Water change tank?

[Karmachica]

Yet another silly question/ opinion needed from all you wonderful cichlid keepers

I still have my 1 male peacock and 2 female peacocks in my 29gallon- I'm waiting a few more weeks til petco has their $ per gallon sale to at least get a 55g for them

I don't have a quarantine/hospital tank like I know I should have in case of emergency (there is no emergency at the moment- hope I don't jinx myself by saying that)

I was considering picking up just a cheap 10 gallon tank - no bells and whistles- and using that while I re- aquascape my current tank so I don't have to freak them out moving things with them in there and risk hurting them. Then I would have the 10g on hand if ever needed.

Currently when doing large water changes etc., we use 2 of those mini travel tanks to hold the fish temporarily while caring for their tank and I hate using them since they are ridiculously small and I heard that drastic water volume changes can mess up their swim bladder-

I guess my question is, I know a lot of you use buckets for your fish while doing large water changes etc., and I'm unable to do this since buckets are just open at the top and I have cats that I don't trust for obv. reasons- Do you think getting the 10gallon cheap tank is for all the above reasons is what I should get or should I get a different size or do something else?

Sorry this post is ridiculously long lol

 

[Big Tex]

For my weekly water changes I just use a 5gal bucket from Wally World for a couple bucks, they're blue and hold up well it's a neutral color for the fish an I too have dogs that are curious so I just put a cookie sheet over the top with a house brick on it, so they can't jump out first of all and secondly if my dogs get curious enough ill hear the cookie sheet crash to the floor with the brick. Also I have a 10gal quarantine tank with a painted black back side and a simple bubbler for quarantining fish of course and also to acclimate new arrivals.

 

[Karmachica]

Good idea for the top to the bucket I didn't think of that - also, since u brought up acclimating: I'm trying to be more independent with doing my own water changes instead of always needing my bf's help- so for my own information: when taking the fish out during large water changes, do the fish need to be acclimated somewhat prior to putting them back in their home? I know that temp needs to be same and not to put them back in immediately to give everything time to adjust, but is there anything else needed? I don't want to have to be dependent on someone else's time in order to care for my tanks so I thought I'd just ask..

 

[Big Tex]

Good idea for the top to the bucket I didn't think of that - also, since u brought up acclimating: I'm trying to be more independent with doing my own water changes instead of always needing my bf's help- so for my own information: when taking the fish out during large water changes, do the fish need to be acclimated somewhat prior to putting them back in their home? I know that temp needs to be same and not to put them back in immediately to give everything time to adjust, but is there anything else needed? I don't want to have to be dependent on someone else's time in order to care for my tanks so I thought I'd just ask..

Just going off your original post, I gather you have 3 fish in a 29gal, taking your fish out for water changes isn't necessary IMO at least a 10%-20% water change is all that's needed and the fish can stay in the tank unmolested, the good thing about smaller tanks is that 5gal bucket from Wally World filled up about 3/4 of the way (for ease of movement reasons) is perfect for a weekly change maybe 2 trips half full if your on the weaker side lol so it's just convenience for me to have the 5gal bucket handy.

 

[Karmachica]

LOL I'm 5ft 1 but can be strong like The Hulk if

 

[Karmachica]

Oops didn't finish lol I can be strong like the Hulk if it can make me more independent lol

I don't take them out for small water changes but I want to re aquascape their tank and do a almost full water change so I figured taking them out would be safest - I don't want to put them in those tiny travel tanks so I was thinking putting water from the tank in a 10gallon for them while I do some remodeling and then I would have a the 10gallon on hand if ever needed a hospital tank

 

[Big Tex]

Oops didn't finish lol I can be strong like the Hulk if it can make me more independent lol

I don't take them out for small water changes but I want to re aquascape their tank and do a almost full water change so I figured taking them out would be safest - I don't want to put them in those tiny travel tanks so I was thinking putting water from the tank in a 10gallon for them while I do some remodeling and then I would have a the 10gallon on hand if ever needed a hospital tank

You can do that, but I bought a cheap rechargeable portable bubbler for long distance trips and bringing home new fish from local breeders or taking fish etc on ebay for $15 its rechargeable or runs off 2 d-cell batteries, pretty handy in an emergency and I bought 2 because I have over 20 fish and 2 buckets. But for large changes I just keep em in the bucket with the bubbler, unless ill be scaping for weeks then ill keep em in a tank lol

 

[Karmachica]

I'm adding portable bubblers to my never ending list of 'must haves' that's a great idea and especially if we ever have a power outage - this is why this place is so awesome - everyday I feel like I learn something new and get great ideas that I can JUSTIFY why I need to get new things lol this comes in handy when I need to defend my tank obsession lol Thank You

 

[Cichlid-dude]

Taking the fish out for a water change is way more stressful on them than leaving them in the tank.

 

[Karmachica]

I bought a 10gallon kit super cheap from Wally World - got it home and while rinsing it I realized the corner was sealed like crap and it leaked- I was mad- took it back- didn't like how the others looked either so decided on the 5gallon kit cuz I wasn't going home ended handed lol if anything else I have a small hospital tank or a back up tank for my beta if his tank were to ever break.

The filter it came with is a Tetra Whisper Micro Filter - it looks like a larger version of the ones that come with those silly little 1.5 gallon tanks.

Should I add this new filter to my 29gallon so if I had to use the 5gallon as a hospital/quarantine tank, the filter already has used media? or whatever you call it - good bacteria - idk what the term is... I've heard people do this but not sure if they do it with a new filter or not - I'm asking because I'm not going to keep this 5gallon tank setup 24/7 and I'm not buying more fish as I already have 3 different tanks running and I don't want to put this new filter as an extra in my 29gallon if its going to screw up my 29gallon tank in any way

I guess I purchased this new 5g with no intentions hopefully of really using it except in case of emergencies lol but I wanted it - so I got it

 

[Karmachica]

Taking the fish out for a water change is way more stressful on them than leaving them in the tank.

Even if I want to redo their rock scaping? I feel like it would be more dangerous keeping them in while I move things around...

 

[Big Tex]

Even if I want to redo their rock scaping? I feel like it would be more dangerous keeping them in while I move things around...

Unless your going to be stirring a whole mess of sand up and throwing around rocks, they'll be fine, and x2 with CD, like I said, it's never really necessary to take em all out unless its a huge water change (recycling if the tank) or another large change.

 

[Karmachica]

I guess I wanted to move things around and do a water change at the same time so I figured taking them out during all of that would be easier