Water Changing

[Daveypaul]

Water changes are quite important. They remove hundreds of substances that we don't want to build up, substances that we also don't have the time or money to measure. Water changes also bring in various trace minerals that we do want to refresh, minerals that the fish depend on.

Any time we do a water change there is also an important opportunity to get rid of debris from the tank substrate (there will also be debris on plants and decorations but the substrate collects the most.) If we allow debris to build up for too long in the tank, the action of heterotrophic (not the same as the autotrophic bacteria in our filters) bacteria will break down so much of it that we will be in danger of small ammonia spikes that we might not see.

The most effective habit for reducing the problem of substrate debris is to use a gravel-cleaning siphon for your water changes. This is simply a device that has a cylinder (usually clear) attached to the end of the hose that goes in to the tank. As the siphon pulls water out of the tank you gently plunge the cylinder down in the gravel and the suction will pull the gravel part-way up the tube and then allow it to drop back down in the tank. The debris comes loose from the gravel and flows on out with the water. You move the cylinder about the tank trying to get most of the places that don't have plants or decorations. If you have a sand substrate there is a somewhat different skill to perform the same function.

The most common beginner misunderstanding about water changes is to think they are so stressful to fish that they should be minimized or avoided. This is not true. Water changes are your friend and it is much better for your tank water to be kept changed often enough that your tank chemistry stays very similar to your tap water chemistry. This way, many problems can be solved via larger tap water changes if necessary.

~~waterdrop~~

Thank you for the info Waterdrop.

 

[Tizer]

If you only change 10% in a 200L tank, many will say not to bother with dechlorinator, same as temperaturing matching, not worth the hastle. It really depends how strong the chlorine is in your tap water.

I have a 240 litre tank very similar to yours, i do a 50% water change every weekend. I siphon out using a 25 litre jerry can, then fill up with a watering can. Takes a good 30 mins but i dont mind. The water looks pretty clean after too, my bogwood tends to leech a little still.

PS , love the pic, dont think many people spotted the cat looking at its dinner.

 

[jkilby]

Changing the subject very slightly, I would personally consider moving your tank to a different location, from the picture it is right in front of a radiator, you will have heck of a job controlling the internal temperature in the colder months with that switching on and off at different times of the day. Your tank heater could get the water up to temperature and then your radiator turn on a lift the temperature beyond the normal parameters for most fish. Just my opinion, but it was something that was recommended to me when I was first planning my tank positions.

 

[drobbyb]

Water changes in volume of 25% or less don't require temperature matching, all it does it stimulate rain fall as the temperature will drop by a few degrees.

I agree. This is also a common tactic in getting fish to spawn.

It is far better to change you water with cool water than it is to use too warm of water. Fish can adapt to changes in water temperature fairly easily as long as the change takes place slowly enough. With so little water being changed, you will only change the total temperature a few degrees. This is well within tolerable limits except for the most sensitive of species.

 

[Daveypaul]

If you only change 10% in a 200L tank, many will say not to bother with dechlorinator, same as temperaturing matching, not worth the hastle. It really depends how strong the chlorine is in your tap water.

I have a 240 litre tank very similar to yours, i do a 50% water change every weekend. I siphon out using a 25 litre jerry can, then fill up with a watering can. Takes a good 30 mins but i dont mind. The water looks pretty clean after too, my bogwood tends to leech a little still.

PS , love the pic, dont think many people spotted the cat looking at its dinner.

lol yeah the cat loves to watch all the activity in the tank, he taps on the tank trying to get at the fish but after a while decided to give up as he was getting frustrated not getting anywhere so now hes just sits there and watches dreaming of the what if's. lol

Changing the subject very slightly, I would personally consider moving your tank to a different location, from the picture it is right in front of a radiator, you will have heck of a job controlling the internal temperature in the colder months with that switching on and off at different times of the day. Your tank heater could get the water up to temperature and then your radiator turn on a lift the temperature beyond the normal parameters for most fish. Just my opinion, but it was something that was recommended to me when I was first planning my tank positions.

Thank you for noticing Kilby but already sorted that, the radiator has been turned off as there is another radiator in the room.

 

[waterdrop]

It's interesting to me, looking back at recent years here in the beginners section discussing these two topics (water change temperatures and water supply metals.) To me there kind of seems to be two ends to it. At the beginner end of things we get people from all over the world with very different source water situations (took me a while to fully realize this) and it ends up being important I think to at least get beginners thinking a little about these two aspects of the water going in to the tank.

On the other end of things, the two topics do often get discussed to death by hobbyists, often leaving a mis-impression for beginners I think that there needs to be more worry than there really does. Luckily, I think the impression this particular thread leaves up above is pretty good - excess copper and lead that couldn't be brought to a reasonable level by a good conditioner is quite rare in most modern water systems and a little attention to rough temperature matching, ideally with it coming in just a tad cooler or right there where your hand comparison can't quite decide is going to be fine.

Spend more years on a good forum like this and you may find more and more situations where you realize you may not need conditioner or temp-matching for that particular change, but for beginners working on getting the basics down and getting their tanks through the first year or two without major mishaps, I think careful use of conditioner and attention to rough temperature matching are a good way to go.

WD