Fortnight Water Change?

[Robot_Rooster]

in this book i got it says that i have to change 15% of the water with conditioned water and at the same temperature how can i accomplish this? and what would i need

 

[Keithoms]

Well, just empty out 15% of the water in your tank. Then go to a sink with a bucket. Fill the bucket up with water while adjusting the temperature and reading it with a thermometer. When bucket is full, add some dechlorinator (youll find it at pet shops). Then, guess what? Pour it in the tank.

 

[Robot_Rooster]

how can i make it the same temperature as the tank?

 

[three-fingers]

Don't worry about it too much, as long as the water isn't literally at freezing temperature, you can just put 15% of cold water in .

I do water changes usually around 30% and use water straight from the cold tap. The overall water temperature will only change a few degrees celcius.

Cold water changes are even used to trigger spawning in some fish.

If your really worried, use boiling water from the kettle or fill the bucket from an electric shower. If it's just fish your keeping hot tap water should be OK too.

 

[Rooster]

Near enough is good enough... I use a 2 gall bucket, in summer it gets half a kettle and winter a full one... this is added to running cold tap water and the required dechlor. Then tip into tank(s) gently - so as not to disturb plants or sand etc.

I do 20% (ish) a week - sometimes a little longer, depending on other events !

 

[VictorMeldrew]

15% of water every two weeks does not sound like you are doing enough to me, but then again i do not know the size of your tank or what you keep in it, if you do not have dechlorinator then you could just leave the water in a bucket with an air stone for a few hours, that should make it fine to use, do not worry about the temp, if you only change small amounts you do not have any probs, imo small water changes more often is better than bigger changes less often, in my old tank i changed the water about 15% or 20% every 4 or 5 days.

 

[Robot_Rooster]

ok, and will the syphon gravel cleaner be handy to get the water out?

 

[puppyjess123]

Dp about 20% water change with a siphon, gravel vac and if you don't have them just a jug. Then i fill a 2gallon mop bucket up with half warm half cold water from the bath and carry back and then i use a measuring jug to put it back in the tank as gently as i can. Also turn the heater and filter off whilst doin a water change.

 

[VictorMeldrew]

Any hose pipe or tubing will get the water out, just make sure you have gravity on your side and suck the end to draw the water through, easy, no need to use a measuring jug just fill a bucket and pour it in, until you reach the level you want. to avoid disturbing gravel or plants, when pouring the water, pour it onto your hand or a small plate or something, this will spread the water out and it will trickle in nicely

. Also turn the heater and filter off whilst doin a water change.

Good tip that

 

[Robot_Rooster]

Thank you all for taking the time to answer

 

[waterdrop]

I agree that 15% sounds generally too small, but there can be a number of factors that go into establishing your habit. If you test your tap water and it has zero ammonia and zero nitrate (NO3), then larger water changes are fine and beneficial. If the tap water is not so good, then they many need to be smaller and more frequent.

Gravel cleans are very important. Doing them as a weekend habit is a great way to keep excess debris from ever building up too much and threatening your tank with unexpected ammonia spikes and excess nitrate hiding away. So just the act of having the habit and actually carrying out is extremely important to a tank.

I agree with above advice that any siphon you can put together can be fine. If you have a smaller tank, using buckets is not much of a problem and can really keep things pretty easy. Siphoning out into a bucket rather than directly to garden or drain can be a safety catch in case small fish get sucked through, that's something to think about too.

If you have a larger tank or just end up liking the idea, there is a popular type of device of which the brand "Python" is a good example. This is basically a clear hose siphon but available is various lengths including very long ones. Pythons can be customized to your situation with various heights of graval-cleaner cylinder and various faucet adapters for the other end. There is also a valve device that allows the faucet flow to be used to create the suction to start the draining of a distant tank into the sink where the faucet is. These devices can take a lot of the work out of large water refills.

Temperature matching can just be done with the skin of your hand and be a fairly rough judgement. That will be close enough. Often when using hose refill devices, the conditioner amount is split, with half the recommended amount going in at the beginning, directly into the tank and then the other half at the end. It is recommended that conditioner always be used because so many water systems now use chloramines, which will not gas out over time like chlorine.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Nick16]

when i put water into the tank i make sure its a tiny bit warmer than what came out, theu saving the heater needing to come on and therefore saving you electricity.

 

[puppyjess123]

Any hose pipe or tubing will get the water out, just make sure you have gravity on your side and suck the end to draw the water through, easy, no need to use a measuring jug just fill a bucket and pour it in, until you reach the level you want. to avoid disturbing gravel or plants, when pouring the water, pour it onto your hand or a small plate or something, this will spread the water out and it will trickle in nicely

. Also turn the heater and filter off whilst doin a water change.

Good tip that

Thanks i'm usely asking not answering so my tips aint great but hey i try. Yep agree with water drop don't put a thermoter etc in whne filling up just make sure its a bit warmer than thw current water (saves electricity dad likes tat idea)

 

[Nick16]

haha, yes my 'folks' are like that! put hooter in than you take out.