic and I get water all over the place, but it seems to have enough pressure to clean the gravel)
3. Clean the gravel by pressing the end of the vaccum down into it and lifting out a "core of gravel" to a height of an inch or two, which then falls back to the bottom. The muck is released from the gravel and most of it goes up into the python.
4. Repeat step 3 till the water level gets down by about 6 inches which is just over 27% of my tank or about 10 galls. At this point my Emperor filter has started to grind and suck futilely so I unplug it. My heater is submerged enough so that removing this much water does not take the water level below the safe point on the heater.
5. Remove the gravel vac and take it to the sink. Reverse the flow of water through the python to clean out the vac and tubing.
6. While it is rinsing I add 1ml of Prime to the tank water with a syringe used only for this purpose. I suck a few MLs of water into and out of the syringe to rinse it a bit and start the prime mixing in the tank.
7. Put the gravel vac back in the tank and turn the tap on just barely to start filling it. I figure if I fill it very slowly the heater won't have to work quite as hard to get the new water to temp and the prime will have time to neutralize the chlorine in my tap water. It takes at least half an hour to get the 10 galls back into the tank. I try to regulate the water temperature a little bit at the tap so the temp in the tank doesn't swing more than a degree or two.
8. Once the tank is full again I turn the filter back on.
So far this has worked pretty well for me. I've done it twice a week for the last three weeks. The fish don't seem to be unduly stressed by the procedure, in fact the danios seem to be extremely curious and often swim right up around where the water is coming into the tank. The neons and otos stay down out of the way.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to make it better/safer/easier? or am I ok? TIA!
You may want to post another thread in the general freshwater forum and see what people say. I've seen all kinds of things... there was even one person who uses a huge rubbermaid trash can on rolling casters, complete with a pump and heater installed in the bottom of it and they fill that with their tap water to treat it and let it age before pumping it into their tanks... I gotta give it to them! That's some serious fishkeeping there! I'm afraid my hubby would make me pack it up if I had a giant can of water aging in the front hall closet!! 
