Water Changes

[australia]

what chemicals do i use when doing a water change? and is there anything i need to know about water changes, i use water cond is there anything else i need to add when i do water changes?

 

[Lorna]

Just make sure the water conditioner has a dechlorinator and removes chloramines. Try and get the temp close to the temp of h20 in tank

 

[Puffdaddy]

It's always good to do a gravel vac. during your water change as well. Yes make sure you add a dechlorinator. The chlorine in tap water will kill off you benificial bacteria that is in your filter.

 

[backtotropical]

Is it freshwater or marine?

 

[australia]

Its fresh water tropical

 

[Lion007]

Depends how big your tank is, but for me its impossible to have the water up to room temperature - unless i leave app 20 buckets standing. However with a 20% change - even cold water doesnt move the temp below 26oC (i usualy have it at 27)
All you need as said is a good dechlorinator - my personal preferance is the Tetra - Aqua safe about £4 a bottle

 

[australia]

okay i use aquamaster A.C.E, i have a 1 foot/38litres, 2 foot/58 litres, 3 foot/115litres and a 4 foot/158litres how should i go about my water changes?

 

[australia]

when doing water changes , can i use hot water out of the tap and then use cold water to get it to the rite temp?

 

[backtotropical]

when doing water changes , can i use hot water out of the tap and then use cold water to get it to the rite temp?

I would advise against it. Cold water has a much greater saturation of oxygen which is important. Therefore, water which comes out of the hot tap will be generally not as good for the fish. It can be saturated with oxygen again obviously, by aeration etc, but it takes a while. I'd stick with the cold tap if at all possible.

Also, i wouldn't worry too much about matching temperature unless you are doing big water changes (say 50% +). I used to but this forum has taught me that even 30% or 40% changes tend not to affect temperature a great deal.

Making sure you dechlorinate the water is the most important thing.

 

[CruX]

Apparantly if you have Corydorus the colder water can help trigger spawning as in the wild they tend to spawn just after the rainy season. I have never had such luck though, although they might stick the eggs somewhere I can't see and they get eaten.

 

[australia]

so i can put normal cold tap water into my tank when doing water changes? i thought the fish wouldnt like the temp to drop so mutch?

 

[backtotropical]

So long as its not a big water change and the water is properly dechlorinated, yes thats fine.

The temperature will only drop substantially if you change more than, say 30% - 40%. If you're changing less, i generally wouldn't worry too much as it wont change the temp enough to stress the fish.

 

[Musho3210]

well get the temp as close as possible anyway. If you have a 100 gallon tank at 100 degrees F (not realistic but i have a point) and you change 50% of the water and the water is freezing, your tank drops 50 degrees. Thats not a small drop.

That is exadurated obviously but you get my point hopefully. If your tank is 80 and your tap is 72 and you change 25% of the water, the water drops 2 degrees, could be better but should be good enough.

 

[dyson83]

aquasafe is no good if u have a carbon filter it will be removed instantly thus leaving the chlorine in the water. my recomendation is HALOEX (watersafe) same price as aqua but will do the job properly. i always do a gravel vac when i do a change. i still use aqua cycle though and every now and then drop some green algae controll in.

 

[Tolak]

aquasafe is no good if u have a carbon filter it will be removed instantly thus leaving the chlorine in the water. my recomendation is HALOEX (watersafe) same price as aqua but will do the job properly. i always do a gravel vac when i do a change. i still use aqua cycle though and every now and then drop some green algae controll in.

I haven't heard of this, nor have I heard of anyone experiencing any problems using Aquasafe while running carbon. All dechlorinators use some, or all, of a combination of closely related chemicals, Aquasafe is no different. References to anyone having this sort of problem with Aquasafe would be appreciated.