Small Tanks, Internal Filters...

[gaz gun man]

hey guys

Just wondering how do you do waterchanges on small tanks without killing the bactera in the filter?

especially when you do largeish changes (50% for example) I'm cycling my small tank (25L) and when I do large water changes I mix my dechlor in with the fresh water and leave it 5 mins before putting it into the tank...this wont kill my bacteria will it?

I also push the filter down into the waterline to keep the media wet whilst I fill up the top half.

 

[aaronnorth]

when i had mine, i siphoned of 50%, then got a bucket, filled with water & added dechlor like i do with all my tanks.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah just push the filter down so it stays submerged or as close as possible to submerged, really a water change on a small tank shouldn't take more than half an hr or so, the media won't dry out in that time.

and yeah either put the dechlor into a bucket with the new water then add it to the tank, or add dechlor to the tank then add the water. dechlor works almost instantly.

 

[gaz gun man]

thanks, I just needed my mind put at rest

 

[Honeythorn]

As long as the intake areas of your filter are kept underwater so that they keep the filter sucking water over the media, you should have no trouble at all. I do weekly 50% water changes on my 12 gal which is running with a Fluval 3. No problem. Just siphon into the bucket with a gravel vac like normal and top up with dechlorinated water as usual.