About To Do My First Water Change, Any Advice?

[assistant52]

Ok this might sound dumb but I've never done it before and I dont want to do anything wrong.
I'm about to do my first water change on my 60 litre (15 US gallons) tank.
It has no fish in it yet and has only been set up since sunday evening (two days ago)

Is there anything I need to know before I do it? I was just going to remove about 10% of the water with the gravel pump suction thingie, toss it out, then replace is with tap water with "nutrafin cycle" added to it.

Thanks for any help you guys give

 

[Mr.Tan]

if you have no fish in the tank, no need to do a water change so soon. I never do water changes until after the tank has been up, cycled and has fish in it.


Sounds like you are good with it though. Its pretty much fool proof to do... just let the water sit for a bit before you add it to the tank, some like to circulate it with a powerhead in the bucket but I never do

 

[assistant52]

wow thank you for the super quick reply

The tank is currently a little bit on the cloudy/milky side. Not to much but its noticable.

will that clear up on its own once the cycle has completed?
Also can i ask if i need to have my pump/filter turned on 24 hours a day 7 days a week? Its perfectly fine if i do i just dont know if i should or not

Thank you again for the help

 

[Electric Warrior]

if you have no fish in the tank, no need to do a water change so soon. I never do water changes until after the tank has been up, cycled and has fish in it.


Sounds like you are good with it though. Its pretty much fool proof to do... just let the water sit for a bit before you add it to the tank, some like to circulate it with a powerhead in the bucket but I never do

Do people let it sit, really? I mean, I have heard of people with discus and stuff letting their water sit and oxygenate overnight, but that's not very common really. I just temp match mine, add the proper amount of Prime, and dump it straight into the tank.

wow thank you for the super quick reply

The tank is currently a little bit on the cloudy/milky side. Not to much but its noticable.

will that clear up on its own once the cycle has completed?
Also can i ask if i need to have my pump/filter turned on 24 hours a day 7 days a week? Its perfectly fine if i do i just dont know if i should or not

Thank you again for the help

Yeah, dont ever turn your filter off, at all, unless you are doing a massive water change where the water falls below the filter inlet, like at the end of your cycle to remove all of the nitrate, etc.

 

[assistant52]

Cheers guys

 

[Essjay]

assistant, can I ask if you've been told that all you have to do is add nutrafin cycle and then get fish? Because that is very unlikely to cycle the filter. You need to add ammonia to the tank until the filter can clear the ammonia to zero ammonia and zero nitrite in 12 hours, a process which takes several weeks to complete.

 

[assistant52]

assistant, can I ask if you've been told that all you have to do is add nutrafin cycle and then get fish? Because that is very unlikely to cycle the filter. You need to add ammonia to the tank until the filter can clear the ammonia to zero ammonia and zero nitrite in 12 hours, a process which takes several weeks to complete.

D'oh! yes I have been told that, or more truthfully I read that on the instructions that came with the Nutrafin Cycle. Just having a bit of a look now, I need to buy ammonia and a water test kit is that right?

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, that's right. Household ammonia is quite easy to get (there's a sticky of places at the top of this section) and you need kits for ammonia and nitrite as a minimum, although most people would recommend some sort of master kit that does pH and nitrate as well.

Do try and avoid the paper test strips and go for a liquid or tablet based one as, first of all, they're more accurate but also because very many of the strip type don't include an ammonia test.

 

[assistant52]

Yes, that's right. Household ammonia is quite easy to get (there's a sticky of places at the top of this section) and you need kits for ammonia and nitrite as a minimum, although most people would recommend some sort of master kit that does pH and nitrate as well.

Do try and avoid the paper test strips and go for a liquid or tablet based one as, first of all, they're more accurate but also because very many of the strip type don't include an ammonia test.

Thank you I've seen a master test kit on amazon that I think i'll go for.
Everyone on this forum has been such a big help, I never realised there was so much to owning and keeping fish! I always thought they where a "soft" option in the pet department but now im even more excited to get going with my aquarium

 

[Essjay]

Getting started is the hardest bit to get your head round. Once you've cycled the filter and the tank has settled down, it does get easier, honest!
As for cycling, this is a good place to start http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/113861-fishless-cycling/

 

[Mr.Tan]

if you have no fish in the tank, no need to do a water change so soon. I never do water changes until after the tank has been up, cycled and has fish in it.


Sounds like you are good with it though. Its pretty much fool proof to do... just let the water sit for a bit before you add it to the tank, some like to circulate it with a powerhead in the bucket but I never do

Do people let it sit, really? I mean, I have heard of people with discus and stuff letting their water sit and oxygenate overnight, but that's not very common really. I just temp match mine, add the proper amount of Prime, and dump it straight into the tank.

wow thank you for the super quick reply

The tank is currently a little bit on the cloudy/milky side. Not to much but its noticable.

will that clear up on its own once the cycle has completed?
Also can i ask if i need to have my pump/filter turned on 24 hours a day 7 days a week? Its perfectly fine if i do i just dont know if i should or not

Thank you again for the help

Yeah, dont ever turn your filter off, at all, unless you are doing a massive water change where the water falls below the filter inlet, like at the end of your cycle to remove all of the nitrate, etc.

Soemtimes I let my water sit... I guess it is something I am used to from having a reef tank. Mixing the saltwater in a bucket and running a powerhead in it to circulate the water for 24 hours. Guess its not common in FW planted tanks because people don't have to worry about saltmixes lol