How do you peform your water changes?
- Thread starter Newbie101balla
- Start date
Not to get off the "off topic" but for the OP. Get a python! 
Turn off everything /filters / lights / heaters. Put in the python, vacum anything you can get to without disturbing live plants. I do 50% a week, just because its so easy. Add a water conditioner! I add liquid ferts for my plants. Every two weeks I will clean off my filter in tank water. If it is to old and dingy I will replace it with a new one, and sit the old one behind it for a week. Also, even tho it doesnt look like anything is there I usually scrape the glass every 2 weeks, if you feel the inside glass it feels slimey somtimes. Then I turn on the python and fill it back up. <3 Python.
Turn off everything /filters / lights / heaters. Put in the python, vacum anything you can get to without disturbing live plants. I do 50% a week, just because its so easy. Add a water conditioner! I add liquid ferts for my plants. Every two weeks I will clean off my filter in tank water. If it is to old and dingy I will replace it with a new one, and sit the old one behind it for a week. Also, even tho it doesnt look like anything is there I usually scrape the glass every 2 weeks, if you feel the inside glass it feels slimey somtimes. Then I turn on the python and fill it back up. <3 Python.
homer3d455840 said:
Probably my wife more then anybody! She gets tired of me spending two hours on a water change. lol
I don't think you guys understand me, I KNOW chlorine is bad for your fish, I don't need 5 articles to tell me it is. What I'm saying is chlorine in 20 percent water changes the fish do fine because the people that say this have a lot of experience. Yeah they don't have hard facts they're going off what they have seen in their own tanks. As far as if chlorine in the water even in small amounts will bother fish, who are we to know that, the fish can't tell us, so in reality we are going off our own judgment that the small amount of chlorine in 20 percent or less water will bother them, and you can't say it will kill them because it won't.
And Arkin like I've already said, they say that they recommend Amquel plus water conditioner every week. Notice that they say to use it only once a week, and to do water changes twice a week. So one of those water changes is not going to get treated. IF they really were against not treating their water they would have said put Amquel Plus EACH time you do water changes.
And Arkin like I've already said, they say that they recommend Amquel plus water conditioner every week. Notice that they say to use it only once a week, and to do water changes twice a week. So one of those water changes is not going to get treated. IF they really were against not treating their water they would have said put Amquel Plus EACH time you do water changes.
jay733 said:
I do, you have found a single person whos opinion differs from ours and are trying to use it to refute science. Information has been posted that is scientific fact, and you still rely on one persons experience to obtain your answers.
2 articles were posted that disprove the points you are trying to make. One states that .01ppm chlorine is the maximum recomendation for fish. The other points out that most municipal tap water contains at MINIMUM .5ppm with spikes of over 3. At the minimum level, a 20% water change would bring concentrations to .1ppm(ten times that which science has found to be safe for healthy adult fish of hearty species). This is not based on fishkeeping experience, but on science. No, fish cannot jump out and tell us "it hurts!" but scientific observations can tell us that a fish had complications from exposure to chlorine. This is another one of those times where someone thinks that if I fish does not die right away, that its OK to do. Think of the chlorine as a cigarette. You dont die right after you smoke one, but smoking them over time can kill you. Somehow, I think you will fail to see any of the evidence provided to you and continue giving(as well as using) such poor unfounded advice.
I will state again that, while this is not an answer to the origional question, it is an important topic related to the question.
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all very interesting..lets throw something else into the equation.
(mind you I'm an advocate of using de-chlorinators so i don't run the risk of imposing any additional stress to my fish)
but the water supply sources treat the water then send it down the pipes. no telling how long the water is inthe system prior to getting to your fawcett.
that being said.. chlorine off gasses(hence the reason they use chloramine in some places) so by the time it reaches your house the chlorine has dissipated to some degree.
tho I tend to agree that during a water change the chlorine is reduced even more in the supply. what we don't know is how much chlorine is actually in the water when we use it.
what we don't know is when was the chlorine added to the system and how much we are actually seeing.
so the impact may not be to the degree we anticipate but as a precautionary measure we use de-chlorinators
when chloramine is used all bets are off.
just food for thought :hi:
sometimes they call me the devils advocate :devil:
(mind you I'm an advocate of using de-chlorinators so i don't run the risk of imposing any additional stress to my fish)
but the water supply sources treat the water then send it down the pipes. no telling how long the water is inthe system prior to getting to your fawcett.
that being said.. chlorine off gasses(hence the reason they use chloramine in some places) so by the time it reaches your house the chlorine has dissipated to some degree.
tho I tend to agree that during a water change the chlorine is reduced even more in the supply. what we don't know is how much chlorine is actually in the water when we use it.
what we don't know is when was the chlorine added to the system and how much we are actually seeing.
so the impact may not be to the degree we anticipate but as a precautionary measure we use de-chlorinators
when chloramine is used all bets are off.
just food for thought :hi:
sometimes they call me the devils advocate :devil:
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theres the kickerstar_rider said:
Although you did bring up an interesting point. I am just speculating, as I am no plumber nor a chemist, but I think the water needs to have acess to open air to allow gas off of chlorine. Ill pick up a test kit sometime this week and see what my city water reads.
sumthin fishy said:
What kind of complecations? And no I dont' mean with high dose of chlorine in the tank, I mean with the amount of chlorine you would normally bring to the tank when you do 20 percent water change. I don't want to explain myself again with high chlorine levels.
And as you notice you say scientific 'observations' so they are observing the fish as well, so how scientific are your eyes? Just as scientific are the eyes of the Bailey brothers that say they do better with untreated water from their observations.
And furthermore, observing bad health in tank can be signals of other factors, health, food, handling, other aggressive fish, all can change the health of a fish and this can easily be mistaken by the scientists to be because of cholorine in the water. So in the end they are really not that scientific, they give you stats on the amount that is bad for your fish's health, but they base the fish's health on their 'observations' just like my source does but with different conclusions apparently.
star_rider said:
Your right star_rider that is why the EPA gives out averages for chlorine content. However even there lowest estimate could cause stress or harm to the fish.
sumthin fishy said:
My water smells like a swimming pool...I do not even want to know how much chlorine is in it.
