when doing a water change

[skiltrip]

my question is concerning Stress Coat water conditioner and doing water changes.


After removing the old water... this is how i've been adding...

I have an empty milk gallon container with the very top cut off so i can fill it up easily with tap water, and this makes it easy to measure how much i've put back in. What i've been doing is pouring room temperature water into the gallon container, and adding 1/10 a teaspoon of Stress Coat (1 teaspoon for every 10 gallons) while i am pouring the water in, to mix it up good.

Then i walk right over to my tank, and gently pour it in. Is this Stress Coat instantly removing the chlorine from the container of water? That's my impression, so that's what I've been doing.

Also, i know it's repeated on here a million times, but i'm not sure if it varies per tank size. How often should i do a water change, and how much water. I have a 37Gallon tank.

- kip

 

[pebbles]

i usually put my water in the bucket then add the stress coat ,then leave it untill i need it,usually overnight to come up to room temp. pebbles

 

[Jamnog]

water thats been boiled i supposed to be free of both germs and chlorine. perhaps if you got an old kettle or something. tho its wouldnt be the same as cycled water

 

[Great Lakes]

Skiltrip.

There could be many answers to that question. Here is mine

For your size tank, a 5gal water jug would be about a 15 percent change. I don't believe in adding chemicals arbitrarily. You stress coat is an addititve that allows your fish to cope with stressful moments. A water change should not be one of these moments.

The monthly water change for you should be this easy. Go to the local supermarket and purchase a five gallon refillable jug of RO water. Most big markets have the machine you can easily operate yourself. It will cost you between one and two dollars. RO water is quite pure and needs nothing done to it but allowing it to sit to adjust to room temp for a few hours.

Vacuum/siphon 5gals out of your tank, pour the 5gals RO water in. This is a good time to inspect your filters too. If your filter is looking a little dirty, you can swish it around in the bucket of water you have drained off to get a little more life out of it

GL

 

[skiltrip]

I'm never heard of RO water. It's that easy to get?

What about regular bottled spring water, or bottled distilled water. Can that be used?, cause that seems like a pretty easy thing to me to do. Buy as many gallons as i am changing for about 69 cents a piece or less. I don't know if my supermarket has RO water.

- kip

 

[dolphin]

Hi skiltrip

A word of caution, if you go down the RO water route.

RO water is almost pure water, with no (well very littel) mineral content. Is you do not replace the mineral content to match your tap water, or the requirment of your fish, you will end up with water that is unable to buffer the pH, and pH crashes will follow.

If you require soft water, mix some RO water with your tap water, (75% RO - 25% tap water). This will allow the watewr to buffer the pH.

 

[subopposite]

I think you were looking for a simple logical answer, so here one is. I buy water by the gallon. When I am done with drinking it, I fill it up with a gallon of tap water and put it outside for 3 days. I do 3 days as currently I am changing my water on Tuesdays and Fridays, but only 10%. I then bring in my 5 gallons of water and dump it in and then put a teaspoon or tablespoon of Stress Coat or other like product, I forget which treats 5 gallons and I am happy. I believe that Stress Coat and other like products are supposed to get rid of the bad stuff right off. I let my water sit for 3 days anyhow to make sure chlorine is gone, but I add the Stress Coat, etc. once I put it in anyhow, in case I have any harmful metals in my water. I have never read where letting your water sit will take out the metals in your water. Maybe it does, but I have not heard any such thing yet. If someone is reading this, let us know how else metals are extracted from water.
On a side note, I am getting hot weather and my 78 F tank went up to 83 F over a day, so I did my 10% water change, but added a bunch of ice cubes to my water that I was putting in and let it set, so it would be cooler than the current water in there. Of course the water was not freezing or super cold, but it was cool. That helped me lower the temp by a degree or so. I will just do that everyday or every other day until I eventually get the temp to where it should be. Just thought I would put that in as I think it is a potentially useful tip if you don't want to buy an expensive chiller. Plus, the way I do it, it only reduces the temp by a degree or two at the most as I have read that even small temp changes can stress a fish. I have a 46 gallon tank and the 5 small gallons of cool water I put in it, disperses quickly I am sure and I am pretty positive my fish have no ill effects.
If anyone really smart on fishkeeping is reading this, correct me on anything that I am wrong on as I don't want to lead a new fishkeeper like myself in the wrong direction. Thanks.

