Rite, so in an hour i am about to carry out my first water change.
How much water should i change, 25%? 50%?
It is a baby biorb with one baby dwarf puffer and what appears to be a crayfish
Its 15 litres
How much water should i be looking to change? How much dechlorinator do i need to add? Dont have a measuring jar or syringe
(So like in table spoon terms etc)
I have a bucket, a syphon with gravel tube
How should i go about doing this?
Can i carry out the change with the fish in the tank?
Any advice appreciated
Thanks
A couple of factors, at least, play into what percentage of water to change. If you have poor source/tap water (ie. that would -add- ammonia or wrong-direction pH or such) then you would want to
lower the percentage, perhaps forcing you to increase the frequency of changes. In contrast, if you have any problem with your tank water that your source/tap water can
solve, then you might want to increase the percentage a bit, to accomplish more change in the good direction.
If your source/tap water has good values (eg. amm=0,nitrite=0,nitrate=0, ph ok) and you have no tank problems to solve, then a good average place to start would be 25% or 20%, something like that I would say. Note that in your aquarium log and over time you can decide whether you have reason to go up or down from that as your standard.
To perform your water change, put down your ground cloth, towel, whatever, to catch stray water if necessary. Remember to be aware of what level would cause your filter to lose siphon if that is the case. Avoid sudden actions that would overly frighten your fish - they can stay in during a water change. In your biorb, the 25% will go fast, so be ready to vacuum the maximum gravel during the siphoning off. Jiggle the gravel tube deep into the gravel and keep jiggling it as you pull up and watch the gravel swirl around and hopefully release the maximum debris into the exiting water. Do this to as much of your substrate as you can but don't worry if you reach your 25% level prior to finishing the substrate, just remember which section needs it next time (in your biorb case, you should easily finish, as there will likely be less gravel to clean than a traditional rectangular aquarium.) Pull the gravel vac out of the water to break the siphon when you reach your desired water level. Pour the tank water out on garden beds if that works for you.
If you are adding back via bucket, just roughly match the temperature with your hand - it only needs to be very roughly close (I generally prefer a tad cooler rather than a tad warmer - the fish often enjoy feeling a cool new current coming in). Water conditioner bottles always say how much to add per gallon, so if you are guesstimating that with a teaspoon or something, be aware that putting a little more conditioner is fine, and preferable, rather than too little. You can add the conditioner all to the first bucket (or whatever, not particularly important except to get enough overall - you don't want chloramines in the tap water to bother your filter bacteria or your fish.) If you have aquascape/decorations you don't want disturbed, you can use a plate or bowl sitting down on the gravel to deflect the force of the pouring water. After you are full, recheck the operation of your filter and heater.
Good luck, let us know if you have further questions!
~~waterdrop~~
