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Water change practice

sisko

Member
Joined
6 Jul 2008
Messages
39
Location
London, UK
Hi,

The subject tells everything. I'm just curious who does it how! :D
Do you guys age your water? If yes for how long? I age 40 litres for a few days in a big plastic bin. When I fill it up(usually on friday afternoons) I add some Tetra Aquasafe and keep it circulating until sunday. When the day comes I add the TPN+ to it and just pump the water into my Rio 180. So far this is the best I could work out. I find the bucket system too messy and wet! ;)
So who does it how?
 
On my big tank - 180l - i fill it up with a hose pipe which is fitted to a tap connector and it goes on the kitchen tap. dechlor added while filling.

My smaller 60l, it is just as quick to get a washing up bowl and fill it that way, dechlor added in bucket, then TPN+ after evrything is running again.

both 50%
 
I feel left out here.....

I change 25% of my 230l once a week

I remove the 25% with a jug, replace with buckets that have each been dosed with a dechlor solution and topped off with boiling water from the kettle to take off the 'chill' of tap water.

I have a 40l and 20l that I change about 50% each week and replace with dechlor water from a bucket. Got to be careful with refills because the substrate is sand.
 
spaldingaquatics said:
I remove the 25% with a jug, replace with buckets that have each been dosed with a dechlor solution and topped off with boiling water from the kettle to take off the 'chill' of tap water.

OMG! How long does it take?? :?:
 
No water changes in my 45 gal.

I change 50-60% in my 20 gal each week via a jug and bucket. Refill is the same. Takes about 5 minutes.

Happy days, as Dan would say :lol:
 
sisko said:
spaldingaquatics said:
I remove the 25% with a jug, replace with buckets that have each been dosed with a dechlor solution and topped off with boiling water from the kettle to take off the 'chill' of tap water.

OMG! How long does it take??

About half an hour to 45 mintues, I use the w/c time to inspect the tank, sort out problems, replant uprooted plants, syphon gravel ect, so I don't mind that it takes so long because I get to make sure the tank is in perfect order and, well...hey, it's fun! :D

The wifes kettle gets a hammering though :(
 
I empty 200 litres from my 500litre tank in my lounge, out my patio door and water my garden with it, syphon off any debris and then pump 200 litres back in from my storage barrelin my fishhouse(shed) in the garden, while I sit and watch it fill up with a cold beer !!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh
 
JazzyJeff said:
while I sit and watch it fill up with a cold beer !!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh
I like Jeff's technique best so far!

I do a 50%ish WC weekly on my 160litre tank with hoses connected to the bathroom taps via a showerhead adaptor.

Takes about 20min to empty into the bath (via gravity, over a 10m hose run), during which time I do any tank maintenance. Takes between 3-10min to fill up depending on how much I open up the bathroom taps. Dechlor added straight into the tank while filling up.

Being a bit of a daydreamer, sometimes I forget I am emptying the tank and drain up to 90% of the water by mistake! The fish do not get stressed with large WC's or with the dechlor added straight in the tank.

They do get stressed if I make quick movements and do really quick water changes. For that reason I do a slow gravity fed emptying of the tank, and only have the taps open slightly for a slow refill. I turn the canister filter output down to really low throughout as well.

I also keep the plug in the bath when emptying so that I can see the clarity of the water coming out. That along with the flow rate from the filter helps me determine when to give the filter a clean. I also use that water for cleaning out the tanks cover glass, or the filter.

Easey peasey! Gone are the days of buckets and sucking on siphon tubing for me! :D
 
a1Matt said:
Easey peasey! Gone are the days of buckets and sucking on siphon tubing for me! :D
I'm a bucket girl still... but it only being a 70l it's probably easiest!

I don't suck on the siphon but instead use the dunk it principle to get the siphon started.

I start with a snail cull and any pruning required.

I siphon the debris out along with the water and use this to water my ornamental plants (I still don't feel entirely safe putting it on my veg... even though I know I don't add any nasties to it). I usually do about 3 x 12 litre buckets (so ~50%), if I'm cleaning the filter then I turn it off and rinse each bit in reverse order (so cleanest bit first) and I do this in each bucket so everything gets cleaner on each iteration. If I'm not cleaning the filter then it is just left running throughout. I almost always do the water change after lights out so I'm not worried about CO2 loss.

Filling up is also done with buckets, I'm a heathen and use the mixer tap to take the edge off the cold water during winter but in this weather I just add cold. Again with a sand substrate you have to be careful how fast you tip the water but I use my fingers to dissipate the flow so it's usually ok. I add the dechlor to the buckets as I'm filling them and the fets once I've filled the tank.

Last off I double check for any snails I can get and that all the plants are how I want them.

I've thought about having a python-esque system but I've decided to wait until I've got a bigger tank... which in turn means waiting until I'm not a student and not trying to fit my life into a single room ;)
 
I'm a bucket and mouth full of water person. But will be using a powerhead and pipe to empty and fill the new 4ft tank. I'll being using part rainwater so i can move away from RO as the waste water kills me every time I watch it run onto the grass. I have also invested in a giant pond carbon prefilter http://www.koi-fish.co.uk/acatalog/Detox_Pond_Dechlorinators.html
to run the rain water through before it goes in the tank just in case there are any nasty things in there and will run the tap water through it as well to remove the chlorine and heavy metals which should mean I dont have to use any chemicals at all to treat the water!

