Diy filter?

[Metalhead88]

@Retired Viking that is exactly how it should be done IMHO. The advice given by Dr. William T. Innes in his epic tome Exotic Aquarium Fishes still holds true today (IMHO) . Let your water age.

It works for smaller tanks, but pre treating about 150 gallons is much harder.

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[Retired Viking]

It works for smaller tanks, but pre treating about 150 gallons is much harder.

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My largest tank is 55 gallon so it is not that bad but I do agree it would be harder for a larger tank.

 

[Retired Viking]

I use a plastic storage tub/bin that can hold at least 40 gallons. You can pick them up at Walmart for around 3-5 dollars so for a 150 gallon tank 2 would work great. 80 gallons is more than a 50% water change. Just something to think about. Only down side is my dogs (labs) try to drink out of it if I don't watch them

 

[Essjay]

Letting the water stand works if the water company uses chlorine as a disinfectant, as chlorine gasses out of the water. But if they use chloramine, that does not gas off so you have to use a dechlorinator at the amount stated.

Chloramine is a chlorine and an ammonia joined together. Dechlorinators split them apart and remove the chlorine leaving the ammonia in the water. For this reason, a lot of water conditioners also contain something to detoxify ammonia, the effect lasts for around 24 hours by which time the filter bacteria have removed it.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

I have a huge issue with snails, I'm pulling about 100 per DAY out of one of my tanks. I realize that they can be very beneficial but while they eat the excess food left in the tank, they also add waste with their own poop. I'm so sick of getting rid of snails every day - no matter how many I remove, there are that many or more the next day. In my opinion they are pests. I'll do more regular water changes rather than deal with the hundreds of snail I have in my tank. I'm grateful they eat all excess food, but not at the expense of all that extra poop in the water.

As far as letting the water "age" nice idea but when you have 4 tanks that's a lot of water to keep aging. I do a 50-75% water change each week. I have the energy to do one tank a day so Friday-Monday of every week I'm doing a water change. I have a number of 5 gallon buckets but I'm not strong enough to fill them up in the bathtub and carry them into the fish room - plus that still wouldn't be nearly enough. I DO rely on chemicals such as Prime to prepare my water - even if I let my water stand I would be afraid NOT to use it. I would hate to kill a tankful of fish due to there still being chlorine in the water. Remember companies like Seachem have done extensive research into how to keep a fish tank at it's best. You can certainly add too many chemicals but I trust that, if I follow the instructions on the bottle that they know what the are doing. Better living through chemistry LOL.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I have a huge issue with snails, I'm pulling about 100 per DAY out of one of my tanks. I realize that they can be very beneficial but while they eat the excess food left in the tank, they also add waste with their own poop.... I'm so sick of getting rid of snails every day - no matter how many I remove, there are that many or more the next day. In my opinion they are pests. I'll do more regular water changes rather than deal with the hundreds of snail I have in my tank. I'm grateful they eat all excess food, but not at the expense of all that extra poop in the water.

Some time ago I had a discussion with a YouTuber convinced that snails were adding bioload to his tanks. I failed to convince him of the logic. Unless you're feeding Acme snail food, the snails are merely processing existing organic waste, breaking it down further for bacteria to digest. They simply don't generate additional waste. The best way to control snails is to reduce the organic waste....feed less, clean more.

. Better living through chemistry LOL.

Years ago, with a back issue, they put me on a drug called neurontin - a subsequent class action lawsuit as it caused 'altered thinking' and many suicides. Then they put me on Viox, subsequently taken off the market for causing heart attacks!
"Better living through chemistry?"...maybe, if it doesn't kill you first!