IS MY LFS/STAFF FULL OF BULL? water changes

[Itwasthisbig]

OK

I walked into the LFS and I overheard a discussion between a member of staff an another fish loving nut like me about water changes.

Staff "I would recommend that you use water straight from the tap and treat with stress coat to remove chlorine"

Nut "How long before I put it in the Aquarium?"

Staff "10 minutes"

Nut "You should keep the water in a 10gal plastic tank and let the chlorine dissolve away over a 24hr period and still use a little stress coat just before adding to your aquarium at least thats what I do"

Staff " A lot of people have their tanks go flat by doing that"

Nut "Flat?"

Staff "No oxygen in the water or the hardness of the water changes to rapidly and kh goes down to".

At this point I did'nt want to appear to weird and had to leave

What are the pros and cons of doing either?

I know the following:

Leaving water over night it does lose oxygen but how long would it take to oxygenate once put into an aquarium with a filter churning it around?

The water from the tap needs to be the same ph as the aquarium.

When introducing new water it should be at the same temp as the aquarium water temp.

What am I missing and who's right LFS or Nutter?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I pump water straight from the faucet into my tanks then add Prime. We used to let the water sit overnight, but with the mass amount of buckets that we would need, there is no way. The Python is the best invention in the world.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

For me, sometimes I fill my bucket and treat it the day before, and sometimes that same day. And even if the temps aren't the same, if you add it slowly like I do, it doesn't really matter. I have a 26G that I change out a 5 gallon bucket each time. I just fill it up with cold tap water, treat the water, let sit a couple minutes, then use a koolaid pitcher to take the water out of the 5 gallon bucket and slowly add it to the tank. And my tank rarely moves 1 degree doing that.

As for the ph, I don't worry about that. My tank is 7.1-7.2 and tap is 8.0. I believe it's the driftwood keeping my ph constant, as before I added the driftwood, the ph kept getting higher and I was adding chems to bring it down. Now I add nothing. So in doing only 20% water changes, I don't think the ph will be too much a problem. It's only a problem if a person feels it needs to be at a certain level.

Overall, I'm glad I introduces Malaysian driftwood to my tank. I have a better confidence that my ph is steady and not fluctuating. Not sure if it's the tannins that are helping buffer the tank, but something about the driftwood is working for me. And my fish are happy.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Oh, and another thing. When a bucket of water is left to sit, chlorine will evaporate from the water. But if your city uses chloromine, it stays til you treat it. So even after sitting out, I still treat it to get rid of any residual chlorine or any chloromine if it's used.

 

[talloulou]

People use to be able to leave water sit for 24 hrs to let the chlorine seep out however now many cities use chloramines which will not disolve in 24 hrs. So letting the water sit in a bucker overnight in a city that uses chloramines is kind of pointless in my opinion. Plus most water conditioners/dechlor will make the water safe immediately whether it has chlorine or chloramines so there really is no need to age your water when using these products.

That said leaving water age for 24 hrs will not cause it to go flat and make it unsafe for your tank....that's ridiculous.

 

[talloulou]

....oops lonewolf made the point faster than I type

 

[Sati]

I put water straight from the tap into the tank via my Python. I add water conditioner to the tanks and that's that. No way I'm messing with buckets or anything of the like

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

My tap water kills fish no matter what I do so I'm all RO now. As far as low oxygen levels in a bucket, when I add water I get a lot of tiny bubbles from all that surface agitation. Tap water is actually very unstable as many places dump in a bunch of chemicals to get it to pass water quality standards but then it changes when it is exposed to air and allowed to sit. Your lfs must be confusing water with beer.

 

[jrp1588]

I pump in straight from the faucet and treat with dechlor as I do...seems to work just fine, and you don't have all the annoying buckets everywhere

 

[DepotFish]

I put it straight in with some chlor-out. Fortunately the water here at lakeland seems good and the fish do better in it than when I'm back home for the summer. I just adjust the faucet until it feels about room temp and then add it to the tanks. I don't know why some people leave it sit out to become room temperature, why not just adjust the faucet until it feels close. The fish aren't going to be hurt if it is a few degrees under when you just add it. I wouldn't worry about water becoming "flat" that's what the air pump is for.

 

[Tiffi]

Tab water doesn't have to have the same ph. I have a CO2 system and that lowers the ph in my tank. I put the tab water right into the tank, add some Prime and done. If you frequently only change a little water and not 50% or more at once, the pH difference will be fine.

The oxygen that might have escaped will be added by the water movement (littl;e bubbles) when you fill the tank, the bubble wand or live plants if you have some. My plants are permanently perling and producing oxygen.

And my water quality must be good. Have a pair of German Rams, that have awesome colors, eat out of my hand (not shy or anything), and have breed a couple days ago .

 

[Jchillin]

The method the "nut" described was the only method prior to the creation of the water treatments. Back then, buckets sitting out overnight was very common. Thank goodness we no longer have to endure this.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

My only fear of adjusting the faucet temp is some hot water heaters. Just something I've stayed away from. As for Pythons, great for larger tanks, but with a 20 and 26G, a single 5 Gal bucket does just fine here. Maybe once I do get my 55G I'll get one. But the 20G was a necessity and set my plans back a couple weeks on the 55G. Maybe next week. A friend might sell me his, since hes not using it and has never had water in it. From Walmart. Gonna talk to him again tomorrow to see if he's talked to his wife yet about selling it.

 

[jrp1588]

nice, I love big tanks

 

[megladonsharky]

I use a bucket and treat the h2o ande let the temp evan ( usually 2 hours)

 

[willowthepoet]

tap -> bucket + prime/amquel (whatever's on hand) -> tank.

done.

they're both nuts.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

tap -> bucket + prime/amquel (whatever's on hand) -> tank.

I do the exact same thing. I would buy a python, but I need a 50ft one and Walmart only has the 25 ft one.

they're both nuts.

I agree

 

[BrianNY]

It's the quality of your tap water, and the frequency and amount of water to be changed that determines how it should be treated. I change 1/3 or more daily on my discus tanks and I keep it as simple as possible. Straight from the tap with a dechlor.

I never use products that contain aloe (such as stress coat). Water changes done properly won't stress fish. It's a waste of money IMO.

 

[TomK2]

The only thing letting water sit out will change is the pH and chlorine. Your tap water will equilibrate with the air, and the pCO2 might change, altering the pH, and chlorine will diffuse out. Your tank water will have done the same thing, provided you do not add CO2. Hardness will not be effected unless a considerable amount of the water you let sit out evaporates, thereby concentrating chemicals that can not evaporate. Thus, if you let lots of water evaporate, hardness and salinity could go up.

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

You can make a fake 50' python with any gravel vac, a 50' hose (make sure it is drinking water quality) and a water-bed filler/drainer (about $2 at most stores).