Newbish question about water changes.

[Luke Jaywalker]

Ok, I've been doing water changes the same way for the past year until I got my 20g tank and I'm wondering if my old way was a problem.

What I used to do was vacuum, add new water to the tank, and then add the dechlorinator. From becoming active here again and reading various threads, I started to guesstimate how much dechlorinator I needed to put into each bucket (usually took out more than my bucket could refill in one dump) and then add the water to the tank.

Is my old way still safe (in terms of fish and bacteria) or should I just keep doing it my current way and opt for a larger bucket?

[Blueiz]

I would reccomend doing it the new way that way you don't risk kiling any of your bacteria. For lack of a better way to ask this, why cant you refill the bucket twice? :) You cant overdose water conditioner, but money wise it would be best to get you a measuring device whether it be a teaspoon or whatever and measure the amt of conditioner you will need and put how ever much is needed in the first bucket, then do the same for the second bucket. Or you could just buy another bucket, but I don't see why you cant use one bucket. Have a Great Day!!

[sumthin fishy]

You should add the dechlor BEFORE adding it back to the tank. If its a 1 gal bucket, and you need to add 2 gallons to the tank, and you need 5 drops per gallon, add 5 to 1 gallon and add to the tank. Then add 5 more drops to the next gallon and add it.

[Pretender]

To dose my water with dechlorinator, I use a medicine dropper I got at the drugstore. I think the one I have is 10 ml. A teaspoon is about 5 ml, and a couple different products I've looked at (I'm using Aqua-safe at the moment) say a teaspoon treats 10 gallons (check the numbers against you instructions, though. I'm going from memory here.). Therefore, one ml treats 2 gallons.

[FisheyLisa]

Definately dose before!
Different brands have different measurments. It should give the measurements necessary for your tank size on the container. ammolock I used teaspoons to measure. Prime has you do it by the threads on the top for the container. Prime is a lot more concentrated and I need a whole lot less than if I was using ammolock.

If you put your bucket in a tub/sink that you can fill, you can immediatly use cold tap (more advisable than hot tap), submerge it in the hot water about half way up the outside of the bucket, and bring it to the appropriate temp, you could easily do two buckets worth.

What is the %age of water you're removing in a change? 10%, 20% something else?
Doing too small of a change is a waste of time.

In what way do you think your old way was a problem? Theoretically or did you notice things were wrong with it?

[haydenm315]

Ok... so the decholor definately needs to be added before putting the water back in the tank. I was using a hose to quickly fill it back up, and now I've got the plague in my tank. I guess I'll just fill it up with the 10 buckets of pretreated water instead of the hose. So much more of a chore, but if that's how it needs to be, then that's that.

[Luke Jaywalker]

In what way do you think your old way was a problem? Theoretically or did you notice things were wrong with it?

All theoretical. I noticed no problems when I did it and only changed my method when I read some posts that made me believe that my good bacteria could be killed in the couple of seconds between when I dump in the water and when I treat it.

My biggest problem is figuring out exactly how much I should add since I'm using Aquasafe and the directions on the bottle seem to make more sense to add it after the water's been added. It's just confusing since the measurments are based on how many gallons you have in your tank, not how much water you're adding.

I'm doing 25-30% when I do water changes.

[FisheyLisa]

Yeah I always put in enough for the whole tank...so I had a 15g and used 2 buckets, so each got 1/2 dose for the entire 15g, regardless of what the actual change is. AT LEAST you knew to put in conditioner!! Congrats!

Haydnmn...are you cleaning out your whole tank everytime?

[anonapersona]

This is silly, a few buckets full of tap water is not going to kill the bacteria off in the few minutes you take to add the dechlor!

It is perfectly OK to dump in the water then add the dechlor. I would prefer to add the dechlor to the tank before the water, however, but don't stress about it.

The thing is, you are probably not replacing half of the tank at one time are you? A 10% to 20% water change is not going to tip the water chemistry all that much if it takes you a minute to add the dechlor -- though I wouldn't add it to the filter intake just to be careful.

[cyberbeer65]

I use a hose to fill back up my 100 gallon tank.All i do is dose with the dechlor before I fill it back up.Now with my 20 gallon I use a 5 gallon bucket and I Add the dechlor to the bucket before filling back up.

[Blueiz]

Ok. I have a response about how much water conditioner you should add to the tank. If you are just doing a partial water change then you should only add the amount of conditioner needed for the amt of water you change. Example if you change 20 percent of your water and you have a 20 gallon tank you are removing 4 gallons of water. ( you figure this by multiplying the number of gallons your tank is by .20. To change percents to decimal you simply divide whatever percent you are going to change by 100. @0 divided by 100 equals .20)

To figure the amount of dechlor you are going to use remeber that 1 teaspoon equals 5 cc or ml. If the bottle calls for 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons and you are changing four gallons, you would use approximately 2 cc of dechlorinator. To figure this i divided the 5cc of dechloriantor by 10 gallons water (amount of water 5 cc will treat) this equals .5 cc per gallon of water. I then multiplied .5cc times 4 (amt of water you are changing). This equals 2. The easiest way I have found to measure the doses is to get a medicine dropper that measures either cc, ml, or teaspoon. You can find a dropper at your local pharmacy for under 2 dollars in most places. This is not as complicated as it sounds.

I hope I did not confues anyone, if I did just post and I will see if I can unconfuse you :)!! Have a nice day!!