My First Water Change

[chrispsykes]

Hi everyone. I’m sure this is going to sound really stupid, but I’m about to do my first water change and I want to make sure that I’m not missing anything! Is it just a case of taking water out, then adding warm (do you test temperature before putting in?) water back in, and then add the product (can’t remember what it’s called at the moment, and I’m at work now not near my tank!) that gets rid of the chlorine?
Cheers, Chris

 

[Curiosity101]

Remove 'X' Amount of water - If this is your weekly water change then remove around 20%

Refill bucket with 'X' amount of water + add de-chlorinator BEFORE putting it back into the tank.

Generally speaking people can gauge the temp of two volumes of water to within a degree or two. So just pop your hand in the main tank, pop the other one into the bucket of fresh water (doesn't have to be at the same time) and adjust the temp accordingly.

 

[chrispsykes]

Remove 'X' Amount of water - If this is your weekly water change then remove around 20%

Refill bucket with 'X' amount of water + add de-chlorinator BEFORE putting it back into the tank.

Generally speaking people can gauge the temp of two volumes of water to within a degree or two. So just pop your hand in the main tank, pop the other one into the bucket of fresh water (doesn't have to be at the same time) and adjust the temp accordingly.

Thanks for your quick reply. I'm glad i checked now because i didnt think to add the de-chlorinator before putting it into the tank!

Thanks for your help
Chris

 

[Curiosity101]

Well the reason we add it before is that the chlorine needs to be removed before it gets into the tank. Otherwise you risk killing your filter bacteria and damaging your fish.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Chris and Welcome to TFF!

Curiosity's got you covered there. Completely agree with that description of correct water changing, its the using of conditioner and roughly temp matching that will help even large percentages of water change to be fine for the fish.

Noticed in your other thread that the tank was going a couple of weeks and then you put fish in. Don't know how long its been since then (?) but it could be that you're therefor going to find yourself in what we call a "Fish-In Cycling Situation."

Contrary to what most shops will tell you (or books for that matter) it takes about 3 weeks to a couple of months (!) to prepare an aquarium filter before its ready to handle fish. We always like to ask about this as often newcomers don't quite realize they are in this situation. Still needs to be determined if its true in your case but its good to get it figured out so that the fish can be helped if needed.

The homework you can do on this subject is to focus on the Fish-In cycling article, the "Fishless Cycling" article and the Nitrogen Cycle articles in our Beginners Resource Center right here in the beginners section.

There's nothing like a Fish-In cycle to teach you about water changes though, so if that's your situation you'll no doubt have it all down really well prior to having to do it under normal conditions! What's your water test kit? Most of us here like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit (a liquid-reagent based kit) and that one or a kit like it will be probably the most essential learning-aid if you are in the fish-in cycle. Sorry if you're already past all this!

~~waterdrop~~