Fresh Start

[W8TSON]

Soon ill be changing my sand to coral and doing a full tank clean inside (glass ect) ill also be adding new ocean rock ect, Now with the tank having new fresh water cant be good for the fishys..

Could i use tetra safe start and tetra aquasafe so i can add the fish right away once the tank has fully filled up, have been doing some reading on the products and ive found good reviews on them..

Id like to know what you guys think aswell?

Thanks.

 

[Tizer]

Crap products, fresh water is the best thing fish can get, why do you think people who breed fish do 50% water changes every day? Why wouldnt you be using your old filter? Why cycle a tank again?

 

[W8TSON]

Crap products, fresh water is the best thing fish can get, why do you think people who breed fish do 50% water changes every day? Why wouldnt you be using your old filter? Why cycle a tank again?

Ill be using the same external filter all i will be doing is doing a full water change as ill be cleaning the tank inside and adding new coral sand ect.

If i add normal fresh water (full tank, 350L) surely id do harm to the fish?

 

[Tizer]

why? we call them freshwater fish for a reason Just make sure you dechlorinate it, get it to the right temperature. If they have come used to a certain PH value (if you alter it yourself) that isnt that of your tap water, try and match that also, then there is no reason why they wouldnt be quite happy with a 100% water change. All the biological bacteria is in your filter, not the water, so no reason to cycle it again...

 

[weezawoo]

You will be fine to fill the tank with fresh water, up to temp, add dechlorinator but don't add the filter back until the water is dechlorinated else you will kill some bacteria off. When adding the fish back you will need to acclimatise to the new water chemistry in the tank as there could be a slight difference that might shock them.

Where are you keeping the fish while cleaning it out? Could you not keep some of the water if you are so worried?

 

[Squidward]

Are you changing your set up? From? To? Or just a rescape?

When I packed in my Malawis I did the following:
Switched off all the electrics. Took out the rocks and scooped out as much of the water as I could. With only a few inches of water left, it was quite easy to catch the fish. Took them to my lfs and got a credit which I bought some new gravel with. came home, while the new gravel was being rinsed under a running tap, I took out the remaining water and all the coral sand.
The put the new gravel & the wood. I refilled the tank with water from a hosepipe adding dechlorinator as I was going along. I probably added too much, but it didn't do any harm. Once the tank was full, I switched on the heater. After a few hours with the water a bit warmer I switched on the filter.

Left it for 24 hours. And then got my first batch of fish.
I tested for Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates every day for the first 2 weeks and never had a problem.

I don't tihnk you need to start your filter again from scratch if you are doing a major rescape.
And yes, Aquasafe is a good idea to treat the tap water.