Water Change With Different Quality

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

My water has too many chemicals im going store-bought route. Can I just do 70 percent water change with new water? or will that be a shock to my fish since different water quality? I can give readings from both water types If needed . . . Also if I get water from store and have it sit in a jug for 5 days before adding to the tank is there any issues with this?

 

[CryptFan]

The water chemistry would be helpful indeed.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Yeah we need the parameters

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

The water chemistry would be helpful indeed.

Yeah we need the parameters

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here u go

Tap
Fac Chlorine 0 ppm,TCl (total Chlorine Level) 0 ppm, Alk (Alkalinity) 180 ppm,pH 7.8, TH ( GH) 450ppm, CyA (Cyanuric Acid 100 ppm)

Store
Fac 0 ppm, TCl 0 ppm, Alk 40 ppm, pH 6.2 TH 0 ppm, CyA 0 ppm

 

[Colin_T]

what sort of fish do you have?

if you have soft water fishes, then do a 10-20% water change every couple of days.

if you have hard water fishes, then add some minerals to the new water and get the GH and pH to wherever they should be for the species.

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

what sort of fish do you have?

guppies but im also wondering in general as i may get other kinds of fish such as Pictus catfish

 

[JuiceBox52]

Your tap water is very hard. Perfect for guppies and other livebearers. The store bought water is really soft. Pictures catfish are more softwater fish. To harden the water (store) add aquarium salt.

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

what sort of fish do you have?

if you have soft water fishes, then do a 10-20% water change every couple of days.

if you have hard water fishes, then add some minerals to the new water and get the GH and pH to wherever they should be for the species.

Your tap water is very hard. Perfect for guppies and other livebearers. The store bought water is really soft. Pictures catfish are more softwater fish. To harden the water (store) add aquarium salt.

Can I just do 70 percent water change with new water? or will that be a shock to my fish since different water quality?

Also if I get water from the store and have it sit in a jug for 5 days before adding to the tank is there any issues with this?

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

if you have soft water fishes, then do a 10-20% water change every couple of days.

cant I do 70 percent every 5 days or is there a difference due to them being soft water

 

[Colin_T]

If you do a 70% water change with the shop bought water, the pH and GH will change rapidly and probably kill the guppies.

Guppies need a GH around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. The shop water is not suitable for them, but your current tap water is fine for them. If you want to keep guppies, do not use shop bought water unless you add minerals to increase the GH and pH.

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Pictus catfish cannot be kept with guppies because they eat guppies. Pictus catfish need to be kept in groups and can grow to 8 inches in length. They need a tank that is at least 4 foot long.

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You can keep water in containers for weeks without any problems. The only time there will be a problem is if a contaminant that gets into the water. Other than that, you can have buckets of water sitting around for weeks or even months and it will be fine.​

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

If you do a 70% water change with the shop bought water, the pH and GH will change rapidly and probably kill the guppies.

Guppies need a GH around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. The shop water is not suitable for them, but your current tap water is fine for them. If you want to keep guppies, do not use shop bought water unless you add minerals to increase the GH and pH. <- will the aquarium salt idea fix this

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Pictus catfish cannot be kept with guppies because they eat guppies. Pictus catfish need to be kept in groups and can grow to 8 inches in length. They need a tank that is at least 4 foot long.

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You can keep water in containers for weeks without any problems. The only time there will be a problem is if a contaminant that gets into the water. Other than that, you can have buckets of water sitting around for weeks or even months and it will be fine.

Id did not say id have them in the same tanks. Thinking about a 90 gal for the cats. also cant I do 70 percent every 5 days or is there a difference due to them being soft water.

thank you for your help on this

 

[Colin_T]

If you do a 70% water change with the shop bought water, the pH and GH will change rapidly and probably kill the guppies.

Guppies need a GH around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. The shop water is not suitable for them, but your current tap water is fine for them. If you want to keep guppies, do not use shop bought water unless you add minerals to increase the GH and pH.

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

Im guessing the mineralized water would bring everything to good levels then I should get that rather then non-mineralized how long after until I can do a 70 percent water change?

 

[Byron]

Something that I don't think has been mentioned, and if you are considering a tank as large as 90g this is significant.

Water changes must use water that is reasonably close to the tank water with respect to parameters. Parameters refers to GH, KH, pH and temperature. This means you willneed some sort of container in which you can prepare large amounts of water. Partial water changes to be effective must be regular and substantial, such as 50-70% at one time, once a week. Now, doing less volume more times a week will be better than nothing, but depending upon the volume they will not likely be anywhere near as beneficial. Even 50% of a 90g tank is a lot of water to prepare externally. I've done it several years ago to deal with a specific issue in a 90g tank, and I am glad I did not have to continue.