Water Changes And Conditioner

[IAmATeaf]

When I do a water change I normally fill the tank up with a hose. Now to date what I've always done is add 2 caps of water conditioner to the tank before filling up. Having seen various posts here that state that the water should be treated before it's put into the tank got me wondering if what I'm doing is wrong.

So am I doing it all wrong and should I really be filling buckets and then treating the water before adding? Using buckets would be a pain though as I'd have to hoist them above the tank and it's also quite difficult to pour the water in gently.

 

[SchottayB]

I add the conditioner to the bucket of clean tap water befor adding it to the tank.

Not sure if that's the right or wrong way, but that's how I've always done it and never had problems.

 

[Tolak]

I hose it in, then add dechlorinator. Most of my tanks are drilled with overflows for water changes, so adding it before filling would accomplish nothing. Many people do water changes of 25% without adding any conditioner, and have no problems whatsoever.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with Tolak (of course! since he's one of my mentors!) many, many of the experienced aquarists here just hose it in and add conditioner (when doing larger changes) at some point associated with the fill session (before, during or right after, unlikely to matter.)

In mature tanks that have been running a couple years, there is certainly less risk to the bacteria even of larger changes without conditioner. As one moves back the timeline to a newer and newer tank, the worry becomes greater and in my own case I'd prefer the insurance of conditioner dosing.

In my own case, when I say "hose in" for large water changes, I mean tap water coming from a mixing tap at a temperature I've chosen to match my current tank water. At smaller percentage changes that wouldn't be a concern.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[james_fish]

I also put water in a bucket first then add the conditioner.
Then either pour it in or use a gravel cleaner to gradually suck it through.

James.

 

[IAmATeaf]

So what I'm doing by adding the conditioner before I fill the tank up with the hose is OK-ish?

Also I only add as much conditioner as required for the amount of water that I'm changing, is this OK? or should I be doing a full dose?

 

[drobbyb]

When you are adding the conditioner directly to the tank, it is best to treat the whole volume of the tank because some of the conditioner is used up on the organincs present in the tank (or at least that's Seachem says.)

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, this is correct. All the organics in a running tank will use up a lot of the conditioners action, so the dose amount needs to be tailored to the tank volume, not the added water volume. If the tank is under a year old it is also good extra insurance to dose conditioner at 1.5x the amount the manufacturer says to allow for water authorities doing extra shocking of the system. Don't exceed 2x however as this slows down the N-Bac growth that continues to happen during the first tank year.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[stuuk1]

Very interesting post! Since owning my tank I have only ever dosed for the amount of water im changing out... I fill my cap to however much ive worked out and then evenly add it to the buckets of water, luckily I somehow manage to get it correct and always empty the cap on the last bucket.

Perhaps now I can do much quicker water changes...!

 

[OldMan47]

If you add conditioner directly to the new water instead of adding to the tank, you only really need to dose for the amount of water you are changing. Much like WD, I add a bit more as insurance because I am aware that shock treatments of the water system are seldom announced to the public in a timely enough fashion for me to respond to it with dechlorinator. I have no intention of losing fish for a lack of information. At the price of dechlorinator, I find it a false economy to try to avoid using enough dechlorinator.