 

[impur]

I have a 55 gallon tank and when i do a WC or vacuuming, i simply take out the 5-10 gallons for the WC and dispose of that, and refill the 5 gallong bucket with luke warm tap water. I judge it with my hand and compare it to the tank. Then i use some sort of water conditioner, like stress coat or start right, to remove the chlorine. I don't let it sit more than 2-3 minutes and then add it to the tank. I have been doing it this way for over 5 years with no problems.

subopposite - i do the same thing when my tank gets overly hot. Lately though, my tank has been at 85-86 degrees with no ill effects to the fish, so i've just been opening the windows at night and closing them during the day to keep it around 84. Been that way for 3 montsh straight now, and fish are doing great.

 

[skiltrip]

Excellent answers everyone. And thanks impur, that was a huge help. What you explained it what i have been doing (but a gallon at a time, because i have no bigger bucket. I can get a 5 gallon bucket and a siphon at home depot or something right?)

Anyway, thanks again.

- Kip

 

[CFC]

Skiltrip,no need to change anything you have been doing,the stress coat neutralises chlorine and chloramines instantly and cold water being added to the tank will do no harm (may even spur your fish to breed) unless it is a very big major water change (over 25%).In a tank that has adequate filtration and normal fish (not predators or overly large) and is not over stocked you only need to change the water once every two weeks.

 

[Mollymomma]

I use the old water jug method on my tanks...lukewarm water in the jugs in goes the stress coat then to the tank...have had no problems. then I get my 55 cylced & stocked...boy lugging those jugs is a pain! So I will get a "python" ( I think that's what it's called) where it hooks directly to the sink for water changes. A friend owns one and she swears by it. "it will cut your work down to a minimum.." I believe they are about 30 US $ at walmart for a 25 footer..

 

[Tanked]

I was thinking about the "python" but was curious as to how you would condition the water first.

 

[Mollymomma]

Tanked,

That was the very first thing I asked my friend! If you are refilling directly from the sink is there a way to declorinate before it hit's the tank? She says that she just puts the measured amount of d/c into a medicine dropper and squirts a small amount out at the same time as the fresh water is being added. Sometimes she will just dump it in before adding the fresh..she says she's never had any problems...

I have seen the same advice on another forum about the way other's use the python ( even though the other forums member's seem to be grumpy lol so I never joined! lol)

 

[Squimps]

I used the below article to make my own Python. It was cheap and works well. One note though - I ended up using 2-part epoxy to glue all of the threaded pieces of the waterbed drain device together; sometimes the higher pressures from the sink will cause the adapters to leak or to pop off. As for dechlorinating, if I change 25% of my water (20 gallons on my 80 gallon tank), I will add a teaspoon of Stresscoat as I add the first ten gallons and another once my tank is halfway done refilling. Using a Python is great because you can adjust the water temp at the faucet to closely match your tanks water. Monitoring this is easy with an additional thermometer. As for other concerns, unless you have a very old water heater or lead pipes, heavy metals should never be a concern. I can't imagine lugging buckets across the room to do water changes when my Python makes it oh so easy.

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_python.php

 

[Squimps]

Another thing about the DIY Python I spoke of - I only used a 25 ft piece of hose and it is more than long enough for my particualr needs. Buy the shortest hose that you can get away with; this will make the syphoning much easier. I also found an RV/Camper hose at Home Depot instead of the typical garden hose. The RV hose is nothing but plastic vinyl while some garden hoses may be treated with an anti-fungal or anti bacterial which could have adverse affects on your water quality. This may or may not be a concern but it was easy enough to just buy the other type of hose. Always let your water run freely in the hose for a couple of minutes before refilling your tank in order to remove any debris(spiders, etc )