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Water Changes straight from the tap

jagillham said:
I'm doing the exact same. Just have to dose enough Prime for the whole tank volume, not just the volume of the water being changed.
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Oh, I just dose for the amount being changed but I do it per bucket not once it's all in the tank. Heard it was better that way although it's a pain in the rear putting fractions of a ml in at a time.
 
That's fine if you dose before putting it in.

You can buy syringes on eBay etc allowing you to dose accurately to fractions of a ml. Only cost couple £.
 
Wisey said:
I like the look of this python system, I will have to check if my taps have the threading, I am not sure that the mixer taps in my kitchen or bathroom do. I currently fill up 25 litre containers in the shower, by taking the shower head off and just using the hose. That hose does have a thread in the end for the shower head, do you think that is the same size thread as the python requires and would it still work attached to a shower hose?
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There are various branded systems which function much the same
- most come with a variety of tap adapters (some will "come with", some may need to be special ordered), note the white plastic faucet adaptor is 2 pieces & some taps will fit the wider (inner) thread
Amazon.co.uk has the Python listed along with a recommended "universal faucet adapter" - when shopping, I found that Python had the best quality "tubing"

I do find that the "faucet pump" (green bit) does need to be replaced occasionally (likely my fault - think I've broken it in every way possible :oops: so now I just always have a replacement on hand)
You can also strip out the threads re plastic vs metal so I have replacements of those as well (yes I have multiple tanks) - lfs don't stock the Python any more (I prefer it over the Lee)

I rarely use faucet pressure for draining tanks - just start syphon in usual way with faraway hose end secured in whatever drain location
Set temp etc for refill at tap, then recheck temp from hose end (back pressure can impact hot/cold mix depending on your water system)
I dose Prime for entire tank volume when refilling, sometimes double dosing when tap chlorine levels are high (local water board lists min/max chlorine levels, also daily monitoring reports from various substations, note that if you are just downstream of a "dosing" station, localized chlorine etc levels may be much higher)

Seachem lists
Use 1 capful (5 mL) for each 200 L (50 gallons*) of new water. This removes approximately 1 mg/L ammonia, 4 mg/L chloramine, or 5 mg/L chlorine.
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I've got a 240L tank and do a weekly water change of 110L, I'm guessing this is pretty close to 50% when you take into account substrate, rocks, etc.
I just use a 120L food grade plastic bin, with roughly 60% cold/ 40% hot water from the tap, never any issues with hot tap water to be fair, then dose with 1 cap (5ml) of Prime, this is a higher dose than recommended on the bottle, but never had any problems with this method.
 
Meant to add, the reason I add prime to each bucket is I'd heard on the interweb that adding several buckets of untreated water in one go - in my case approx 60 litres (and adding the prime in one go straight after) could be fatal to some livestock. If this is not the case then I'd much prefer to do it this way.
 
Wombat said:
Oh, I just dose for the amount being changed but I do it per bucket not once it's all in the tank. Heard it was better that way although it's a pain in the rear putting fractions of a ml in at a time.
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Have you considered using a dropper? I have measured mine and it is 21-22 drops per 1 ml.
I also treat each bucket before adding into the tank.
 
I have an ancient 1ml dropper /syringe. I think it came from one of those aquarium start up kits. I just use approximately 1/3 of that per 9 litre bucket. It's a pain cos my dropper/syringe thing is old + tired
 
I've been changing the tank water straight from the tap(hot/cold mix) for several years now, maybe 6 years, on several tanks. I change 50% at a time on any tank. I've never had a problem so far. I dose dechlorinator straight into the tank for the tank volume, normally as soon as I start filling. I don't dose before or after or in increments. I've had tanks with external and only internal filters and no issues whatsoever. I've had fry and shrimp and did the same with no problems. I've never killed a fish by doing that and I've got fish as old as I've been changing the water like that.
I'd say go for it without any worries. It really takes off the pressure of having to carry buckets for ages. Plus it's so easy getting the water temperature right too. I use my hand to get it approximately right. A swing of up to 2C downwards is ok. I normally avoid getting the tank water warmer than it originally was. Until I got used to it, I checked the incoming water a couple of times during filling to make sure it gets out right. Sometimes, if you run out of hot water, only cold starts coming out. During winter the water from the cold tap has quite the low temperature here so I am careful then just in case. But if you have just the one tank, it's unlikely you'll ever run out of enough hot water.
 
Jaap said:
Hi,

I am adding water directly from the tap and just throwing in Seachem Prime during the filling up. Is this ok or does it kill all the beneficiary bacteria?

Thanks
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Using same products prime I also dose at every water change with stability. Never had any problems.
 
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