Easier Water Changes

[locust267]

I'm just in the process of setting up my 260l and was wondering if the following would all be safe and practical for easier water changes:

1: buy a longer piece of hose to attach to my syphon and lead it out to the garden instead of filling up buckets one by one.
2: Using a hose attached to the outside tap to bring water back into the tank adding dechlor as I go (we dont have an old water storage unit so I dont think copper would be an issue)?

If the above methods could be used how would I get the water temp to be a little more controlled as I wouldn't just want to add water straight from the kettle, I've heard a few people say that providing you dont have a water system were the hot water is left lying around then you can use hot water from your kitchen mixer tap, in which case I could buy an attachment and run the hose from the kitchen back to the tank.

Many Thanks

Vicki

 

[Colin_T]

A lot of people do what you are thinking of. We did it in the petshop too. We had a Coke bottle gravel cleaner attached to 20metres of clear hose and used it to drain and gravel clean the tanks. Then we had another hose running from the kitchen tap to the tanks and just refilled the tanks with straight tap water. We double dosed with dechlorinator and added some warm water in winter.

 

[minxfishy]

Yep thats the easiest way to do it. Providing your not doing more than 40-50% changes each time, the water temperature wont drop much to effect the fish, some even say it enduces spawning! Do you have a mixer tap (hot/cold), if so, just add an adaptor to the tap and attach the hose, that way you can almost get the exact same temperature back into the tank. Thats what I do. As ColinT says, just double dose the dechlorinator for the amount of water you are adding as you re-fill.

 

[locust267]

We've got a mixer tap but the actual metal part of the tap is kinda square but there is a black plastic bit where the water comes out which is round (about 2cm long) - Is this where the adapter would fit or does it usually go over the metal bit?

I only ask because the adapter I was looking at is for circular and oval attachments.

 

[minxfishy]

My mixer is square/rectangular, I got an adaptor from B & Q that fits over the whole tap, then the hose attachment clips onto the adaptor.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes thats what we do, i if you change 30% of the water or less then don't worry over the temp, if you change more than that then just run the water back in slowly (make yourself a cup of tea and sit down with the paper while it's filling, not like you have to be actually doing it the whole time) and the heater will have time to warm it.

 

[locust267]

My mixer is square/rectangular, I got an adaptor from B & Q that fits over the whole tap, then the hose attachment clips onto the adaptor.

Could you tell me if it's this one: http/www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/nav.jsp?...lected=products

Or this one: http/www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/nav.jsp?...p;isSearch=true

Will be off to B&Q tomorrow

 

[minxfishy]

Hi, the second one is the one I use for my mixer tap, it comes with a couple of different washers so you can get the right fix. I always just pop a tea towel over the top of it, just in case, I havent got it centred correctly or rlse it does tend to leak a little, but it does the job.

The first one is the one I use on my outdoor tap!!

 

[locust267]

Thanks for that, popped down there this am and bought everything I need.

My new tank has now been filled up - Now just have to get excited about adding ammonia...

 

[minxfishy]

Good to hear you got what you needed, should help cut down those water change times

If you take some media from your existing filter you should find it cycles quicker than a from scratch fishless cycle