Best water change strategy

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BLUElobster99

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Mar 15, 2013
Messages
736
Location
New Jersey
So i have a 30gal
What is the best water change procedure
Should i use a syphon if so what kind/model

And are there were any tips and tricks for water changes along with what equipment to use
 
I use a top fin gravel vacuum. A 5 gallon bucket to drain the water into. I use 1 gallon water jugs to refill my tank. I fill the jugs beforehand and leave them out so they get room temp. Then I dump them in and add water conditioner.
 
Honestly, there's no trick. The back breaking part is putting the water back in. I use 2 gallon buckets. It takes me 20-30minutes for the 54 gallon I have. It's quite long.
 
If you have some way to easily add perfect water to your tank without shocking then you're extremely lucky lol. I use a 5 gallon to siphon into and a 4.5 to put my new "primed" water and the tanks temp (can do it roughly by feeling it) and I then use a smaller container/bucket and place it into the tank so it doesn't disturb anything. Takes awhile for my 40, but not too long (15-30min total). I can do all my tanks (10,29,40) in about a hour.
 
I have 5 tanks ranging from a 10 to 2 55s and I've come up with quite the system after being very unhappy with my Python water changer, I use a normal gravel vac attached to a 25' garden hose, so I can go to the bathtub or outside, and a 50' X hose with an attachment for hooking up to the kitchen sink and garden sprayer, I can clean all the tanks in less than an hour
 
You have to find what works best for you. I use a Python on my 46g, if I had to do it by bucket I'd probably not enjoy the tank so much. I use buckets & a gravel vac for my 10g & 5g tanks. I usually do my 5 smaller tanks on Saturdays & the "big boy" on Sunday.
 
If you want a procedure here's what I do.

46g
Hook up my Python to my Kitchen faucet
Unplug heaters & filter
Vac/syphon - I usually remove 50% or more of the water
Add my Prime (full tank dosage) & ferts
Refill the tank
Plug in heaters
If I need to clean my filter media; I fill a bucket 1/2 way with used tank water, clean up my filter & put it back together.
Plug in filter

For the smaller tanks:
Fill up my new water bucket & dose Prime
Unplug heater & filter
Vac/syphon 50%+ water out
Refill tank
Plug in heater
Wait 5-10 minutes then plug in filter
 
If you want a procedure here's what I do.

46g
Hook up my Python to my Kitchen faucet
Unplug heaters & filter
Vac/syphon - I usually remove 50% or more of the water
Add my Prime (full tank dosage) & ferts
Refill the tank
Plug in heaters
If I need to clean my filter media; I fill a bucket 1/2 way with used tank water, clean up my filter & put it back together.
Plug in filter

For the smaller tanks:
Fill up my new water bucket & dose Prime
Unplug heater & filter
Vac/syphon 50%+ water out
Refill tank
Plug in heater
Wait 5-10 minutes then plug in filter

i do the same thing, though i use the aqueon water changer. same thing though
 
I use a normal gravel vac attached to a 25' garden hose, so I can go to the bathtub or outside, and a 50' X hose with an attachment for hooking up to the kitchen sink and garden sprayer, I can clean all the tanks in less than an hour

This is brilliant, I wonder if I could pull that off with my stuff? :)

I use a gravel vac and empty the water into those 5 gallon polar/crystal water jugs (the kind they use in the water fountains at offices, I don't know what they are actually called!) and dump the dirty water. I have 3, 2 are always full and ready to go, and the 3rd is just for emptying. It works for me because I can keep track of how many gallons I take out, and they're easier for me to store than buckets.
 
This is brilliant, I wonder if I could pull that off with my stuff? :)

I use a gravel vac and empty the water into those 5 gallon polar/crystal water jugs (the kind they use in the water fountains at offices, I don't know what they are actually called!) and dump the dirty water. I have 3, 2 are always full and ready to go, and the 3rd is just for emptying. It works for me because I can keep track of how many gallons I take out, and they're easier for me to store than buckets.

The setup I have now I only use 1 bucket, and I'm able to store everything in it and I fill it with tank water for cleaning my filters, and that's another bonus of using the long hose on the gravel vac, I can keep rinsing everything, and I actually get decent pressure, I'll post some pics tomorrow of my setup so you can see exactly what I'm working with
 
I bought an adapter for my kitchen tap ($10) and a drinking water grade hose ($25) and I refill all my tanks with that. I use a cheap gravel vac/syphon which (following advice I got here) I 'connected' (read: jammed the nozzle in tight) to a $10 garden hose which takes the old water (and the accompanying fertiliser) straight out to my back garden. I can do larger water changes now, and I can do all the tanks in one day ( before, with all the lifting, I could hardly straighten up after having done just two tanks)
 
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