Got a WC question for ya'll

[Slaphppy7]

Get a bicycle for your fish. It will be as useful as the python.

My Python isn't useful to my fish, it's useful to me

 

[Back in the fold]

My Python isn't useful to my fish, it's useful to me

Yeah , I know. I just feel the need to be that constant naysayer about the Python. They’re too complicated for me.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I love the python hoses and garden hose compatible connectors. I like their siphons but not to use connected to a faucet. ANd I loved the connectors to adapt to various faucets. i think I own all of them. I sometimes bring 75 ft. of hose to events to fill tanks. I need to be able to hook into a variety of faucets.

However, I remove and refill most tanks using pumps. For refil I use dinking water grade hose and for emptying I use the Python hose.

 

[10 Tanks]

I got a Python Water Changer for Christmas, so now I don't have an excuse not to do Water Changes. I have read several opinions online but I return to the TROPICAL FISH FORUM, to the experts. Just kidding, I really do get the best advice here, but anyway, I have a 60gal tank and am planning a long over due WC. I have a mark which shows about where a 30% WC would be on my tank. Now when I dose with my WATER CONDITIONER of choice, do I dose the tank for 60gals or do I dose for the amount of water swapped out. In my case about 20gals. Is it 60gals or 20gals. Thanx

Hi Jerry...

Just curious. A 30 percent water change still leaves 70 percent of the dirty water in the tank. Why such a small water change? As for the question, I think Seachem's "Safe" is by far the best water conditioner. I simply dose a quarter teaspoon in every five gallons of tap water. If I use my Python to fill the tank, then I dissolve a quarter teaspoon for every five gallons of water I remove from the tank in a small pitcher of tap water and pour it directly into the tank before filling it. This Seachem product works on contact with the tap water. If I was doing a 20 gallon water change, then I'd use four, one-quarter teaspoons. This is what works for my tanks when I use the "Safe" product.

10 Tanks

 

[Jerry Sem]

i do 30% when my NITRATES hits that 40ppm mark. my tank is heavily planted and this seems to work just fine with me, oh a the fish seem just fine too. my water is : PH 7.4, AMMOMIA 0ppm, NITRITES 0ppm and NITRATES 20ppm-40ppm. and it's kinda been this way since i set this up, the 1st week of Sept.

 

[Byron]

i do 30% when my NITRATES hits that 40ppm mark. my tank is heavily planted and this seems to work just fine with me, oh a the fish seem just fine too. my water is : PH 7.4, AMMOMIA 0ppm, NITRITES 0ppm and NITRATES 20ppm-40ppm. and it's kinda been this way since i set this up, the 1st week of Sept.

There is now scientifically-based evidence that nitrates are harmful to fish. Some fish more than others. But nitrates cause a general weakening over time which leaves the fish open to other problems they would otherwise deal with. Cichlids have serious issues with nitrates around 20ppm for one example. When we consider that in their habitat waters, none of the tropical species we keep have nitrates at all. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all poison to fish, it is simply a matter of degree.

Second point is that you do water changes to maintain a stable biological system, not to correct problems after they occur. If you have nitrate in your source water, that is one issue. But if nitrate is occurring only within the aquarium, your aim should be to keep them as close to zero as possible, and permanently. This improves the health of any fish.