I did my first water change yesterday. What a JOB! I filled up at 55 gallon barrel with tap water, treated it, and let the airpump circulate it for about an hour. Then I pulled the pump out of my wet dry and used it to pump the water into the tank. My husband said, "If you're going to do all of that, you might as well do saltwater." He's right. Are you guys just emptying your tank, then putting the declorinator in and filling up the tank like that? It's just been too long since I've done these kinds of water changes, and I don't want to screw it up!
Water Change Technique
- Thread starter MaryHM
- Start date
Yeah- I have that. I'm just not sure about adding tap water directly to the tank vs. letting it circulate for a bit with the dechlorinator in a separate container.
I only do about a 15-25% water change as I vacuum the substrate. I add the new water back in as you do. I use the python to fill my 15 gal barrel. I'm like you, I don't trust just putting tap water directly in to the tank, I'm afraid the prime won't mix well.
I gravel vac and take 50% water out, 5 gal bucke by bucket, then I fill the bucket up 10%, then dechlor, then turn the water pressure allthe way up for the rest of the bucket to help mix it. I know it's probably kind of unsanitary, but if I feel It's not going to stir up enough, I stir it with my hands while the bucket is filling. You don't have to cmpletely change ALL the water, if you do regular water changes.I've known people that just pour all the water in the tank with a water hose, then add dechlor. , but I'm not THAT brave,lol
Well, I think next weekend I'll just gravel vac half the tank, remove 25-40% of the water (depending on nitrate levels), dump in a little extra dose of dechlor, and fill up the tank directly. This business of dragging the barrel into the house, unhooking the wet/dry pump, blah, blah, blah was just a bit too much. OH! And did I mention that because we have all these stupid fancy schmancy plumbing fixtures in the house, that the only outlet that the python would fit on was the one in the laundry room, and the hose was about 8' too short to reach there...so I had to hook it up to the outside faucet, and boil two huge pots of water to get the temp right. Gonna go get some extra hose this week. Water changes on my 10,000+ gallon saltwater systems were less work! 
I siphon 50% with the Python Pre dose with Prime and then add water back in....Done and Done, if you want to be more on the safe side you dose a little afterwards too
I do exactly the same thing. I believe this is how the Python was intended to be used for water changes. Adding a huge bucket into the process kind of destroys the convenience of having the Python.
