Water Change Method

[Nick Bramley]

i have always changed my water by putting tap water in my tank then treating the whole tank, 30l's. the other day my friend asked me why i just didnt treat the water i was putting in, i use a jug so would it be better just to treat the water in the jug?

does anyone use this method?

might be a silly question but i just wondered

Thanks, Nick

 

[penguin22]

Yes I just treat the water im putting in, it will be fine

 

[Alex1110]

I empty my water, put the right amount of conditioner in the tank, then fill it back up.

 

[Squid]

Yes I just treat the water im putting in, it will be fine

Me too.. I think most people do it this way if they are using buckets and things like that. Some people put the it straight into the tank if they are filling it up with a python syphon or hose-like thing. In this case I thought they still only needed to add the amount of dechlorinator for the amount of water they are changing, and not for the whole tank volume. Although, some people say that they do overdose slightly.

Squid

 

[Killi]

i always treat the water before putting it in the tank

 

[Nick Bramley]

cheers everyone, big help

 

[newtotropical]

cheers everyone, big help

I add the treatment to the tank if its a big change, or to the bucket if its a small one!! I only treat the "new" water

 

[AndreaC]

I treat before adding aswell. I bought a large washing up bowl just for the fish. I syphon out into that, then refill with tap water and treat as many as I used to empty tank eg 6 bowls syphoned out = 6 bowls back in.

 

[lym]

While it's the same subject...

Just wondering do you have to leave the water out before a water change to let it get to room temperature? Or do you have to make sure it's the same temperature as the tank or do you just put straight from the tap into the tank??

This is my first time owning tropicals so I'm not sure.

 

[AndreaC]

I have a mixture kitchen tank and run the hot water 1st then slowly run the cold and estimate the temp, once I think it is I fill the bowl. Ive always managed that way and seem to guess the temp right as the thermometor doesnt change lol.

Just add hot and cold until it feels right temp, if your not sure put your hand in tank then other hand into the water you just ran and see if they feel the same.

 

[Squid]

I have a mixture kitchen tank and run the hot water 1st then slowly run the cold and estimate the temp, once I think it is I fill the bowl. Ive always managed that way and seem to guess the temp right as the thermometor doesnt change lol.

Just add hot and cold until it feels right temp, if your not sure put your hand in tank then other hand into the water you just ran and see if they feel the same.

There have been a number of discussions on this forum about getting the temperature right. Some people do as suggested (i have done this before) by adding water from the hot tap, whilst others are worried about the fact that the water has been sitting around in the heating system and may contain extra metals and other bits that you might not want. Other people (depending on how big the tank is) leave buckets of water resting for a number of hours to bring it up to room temperature so that the change in temperature is less. I on the other hand just run the tap straight into the bucket and tip it into the tank (with dechlorinator in it of course). I have experienced no problems in doing this whatsoever. There are plenty of very experienced people on this forum with much bigger tanks than I who use hoses/python syphons to fill the tank directly from the tap, some of which im sure are just cold water.

When you think about it, if your tank water was 25 degrees and your tap water was say 18 degrees, then the combined temperature after a 25% water change would be 23.25, less than 2 degrees difference. with a 20% water change it would be 23.6. It is my understanding (willing to be told otherwise here, for the safety of the ickle fishies) that this temperature change is acceptable in most cases.

Cheers
Squid

 

[Sibelius]

Part A: I treat all the water that is going to go into my tank BEFORE it goes into my tank.

Part B: I use 80% cold tap water, 20% boiled tap water (from cold) so that the temperature remains approximately the same as my tank, and none passes through the tap water's heating, which can occasionally contain impurities or heavy metals that I wouldn't want in my tank.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I boil the kettle for my smaller/more sensitive fish tanks, but use water straight from the cold tap on my large community, nobody particularly sensitive in there. Dechlorinate all water in buckets first though.

 

[Nick Bramley]

does the dechlorinator work instantly or leave for five mins?

 

[The-Wolf]

this will cause some controversy but here goes.

I add the water conditioner to the tank and then re-fill with water as cold as possible via a hose pipe.
the fish seem to like swimming in and out of the cold stream as it enters the tank.
I have not had a problem doing water changes this way and the overall temp of the tank(s)
has only dropped by 2 degrees C, even on large (30-40%) changes.