Water Changes?

[roblikesfish]

When it is time for a water change

Do you just change your water out of the tap .. or use Bottled..

if you take it out of the tap .. do you let it sit for 24 hour period before you add it to a aquarium ..



What do you Salt water guys do when its time for a water change ?

 

[Mutz]

Most people who do salt water will use RO/DI water. Personally, I use distilled water and I mix it with salt and get it to the condition/salinity I want and then I let it sit for a few days before I add it to my tank. Some people keep 30+ gallons of pre-mixed water on hand and they aerate it before using it.

 

[justDIY]

I take my water from the tap and add it right to the tank

however, the tap water here has immeasurable levels of chlorine and chloramine, so I'm not worried about it

when I do big water changes, I pre-treat with conditioner to neutrilze heavy metals (lots of copper and iron pipes).

now, I'm not advocating everyone do this, your water is probably different than mine. Just sharing my experience with changing water.

 

[e-cat]

i take my water from the tap and keep it in a 5 gallon jug that would be used for purafide water and have a air stone pumping air into it too remove some of the clorine and other chemicals in tap water and i leave it there for a week.

 

[Allivymar]

I use a Python. My water goes directly from the tap into the tank, and I add a dechlor as the water is entering the tank. My fish do fine with that, and I've never had a prob (I do match tap water temp with the tank temp tho; basically by feel).

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

For awhile I was using filtered water, but now I just use tap water, with a dechlor. I run the water (hard...which helps to get out some of the chlorine, or at least I like to pretend it does LOL) into a container, add a pinch of salt and the dechlor as it's filling....then dump it on in.

If you don't want to use a dechlor, or are worried about minute temperature changes, you can let the water sit for 24 hours (or longer)

 

[Allivymar]

Ok, time for one of Allison's dense questions LOL

Thought about this when I read your post sweets. Most folks keeping tropical tanks have those tanks above room temp (mine sits around 81-82f). How do those folks match temps if they let the water sit out 24 hrs? Add some warm water? And won't that sorta defeat the purpose of letting the water sit out? Never could figure this one out properly in my head.

 

[Cherry Barb]

Yeah, I'm curios about that myself Allivymar.

I do my water changes by putting tap water in a bucket (I try to match water temp by feel also) and then I add dechlorinator and stir it up. I let my fresh water sit while I remove dirty water from my tank, then I dump my fresh water straight into the tank. Seems to be working fine.

Of course, I have one bucket for the dirty water that comes out of my tank and a different bucket for the clean water that goes into the tank. That way I can use those same buckets for each tank I have (I now have 2) and I'm not concerned about any possible cross contamination.

I also keep 2 gallons of dechlorinated water on hand (at room temperature) in case I need to bring my water level up slightly.

The rule of thumb on water changes is at least 25 to 30% once a month. I personally am doing about a 10% water change a week. I think my fish are healthier for it.