Changing Water Once A Week?

[RiiCKYOMD]

Right when you take 20-25% water out of the tank
Do you add mroe tap water then dechlorinate or do you dechlronate the tap water then add it in?

Soo cofnused just dont want my first tank to go bad
Also the mature media filters? Whats that what they look like and where they go?
Thanks x

 

[rdd1952]

You can do either. I always found it easier to add the dechlorinator to the bucket of fresh water before putting it in the tank but you can do it either way. Those of us that use the python systems for filling large tanks have no choice but to add the water and then the dechlorinator.

 

[RiiCKYOMD]

you messaged me too thanks man

 

[backtotropical]

Do you add mroe tap water then dechlorinate or do you dechlronate the tap water then add it in?

Dechlorinate first (in the bucket), then add to the tank. Try to make sure you have the water about the same temperature as the tank water too, if you can. This will save unnecessary stress on the fish.

 

[andywg]

Dechlorinate first (in the bucket), then add to the tank. Try to make sure you have the water about the same temperature as the tank water too, if you can. This will save unnecessary stress on the fish.

Or just throw some dechlorinator into the tank and fill up straight from the cold tap. There is no stress for the fish, and most fish I own swim into the cooler water. Cooler water is a spawning cue for many fish, and when I do 40% water changes on tanks without heaters in them the temp never drops by more than 2 degrees, the sort of variation that will easily happen in nature.

There is no stress on fish from having cold water going in the tank until you are doing very large changes (50% and up). If there was, people who successfully keep rays wouldn't be adding cold water to their systems.

 

[backtotropical]

Dechlorinate first (in the bucket), then add to the tank. Try to make sure you have the water about the same temperature as the tank water too, if you can. This will save unnecessary stress on the fish.

Or just throw some dechlorinator into the tank and fill up straight from the cold tap. There is no stress for the fish, and most fish I own swim into the cooler water. Cooler water is a spawning cue for many fish, and when I do 40% water changes on tanks without heaters in them the temp never drops by more than 2 degrees, the sort of variation that will easily happen in nature.

There is no stress on fish from having cold water going in the tank until you are doing very large changes (50% and up). If there was, people who successfully keep rays wouldn't be adding cold water to their systems.

Hhhhmmmm...........Why such a difference between 40% and 50%? I think you need to take into account that most fish we buy will be tank bred, not wild, and wont be used to the same fluctuations as their wild counterparts.

My fish swim to the fresh water whatever the temperature. I think it's the water movement that interests them, not the temperature.

 

[andywg]

Hhhhmmmm...........Why such a difference between 40% and 50%? I think you need to take into account that most fish we buy will be tank bred, not wild, and wont be used to the same fluctuations as their wild counterparts.

My fish swim to the fresh water whatever the temperature. I think it's the water movement that interests them, not the temperature.

Because after 50% you can start to get quite significant drops in temperature.

I know 40% is fine because I do it. Tolak does 50% and advises against pure cold water as it can drop by enough to upset some fish. I go by his experience and mention mine. For a standard water change (often between 10 and 25%) there is absolutely no need to heat the new water.

The fish swim to the new water, but if the new water really was a shock or a problem for the fish then they wouldn't keep doing it, would they?

You would be amazed just how few fish you buy are actually tank bred. Most common ones are farm bred in the open in Asia with almost anything of interest being wild caught. And a couple of generations of being captive bred will not instantly mean the fish cannot adapt to temperature change. If evolution worked like that then guppies that are 5 genereations bred in FW would not be able to survive 150-200% strength saltwater, but they can.

 

[rob newland]

If only I had a tap near enough to my tanks

 

[andywg]

If only I had a tap near enough to my tanks

That's what hoses are for.

30m hoses don't cost too much and work admirably. I fill all my FW tanks from the bathroom sink tap (only one the tap adapter I have fits on).