Some Basic Questions...

[Fish4Andy]

1. Because I have a lot of plants it is difficult to hover the gravel. Is it necessary to hover the gravel? If it is, how often should it be done?

2. At the moment my filter output pipe is just above the water level which adds lots of bubbles into the water. If I move this under the water so there are no bubbles (and no noise), will this be ok? Note that I do not have a air stone.

3. When doing a water change, is it ok to add cold tap water when only doing 10-20%?

4. When doing a large water change, how should this be done? At the moment I am doing 10-20%, waiting a few hours, then doing another one. Again this is with cold water, not room temp. Is this correct?

 

[Curiosity101]

You should always try to clean the gravel when you do a water change to avoid the build up of organics that could lead to an ammonia/nitrite spike.

So long as the water is rippling at the surface it doesn't need to bubble or anything to aerate the water.

A cold tap water change should be fine most of the time (depth of winter that cold tap can get pretty cold though). You could try water from the hot tap if you don't have inverts or perhaps just heating up some water in a kettle

As the previous statement, a kettle or the hot water tap should do the trick. A couple of degrees change when doing a water change is fine, but more than 2-3C could cause problems.

 

[Fish4Andy]

I tried using the hot tap before, that sent the pH to 9.5 and killed everything.
I'll just let the water get to room temp on its own and then use it.

Thanks for the other advice though

 

[Curiosity101]

Cold water into the kettle should do the trick then. That's how I do my water changes on the downstairs tank.

 

[Aqua Tom]

If you have an electricaly heated shower then you can use that to temp match your tank.

 

[raptorrex]

1. Because I have a lot of plants it is difficult to hover the gravel. Is it necessary to hover the gravel? If it is, how often should it be done?

2. At the moment my filter output pipe is just above the water level which adds lots of bubbles into the water. If I move this under the water so there are no bubbles (and no noise), will this be ok? Note that I do not have a air stone.

3. When doing a water change, is it ok to add cold tap water when only doing 10-20%?

4. When doing a large water change, how should this be done? At the moment I am doing 10-20%, waiting a few hours, then doing another one. Again this is with cold water, not room temp. Is this correct?

1, many planted tanks are high flow, this has the effect of scavenging the waste. remembering too, plants eat the results of tank waste. so the answer is yes, but you don't have to be scrupulous.

2, yes, as long as you have surface disruption. i have both spraybars below the water line.

3, yes, providing the amount is no more than 25-30%. i see signs of the fish enjoying the introduction of cold water. it would, after all, happen in nature.

4, personal preference this. I've done 50-100% water changes in one go. i see one reason not to do a 100% at once. just as long as you match the temp with the container you are placing your fish in. there is nothing in the old tank water (its not mature of cycled, that's the filter) that you have to keep. however if you can leave the fish in situ, it causes them less stress. you may consider a two stage change, just for that.