Tips for doing water changes????

alrights lads

would love to hear wat tips and that yas all have for doing water changes as for
storing water

treating it

taken water out off the water

also addin water to the tank

im sure there is different ways some lads have tryed and found best over the years

would love to hear wat yous think and your ideas

sean

Change 400 litres a week. Simple as, drop in the hose to syphon out the water to the back drain. Done. Reattach the hose outside to the outside tap, fill her back up. Done. Start up the pump in the sump and she is DONE. Easy after a few months of tryin this and that. Its like everything the more you do of it the better you get. Perfectionist me.

I always thought the old fasioned way was my.favourite.but with the shrimp rack ill have to.tend to it with a bit of tlc

ro water mixed with tap treated with minerals prob prepare my.water a day in advance let it settle out and get to room temp.



Craig

do u treat it or is it straight from the tap? or get it up to tep?

i am askin for tips and that as i am usen buckets and pourn buckets into the tank just seem ta cause a bit off mess and when i setup the planted tank i dont want to be messin up the plants when pourin the water into the tank and that

sean

fishmad1234 wrote:

I always thought the old fasioned way was my.favourite.but with the shrimp rack ill have to.tend to it with a bit of tlc

ro water mixed with tap treated with minerals prob prepare my.water a day in advance let it settle out and get to room temp.



Craig

Same here on me shrimp tank it gets a water conditioner and bit more TLC. Small tank especially with shrimp require a bit more work. But its only a few litres a weeek so no big deal.

Vision wrote:

do u treat it or is it straight from the tap? or get it up to tep?

i am askin for tips and that as i am usen buckets and pourn buckets into the tank just seem ta cause a bit off mess and when i setup the planted tank i dont want to be messin up the plants when pourin the water into the tank and that

sean

Hi Sean when you using a bucket pour it on your hand first as its going into the tank that way there is no disturbing the substrate

Works for me


Mark

On me big malawi tank the water goes striaght back inti it striaght from the outside tap. th etemp. on th etank drops from about 3 - 4 degreees. Works fine for me as the tank includin the sump is 1100 litres. This size tank they just look after themselves and the malawis are bullet proof.

mickdeja wrote:

Reattach the hose outside to the outside tap, fill her back up.

I'm curious how is this working for you, aren't the fish stunned from the sudden temp difference?

As for myself, after a water change I refill the canisters and let the water there until the next water change. I don't use any conditioner for the water.

PS. Beaten by the reply

mark bit off a night mare liftin and pourin a 30L bucket into the tank with two hands ill have ta try it and see if i can free a hand so pour it on :L:L

m4r10 wrote:

mickdeja wrote:

Reattach the hose outside to the outside tap, fill her back up.

I'm curious how is this working for you, aren't the fish stunned from the sudden temp difference?

Listen this works fine for me. I know one of me mates who is amember here and once a year he takes out all the water out of his 10 foot tank and all the stones and gives a good clean, fills the tank back up with cold water (1500 litres) and has never lost a fish. Are you now more confused?

Mmm I do it every week. just lean the bucket on the tank. there is a bit of a nack to it but it's great for the shoulders

mickdeja wrote:

fishmad1234 wrote:

I always thought the old fasioned way was my.favourite.but with the shrimp rack ill have to.tend to it with a bit of tlc

ro water mixed with tap treated with minerals prob prepare my.water a day in advance let it settle out and get to room temp.



Craig

Same here on me shrimp tank it gets a water conditioner and bit more TLC. Small tank especially with shrimp require a bit more work. But its only a few litres a weeek so no big deal.

mick i have it on good word that on a shrimp.tank or tanks from some one who has a lot of success with shrimps.that they.only.use minerals.to.remineralize the ro water and in.fact dont treat water with any thing no.aqua safe or dechrolator or any thing less chemicals the better


craig

I am only runnin a cherry shrimp tank at the moment craig but if and when i start to breed the harder and more sensitive shrimp i too will be using the ro and tap mix.

Bar ph being a bit high tap.water around these parts seems to be great

cant wait to get me rack mick

how many shrimp tanks ya planning on keeping

SpiderMonkey wrote:

Mmm I do it every week. just lean the bucket on the tank. there is a bit of a nack to it but it's great for the shoulders

Until you drop the bucket ... been there, done that ... sockets and everything/one else around got soaked !

A submersible pump is great !
V

Just two dude. Me main tank keeps me happy and the shrimp are just a sideline thing but do love me shrimp big time. 2 for now but you never know. Thats the beauty of nano tanks they can fit everywhere.

Valerie wrote:

SpiderMonkey wrote:

Mmm I do it every week. just lean the bucket on the tank. there is a bit of a nack to it but it's great for the shoulders

Until you drop the bucket ... been there, done that ... sockets and everything/one else around got soaked !

A submersible pump is great !
V

Haha just take your time and be patient and it all works out

But I would love one of those submersible pumps

Thanks V


Mark

Get some pics up mick

I think it depends on the fish you have..
I have discus in my 450L comunity tank so trying to be more careful.
I have 3 * 25L drums graded myself for mixing as I add a portion of RO and tap
then I have 4 ballygowan drums of 19L for collecting RO and having some peat in them.
I usually change arround 20-25% water every weekend by siphoning gravel every second weekend or even rearer now or just taking the water out by using hose.
Then I lift 25L drum on to the corner of my tank and leave it flowing in to the tank through small tube.. it takes arround 15minutes for the drum to empty. but this way my two 300W heaters cope with the load. And temperature in the tank does not drop at all, I mean not even 0.5C.

not sure if this is the right or easy, but thats my routine.