Not sure what I'm going to do about heating it though.

Sam
 
I syphon 50% (15l !!!) into a bucket, throw it down the toilet (bucket not included ;) ), fill it up with cold tap/rainwater, and a tiny bit of hot tap (same source as cold water, just hot ;) ), dechlorinate, fertilise and fill. 5 minutes. I don't heat the tank at all, so I don't really need to use much hot water, just enough to take the edge off. Tank runs at 22-23 degC.

Tom
 
I use alot of RO water, have done from the start. I live in a hard water area and find the Ro reduces the KH If I dont reduce KH I have to use Co2 at a silly rate to get drop checkers into the green.

Syphon off 50% into bucket/container and water conatiner plants in garden!

I fill 25 litre drums 75% RO 25% tap (to add back some minerals) set the barrel up on a set of steps beside the tank and syphon from barrel to tank.

50 % water change every week (often a day or 2 late) and dose with TPN+
 
10% by volume (30 galls) per night.
RO & HMA filtered tap, blended direct into tank at 5 galls/hour.
(Low tarrif electric heats etc).

Water is piped direct to tank, from a mini-water treatment system in the 'car-port', then up the drain-pipe, via the attic to the tank. Over-flow is directed to flower beds in the front garden (under-floor drain system).
(Waste water from the RO goes to my Garden Pond)

I go to bed, wake up, get a coffee,
Dose EI feed the fish and munch a bagel while watching the fish have brekky!

Cheers, Mick B
(PS, Discus like lots of water changes ;) )
 
planter said:
I use alot of RO water, have done from the start. I live in a hard water area and find the Ro reduces the KH If I dont reduce KH I have to use Co2 at a silly rate to get drop checkers into the green.

Planter, you're doing something wrong if thats the case, the hardness of the tank water doesn't change how much co2 you have to pump into it, as its a fixed relationship between KH/CO2/pH. What water are you using in the drop checker?

Sam
 
I just use my DIY water changer, 50% out and then 50% back in, and thats all done and dusted in about 15 minutes! both tanks (125l & 60l) take me around 30 minutes to do, and its just sitting there watching it empty and fill again!
 
Themuleous said:
planter said:
I use alot of RO water, have done from the start. I live in a hard water area and find the Ro reduces the KH If I dont reduce KH I have to use Co2 at a silly rate to get drop checkers into the green.

Planter, you're doing something wrong if thats the case, the hardness of the tank water doesn't change how much co2 you have to pump into it, as its a fixed relationship between KH/CO2/pH. What water are you using in the drop checker?

Sam

Am i Missing something?
Im not trying to adjust KH with Co2

The KH is the buffer capacity of the water right?
The waters ability to hold or stabilse Ph right?
Therefore A high Kh = a high buffer capacity that will require increased amounts of Co2 required to lower PH right?

At low KH levels PH is more unstable right? therefore more easily adjusted? Im just reducing the amount of Gas I need to use to drive the ph down to the required level.

I use 4dkh in the drop checker when I can be bothered to use one.
 
planter said:
Themuleous said:
planter said:
I use alot of RO water, have done from the start. I live in a hard water area and find the Ro reduces the KH If I dont reduce KH I have to use Co2 at a silly rate to get drop checkers into the green.

Planter, you're doing something wrong if thats the case, the hardness of the tank water doesn't change how much co2 you have to pump into it, as its a fixed relationship between KH/CO2/pH. What water are you using in the drop checker?

Sam

Am i Missing something?
Im not trying to adjust KH with Co2

The KH is the buffer capacity of the water right?
The waters ability to hold or stabilse Ph right?
Therefore A high Kh = a high buffer capacity that will require increased amounts of Co2 required to lower PH right?

At low KH levels PH is more unstable right? therefore more easily adjusted? Im just reducing the amount of Gas I need to use to drive the ph down to the required level.

I use 4dkh in the drop checker when I can be bothered to use one.

Hi Chris,
We were trying to hash this out before, and it's worth revisiting. Sam is correct in that the ph/KH/CO2 relationship is fixed. At high KH values a small drop in PH equals a high concentration of CO2. The buffering ability of the high KH prevents the ph from dropping but it doesn't prevent the CO2 from dissolving in the water. At low KH values, since there is less buffering capacity, the pH falls very easily. So, in low KH water the same CO2 concentration (as described for the high KH water) causes a large drop in pH.

This can easily be seen in the CO2 tables http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

Look down at the bottom of the table where it shows that in distilled water adjusted to a KH of 15 the pH will drop to 7.2 when the CO2 concentration level is 28 ppm.

Compare this to the top of the chart which shows water adjusted to a KH of 1.5. You can see that the same 28 ppm CO2 concentration drives the pH down to 6.2 which is 10X the acidity at which the 15 KH water is driven to, yet the CO2 concentration is identical. Now, if I wanted to drive the pH of the 15 KH water to a pH of 6.2 using CO2 it would require a CO2 concentration of 284 ppm CO2.

Neither stability of pH, nor KH can affect the ability of the water to dissolve CO2. Therefore, you should not have to change the injection rate of the CO2 just because you have a higher KH. This is fundamental so there is some other phenomenon occurring in your tank if the dropchecker behavior is not consistent when using tap water versus RO water.

Cheers,
 
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