Preparing Water To Change

[Mike_Syr]

I am wondering if I need to do anything else to prepare the water I use when I change water in my tank. I have a 20G (75L) tank set up with 4 molly's and 3 cory's setup for about a month with the fish. I will add some cory's after the tank has been set up longer. I change 5G (19L) each week.

To prepare to change the water I have a 10G (38L) tank with nothing in it. I have a small power filter with about a 65G (245L) per hour flow rate and filter media and charcoal in it. I filled the tank with tap water. I run the filter all the time. When I change the water in the fish tank I use a gravel cleaner to fill a 5G bucket. Then I use a power head to pump from the 10G tank to the fish tank. So I use about half the water. I then empty the removed water from the bucket, rinse it, and fill with tap water. I then pump from the bucket to the 10G tank. My water in the fish tank tests to 7.4 ph, 180 ppm alkalinity, 120 ppm total hardness, 0 nitrites, and 10 ppm Nitrates.

Am I doing enough to the water? Is it ok if I occasionally do a 10G change? Can I also use the 10G tank for a hospital/quarantine tank?

I may update to a 29G (110L) or a 45G (170L) tank. I would continue to use the 10G or I have a 15G.

 

[Gillette1985]

are you using a dechlorinator in with the tap water?

 

[Mike_Syr]

are you using a dechlorinator in with the tap water?

No. I was thinking the charcoal in the filter and the flow from the power filter would take care of the chlorine over the week of the water being in the tank before it is used. If I had to use the water before it had run a day or two I would add a dechlorinator. I have a filter for drinking water on the kitchen sink. I tried filling the bucket through that but it took forever.

 

[Tolak]

If you have chlorine only in your water supply it will gas out in a day or two with that setup, no carbon needed. If your water supplier adds chloramine as well that could be a problem, as you have no idea if the charcoal has absorbed all the chloramine, or if it has when it needs replacing. You can contact your water supplier to ask what they are using for disinfecting your tap water.

I've seen fishrooms set up with auto water changers that use carbon block filtration for the replacement water. Knowing the quantity of water the carbon can filter before needing replacing, as well as keeping record of how much water you have run through it is essential.

As far as using untreated water from the tap an interesting discussion can be found here.

 

[OldMan47]

Untreated water is used by many fish keepers at a daily rate of 10% or less using automated water change systems. Small changes like that are well tolerated by fish and the tank filters quickly correct anything that is wrong with the new water. Larger water changes, like your 25% change, demand a bit tighter control of the water's chemical content, especially chlorine. As Tolak has already said, if the water company is using only chlorine gas or sodium hypochlorite as an antibacterial treatment, the water will gas off nicely in only a day or two. On the other hand, a week may not be long enough to fully remove chlorine from the water if they are using chloramine.