Water Change

[Beemeeup]

i an awaiting a 175 litre tank but am confused about future (after cycling) water changes.
do you fill the bucket - wait 24 hours for chlorine to evaporate - pour in hot water to desired temp - then put in some water conditioner - then pour the water into the tank? is that the order?

 

[sparky_555]

You dont need to leave the bucket for 24 hours, just fill it up when you need it and add the dechlorinator then

 

[Boids-n-more]

I agree just dechlorinate and your good to go. The stuff is cheap too 5 bucks for 1920 dechlorinated gallons of water. just so i'm not confuseing you its not 1920 gallons of water i but is a little container that uses a dropper to dechlorinate tap water.

 

[Tolak]

You can dechlor the water in the bucket before you pour it in, or add dechlor to the tank before or after you pour it in. I fill my tanks with a hose, and do it before, during or after, it doesn't really seem to matter.

FYI, 20 drops of dechlorinator equals about 1 ml. I've seen products that state "1 capful = 5 ml, treats 50 gallons", with this tiny cap. If you have to treat 10 or 20 gallons you're guessing. Any eyedropper will work.

 

[Beemeeup]

You dont need to leave the bucket for 24 hours, just fill it up when you need it and add the dechlorinator then

Thanks for your help

 

[00mitomk]

ooh can i add to this do u have to wait for the water to be same temp as the tank ie add hot water to make it same temp or do u jst wait to room temp and pour in gradually??

 

[Greg Night]

ooh can i add to this do u have to wait for the water to be same temp as the tank ie add hot water to make it same temp or do u jst wait to room temp and pour in gradually??

exackly my question

 

[discus dreamer]

I have seen different advice on this but as it is easy to fill a kettle why not get it to approx same temp as the tank.
I have had one experience of a fish swimming under incoming colder water and reacting quite badly to it so I always top up the bucket with 1-2 kettles full of hot water till it is roughly the same.
DD

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it depends on the fish, some are sensitive to temp changes so you should, some aren't and will actually enjoy the change. Sometimes it can even get fish to start spawning, give them meaty food and do a water change in the same day and they'll think it's seasonal changes and may start spawning, it can really be a pick me up to some fish.

You should be careful using boiled water, I can't remember the science behind it but if you do a search there was a very interesting post a month or so ago about it. Basically boiling it changes the gases or soemthing in the water and it can be harmful to fish.

 

[andywg]

Whether sensitive to temperature changes or not it doesn't really matter. You won't change the temperature any where near enough to upset the fish unless you are doing large (>20%) changes.

I do 40% water changes from the cold mains and the temp never falls more than 2 degrees.

 

[Beemeeup]

I have seen different advice on this but as it is easy to fill a kettle why not get it to approx same temp as the tank.
I have had one experience of a fish swimming under incoming colder water and reacting quite badly to it so I always top up the bucket with 1-2 kettles full of hot water till it is roughly the same.
DD

thanks for advice

it depends on the fish, some are sensitive to temp changes so you should, some aren't and will actually enjoy the change. Sometimes it can even get fish to start spawning, give them meaty food and do a water change in the same day and they'll think it's seasonal changes and may start spawning, it can really be a pick me up to some fish.

You should be careful using boiled water, I can't remember the science behind it but if you do a search there was a very interesting post a month or so ago about it. Basically boiling it changes the gases or soemthing in the water and it can be harmful to fish.

thankyou i shall search the forum.

Whether sensitive to temperature changes or not it doesn't really matter. You won't change the temperature any where near enough to upset the fish unless you are doing large (>20%) changes.

I do 40% water changes from the cold mains and the temp never falls more than 2 degrees.

thanks. i am much happier now about the changes and their effects.

 

[scubadoo]

I just fill up the buckets with a bit of hot and then cold out of the tap - you soon get to know roughly how much of each you need to get it fairly close to the desired temperature, then add the de-chlor to the bucket (stir it well), give it a couple of minutes and then bung it in the tank.

 

[Kevstir]

I just fill up the buckets with a bit of hot and then cold out of the tap - you soon get to know roughly how much of each you need to get it fairly close to the desired temperature, then add the de-chlor to the bucket (stir it well), give it a couple of minutes and then bung it in the tank.

thats exactly what i do , been doing 20% daily changes (high nitrite levels) for the last 2 weeks and the temp goes down 1c , got it down to a t now lol , my fish dont seem to be bothered ..

Kev

 

[Tolak]

Using hot water mixed with cold from the tap depends on the size of water change, the sensitivity of the fish, and the type of water heating system you have. If you have a hot water heater that is kept under mains pressure, you can mix it, I have been doing it for years. If you have a system where hot water is kept in a loft tank & gravity fed, a system more commonly found in the UK, it's probably not a good idea to use this water.