Vision wrote:

do u treat it or is it straight from the tap? or get it up to tep?

i am askin for tips and that as i am usen buckets and pourn buckets into the tank just seem ta cause a bit off mess and when i setup the planted tank i dont want to be messin up the plants when pourin the water into the tank and that

sean

On my tanks one of which is well planted i use the Aquarium Vacuum with a drain hose attached i can drain the water out of the tanks and when i'm done i use it to pump the water back in. I use bio nitrivec mix it into the new water and then into the tank, lost one fish cause i sucked the poor sod up through the hose put a strainer on the end of it after that the job is a goodin....

my water changes are very easy,
just hook up a hose to the fx5 and run it out the back door, drain out about 100ltrs,
then take the outside hose stick it into the tank, bang in some easylife,
have a coffee and fag while tank fills!

dyco619 wrote:

have a coffee and fag while tank fills!

I think my way is more healthy

smitas5 wrote:

dyco619 wrote:

have a coffee and fag while tank fills!

I think my way is more healthy

you have a point! maybe i should the coffee and fag for a walk round the block!

Would be interested in any more suggestions people have. I only have a 155L tank so not doing huge water changes but still a pain. What I am doing at the moment, for just a water change is running the output of the external filter into the bucket, fills the bucket/empties the tank in no time. Its more getting the water back into the tank. Just using a 12L bucket but lugging it back and forth across the apartment is a bit of a pain, and as mentioned does tend to send the things in the tank flying when pouring in! Is there a point in getting a water pump for a bucket that small? Also could someone please recommend one as I don't even know what to be looking for!

Thanks,
Bill

dyco619 wrote:

smitas5 wrote:

dyco619 wrote:

have a coffee and fag while tank fills!

I think my way is more healthy

you have a point! maybe i should the coffee and fag for a walk round the block!

you have a point there too. I'll have to get FX5 spear valve for this to work better for my back

PompeyBill wrote:

Would be interested in any more suggestions people have. I only have a 155L tank so not doing huge water changes but still a pain. What I am doing at the moment, for just a water change is running the output of the external filter into the bucket, fills the bucket/empties the tank in no time. Its more getting the water back into the tank. Just using a 12L bucket but lugging it back and forth across the apartment is a bit of a pain, and as mentioned does tend to send the things in the tank flying when pouring in! Is there a point in getting a water pump for a bucket that small? Also could someone please recommend one as I don't even know what to be looking for!

Thanks,
Bill

if you get extra pipe that could connect to your inlet or outlet when needed, you could connect the inlet hose and put it in to the bucket or bucket could be in another room while filter sucks the fater in.

PompeyBill wrote:

Would be interested in any more suggestions people have. I only have a 155L tank so not doing huge water changes but still a pain. What I am doing at the moment, for just a water change is running the output of the external filter into the bucket, fills the bucket/empties the tank in no time. Its more getting the water back into the tank. Just using a 12L bucket but lugging it back and forth across the apartment is a bit of a pain, and as mentioned does tend to send the things in the tank flying when pouring in! Is there a point in getting a water pump for a bucket that small? Also could someone please recommend one as I don't even know what to be looking for!

Thanks,
Bill

Get an aquarium vacuum. Around 10 yo yo on ebay, can pump in or out just keep bucket above tank. I bought a 20 litre bucket in woodies very handy for this job.

Hi, I keep a 65L plastic kitchen bin next to my 300L tank. Fill it with 2 buckets of tap water, add a dash of Prime, leave it to warm up for a day or two (spare heater on for a few hours during winter) and pump it back in with a small pump, scavenged from an old under gravel filter, after syphoning out 2 waste buckets. These get poured over tomato and lettuce plants out back with great results!

jwm wrote:

Get an aquarium vacuum. Around 10 yo yo on ebay, can pump in or out just keep bucket above tank. I bought a 20 litre bucket in woodies very handy for this job.

Unfortunately the tank has no lid, its a fluval osaka 155, so can't have it above for that idea. I had thought of that before but just can't do it (renting an apartment so can't put up a shelf eiter). Thanks for the suggestion though.

smitas5 wrote:

if you get extra pipe that could connect to your inlet or outlet when needed, you could connect the inlet hose and put it in to the bucket or bucket could be in another room while filter sucks the fater in.

Good idea Smitas, may give that a go alright.


Also thinking of getting a bigger bucket from Woodies and getting a pump. Can anyone suggest a decent pump that would do the job? As I said above, I am clueless as to what to look for and would probably end up getting totally the wrong thing!

mickdeja wrote:

Change 400 litres a week. Simple as, drop in the hose to syphon out the water to the back drain. Done. Reattach the hose outside to the outside tap, fill her back up. Done. Start up the pump in the sump and she is DONE. Easy after a few months of tryin this and that. Its like everything the more you do of it the better you get. Perfectionist me.

What about de-chlorinator ???