Water Changes

[chrisbassist]

when I do a water change I normally empty out water, then fill a container, add the required amount of dechlorinator stuff, then start adding that to the tank. Since I don't have a large enough container to do the whole lot in one go It takes a few of the containers to re-fill.

The thing is, I'm sure doing it this way I end up using over twice as much dechlorinator as I need to and with daily changes atm I'm going through quite a lot.

Is there a better way of doing this? I didn't want to put tapwater straight in the tank as I wasn't sure if it would harm the fish in the short space of time it then took to add dechlorinator...

Any advice or is there apost somewhere about this? I tried using the search but it brings up far too many results which are just people mentioning that they've done a water change... would probably be better if the search put more weight on thread titles as opposed to post content.

 

[Wills]

I use those big flexable yellow buckets from BnQ that builders use they are about £5 each and hold 50 liters each I got two and set my girlfriend the task of filling the new water one while I syphon off the tank water. And then just chuck it down the loo (it would go outside but we live in a flat) Ive done it in the past with 5 liter buckets as well and agree its a total pain lol

 

[BrianM41]

I use a python myself . but here is how I do it . I add some of dechlor and then I start filling the tank , when I finish topping off my tank , I add the rest of the required dechlor .

What type of Dechlor do you use and what size container do you use ? I could give a better answer . For example I use Prime , it is super concentrated so I use less than I did with other brands . So type and size of container would help tremendously .

 

[chrisbassist]

atm it's about 5 litres

is it safe to addin water directly to the tank like that?

I've been using nutrafin aqua plus stuff. which is 5ml to 38l which would mean about 0.7 ml for each 5l i add. no matter what I do it's more like 3-5ml I can't pour in that little...

 

[arobinson1984]

You can add dechlorinator straight to the tank first before topping it up with water, BUT if you do it this way then you need to add enough dechlorinator to treat the whole tank amount, not just the amount of water you are replacing so you would need to work out which method uses less.

Seachem prime is a good dechlo for new tanks and is fairly concentrated meaning you need to use less. Once the tank is cycled then using pond dechlor is an option, its highly concentrated and you will find a bottle of pond dechlor will last 1-2 years. I wouldnt recommend using pond dechlor until the tank is cycled, although technically it should be fine I'd still recommend getting some seachem prime as it also helps to control your ammonia levels.

Andy

 

[chrisbassist]

ok,

Since I'm doing 15% (ish) daily, I think I'll be using the same amount either way (give or take)

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with Andy and Brian, Prime and Python are the way to go. It might take you a while to work out the Python thing but its a lot easier in the long run. Also in the first year of a tank its a good idea to be dosing the dechlor at 1.5x to 2x the recommended amount (but not more than 2x.) The reason for this is that local water authorities really do have times when they dramatically increase their chlorine/chloramine amount and during the first year while your bacterial colonies are still fragile, you want to be more protective of them. Dosing at over a 2x rate however has been found to slow the growth of the N-Bac colony, so you don't want to go overboard on the overdosing.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[chrisbassist]

cheers, got myself a python today.

I think a bigger bucket is one of the best ways to go, since it'll allow me to be a little more accurate with the dosing.

If only I could have it plumbed in and have it do it automatically (i'm sure there are systems out there but they'd be overkill on my tank)