Evaporation

[sic0198]

If I lose water due to evaporation what should I do? Just fill it back uo.

 

[rabbut]

Yes, refill with dechlorinated tap water to replace the lost water

 

[OldMan47]

If you add water back without removing any, the mineral content will gradually go up since the minerals do not evaporate. I know this is obvious. It is one of the reasons that frequent water changes are done, it removes some of the mineral build up each time you do a partial water change. Before we understood what we do now, it was not unusual for people to keep adding water without removing any. The end result is now called old tank syndrome. What would happen is that the fish in the tank would become acclimated to the water while the change was happening but new fish frequently died shortly after being introduced. If a fish keeper figured out that he needed to refresh the tank for the new fish to survive, it often meant losing his established stock because they were shocked by the sudden change in the water quality even though it was a change to better parameters.

 

[sic0198]

I'm just trying to cover all the bases, What should I do. Remove more of the water then fill the tank back.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, in doing the water changes that oldman47 has explained, you add back more water than you took out, thus bringing your water line back up to the level you desire. Gravel cleaning along with a water change are often the good weekly habit you will find among good fishkeepers.

 

[Fruba]

I have lost around 20 percent of my water due to what must be evapouration,
I am also looking to clean my gravel for the first time, so would i be best to top the water up now, then next week or so clean my gravel, thus removing 15-20% of the water, then refilling again?

Thank you

 

[rabbut]

I have lost around 20 percent of my water due to what must be evapouration,
I am also looking to clean my gravel for the first time, so would i be best to top the water up now, then next week or so clean my gravel, thus removing 15-20% of the water, then refilling again?

Thank you

When did you last do a waterchange? In general it is recomended to do weekly 25% water changes. If you haven't done one for a while, drop the level to 50% and slowly refill the tank with fresh water over the course of a couple of hours Try to get into a weekly 25% changes and gravel cleaning rotine

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Fruba]

When did you last do a waterchange?

ehhhm never

My fish shop lady said i needed to build up all the "goodness" in my tank and doing water changes too soon would loose it?

that was 3 months ago

never really had any problems though

 

[rabbut]

Now would be a good time to start waterchanges Looks like a typical case of bad lfs advise symdrome again Waterchanges will not remove anything that you want, but will remove plenty that you don't.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Fruba]

Ok cool, so what u reckon, take a good bit of the water out then slowly refill?

 

[rabbut]

Yup, perfect

 

[waterdrop]

When did you last do a waterchange?

ehhhm never

My fish shop lady said i needed to build up all the "goodness" in my tank and doing water changes too soon would loose it?

that was 3 months ago

never really had any problems though

OMG! Horrible 1960's advice...
Yes, Rabbut has got you headed in the right direction!
The problem with no water changes is the very slow buildup of trace things that are too difficult or expensive to measure. Regular habit of gravel cleaning and water changing handily avoids all sorts of complicated problems. (Its not that the pros can't argue about water changes, but for us beginners, seems like a very important basic habit...)