Water Changes

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Grant R

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Oct 21, 2002
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Location
West London, England
As we all (should) know :wink: , a water change every two weeks or so is very important for clean aquariums, fish health, etc.
I carried out my first water change yesterday afternoon, using normal tap water (cold), then adding StressZyme & StressCoat.

Fish all seem well.

Two things concerned me though -

1) The cold. The heater came on & turned off relatively quickly, so it obviously didn't effect them.

2) The unsafe element for fish in tap water. Although I added the right chemical to neutralise this straight away, it shouldn't effect fish right ?

I've searched a lot for answer's to these, but can't find much help !

Cheers all.
 
In S/W most of us you RO/DI water.. its purified or have a RO unit ourself.



Umm you can get a extra heater for your w/cs and you put the heater in there to warm it up. This is how I do S/W changes but mine has to mix b4 i can add it anywho.


I assume these things carry over to F/W


Also If you have Cold water to add to a tank do a drip into the tank. like use a air line hose and put a pinch in it and just let it go..



Jacob
 
For freshwater you dont want to use RO water unless you get a proper water conditioner to basicly add many of the things that the RO membranes remove.

RO water is very pure water and eventhough its funny so say RO water will absorb minerals and such from anything it comes into contact with simular to a way a sponge will suck up water. With that said RO freshwater can and will suck minerals and such out of the fish and plants. Using tapwater is usually accepted for freshwater unless you have some very nasty tapwater.

If at all possible its good to have the replacement water at tank temp. With most freshwater tanks we keep them at 74-78F. So its just above room temp. If you let the replacment water sit and come to room temp that should help. If you keep your room temp cool then a small heater could be used to bring the water temp up to tank temp.
 
water changes

One other thing you might want to think about, in addition to what Fishfreek has already said, is to run the water for the water change at least 24 hrs before you do the water change. Add the dechlorinator to the water and let it sit. Even better if you can throw in an airstone or powerhead to keep it churning. Put your extra heater in the water to bring it up to the same temp as the tank. Don't use hot water from the tap as water heaters tend to add undesirable substances to the water. What I have done, and I can't think of any reason this is inappropriate, is to get some of the new water in a plastic pitcher and heat it up in the microwave. Add this to the cold water to bring it up to the proper temp. This takes a little trial and error, but it does work. Tell us more about your new tank...sounds like you have done your homework and are on the right track :) .
Logan J
 
Again, thanks to all for the advice, much appreciated.
I think for the time being ( next water changes ) , I will take FishFreek's advice and let the water sit for a while, until it adjusts to room temprature. Maybe try some of the other methods a little later on.

The thing with letting the water adjust though is it will probably have to be added in two stages, as 20% or a quarter of the tank is more than one full sink can hold if you're all with me !!

loganj said:
Tell us more about your new tank...sounds like you have done your homework and are on the right track

I have done quite a fair bit of research on every aspect, with the aim to be ready to keep s/w fish in the future !
What else would you like to know ? :)
 
i use the python gravel cleaner for all my tanks, add dechlorinator as it goes in, btw, it is exposed to a lot of air as it streams out--you can run it in slow if you like, most of the chlorine should be lost already, and the dechlorinator will catch the rest and any chloramines you may have...for larger tanks, if you are only doing a small water change, unless your water is just freezing i don't think it would alter the temp that much, mine seem to stay steady, and i have fish that have been healthy and with me for years...if your water is freezing i woudn't see anything wrong with heating in in the microwave, but that sounds a little excessive to me--i do sometimes use a little hot water mixed with the cold and have had no ill effects from my water heater or anything putting in weird stuff--YMMV--
 
water changes

I thought for some reason that we were talking about a smaller tank here. You might not have to change 20% every two weeks if it's a large tank with a small bioload. And yes, the python is the greatest thing since sliced bread!
Logan J
 
The PYTHON

:D :lol: The Phtyon is the greatest thing made. Everyone should get one!! It is soo helpful. Trust me. Pick one up, and you'll tell the difference! :lol: :D
 
I'm a newbie

Hi there - I'm getting ready to set up a freshwater 55 gal. tank pretty soon and all this info is great! I had no idea there was so much involved in keeping fish!

I currently have a betta in a fishbowl at work who seems pretty happy - he's very active! :)

Hoping to have as good fortune with a bigger tank at home. Thanks for all the info on changing water, and you'll definately see me around here!
 
Got to this one late, I tend to agree with the above re the python I bought one a couple of weeks ago. Before I say where and how it changed my water changes a little story:

I have a 45G tank on the gorund floor, a 20G on the second floor and a 30G on the third floor of my house, the kitchen is on the ground floor and the bath room on the second. Now when it came time to water changes the ground floor was not much of a problem, apart from the carrying of buckets from the kitchen to the lounge to change water and carry them the other way when it came to 'empty' the tank. The 20G was not that bad either as it is right next to the bathroom, so bucket carrying was not too much of an issue. Now the 30G on the third floor was a problem as not only did I have to carry buckets of water down the stairs to throw away in the bathroom, but I had to carry the buckets FULL of water back up again.

I was searching the web ad discovered a local site here in the UK, across on the west coast in Wales, that had a new product that they had just started to sell, the PYTHON. I bought one and what used to take me a good couple of jours running up the stairs and down carrying buckets of water to and fro now takes me around an hour for all tanks. What a product, the only down fall is if you are on metered water then your water bill will be astronomical as it uses a fair amount of water.

By the way before I forget the site is:

www.aquatics-online.co.uk
 
I too have been changing the water in my 55 gallon tank using cold water from the tap. It doesn't affect the water temperature enough to be an issue. I use the same water for my 20G and 10G tanks and haven't had any problems there either. I've never heard of the python and am going to have to check it out next time I go to a fish store.
 
Hi Robert,

The Pythin product is called "NO SPILL CLEAN and FILL"
Aquarium Maintenance System
(Ready-to-use kit contains all parts for standard faucets and a 10" gravel tube for cleaning.)

25 Ft (7.5m) Standard Model
50 Ft (15m) Model
75 Ft (22.5m) Model
100 Ft (30m) Model
10 Ft (6m) Extension
20 Ft (12m) Extension

http://www.pythonproducts.com/
Python Products Inc.
7000 W. Marcia Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53223
Voice (414) 355-7000
Fax (414) 355-1144

I hope this helps.
 
I change 20-25% of my aquarium's water at least every week, and I often change 10% every two days. If you want even more content fish, change the water more than every two weeks. They'll appreciate it.

As for using cold water, keep in mind that if the water gets colder even slightly, there's much more of a chance of fish getting Ich. The water should preferably be very close to the aquarium's tempature, if not a little bit warmer.
 
Do you change water often while cycling? I have a 55 gallon cycling now, been running about 9 days, and I was going to wait another week or two to do a 10% water change. I don't want to shock my fish, but I do want to keep them happy.
 
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