Apparently I am not ready for the Monster build yet

[Cablemonkey]

Hey guru's,

I need to find out how you guys do your water changes... I was doing a weekly 60% change on my 60 gallon. I have always used tap water but I have always only had natives in there. Now that I had the oscar and JD in there I tried to match the temps, came in about 6* difference to the warmer and it has killed my bluegill, my Oscar and green sunfish are in distress. My red-ear and JD seem to be doing ok but I moved them all to a 10g clean tank back @ ambient temp about 69* currently until I can get the water tested tomorrow to see wtf is going on... Soon as I put them in the 10g they seemed to have woken right up, I hope they have a full recovery and I can figure out whats going on... is 6* difference enough to cause that?

What procedures to you guys use? I added Aqueon Water conditioner, the filters where not changed at this time so they where cycled, I did stir up the bottom really well and vaccumed a lot of stuff out, I think I need to get rid of this river pebble, seems too much sediment settles in and these Marineland 350s dont seem to be cutting it for filtration... help! How do you guys setup your filter systems to actually collect solids? I seem to be doing something very wrong and I am really worried about my fish

 

[Venom SS]

Yes a 6 degree difference can cause that, even moreso if the temp increase is done suddenly. Anytime you run a tank over 80 degrees, you need to have plenty of surface agitation. The warmer the water is, the less dissolved oxygen. You can do this by pointing your filter returns towards the surface, a power head pointing at the surface, air stones, etc. Anything to make some surface movement.

I also have river rock as my substrate. It varies from 1" up to 5" pieces. I just do alot of siphoning. It is a little more cumbersome, and it is very easy to miss quite a bit of it. Im running a 350g s.american tank. I bought a 2500gph submersible pump to do water changes. Drop it in, hit the switch. A few mins later im at 50%, dose entire tank with 400g dose of Prime, refill with water hose.

For the record, I am also looking into taking out some of the river rock and adding fine gravel or sand in its place. Doesnt look as nice but a ton easier to clean.

 

[shellies215]

Cablemonkey, you didn't say if your using buckets or a hose. I use buckets, and I check the temp of the water with a digital meat thermometer before i add it.

For getting the solid waste trapped in the filters, you may want to add a powerhead to the tank to help keep it from settling before the filters have a chance to grab it.

 

[Cablemonkey]

Thanks for the tips, the Oscar seems to have fully recovered, but the green didn't make it through the night. My temps where not over 80, ambient is 69-71 and the water temp when i evacuated them was between 76-77. Do you guys use water pumps when you siphon to get a stronger suction for cleaning the bottom? I have a 1/2 ID and 5/8 ID siphon and while they do suck up a lot of stuff, it takes a lot of water to get that stuff. I end up doing 50-60% water changes because I spend that much time cleaning the bottom every time! Do you recommend a submersible power-head to blow across the bottom? I really need to keep this stuff cleaner, I want to get several more tanks but I am scared that I am not doing stuff correctly right now... I do wc weekly on my 60 and every other day on my 10s, same water goes into the 10s as the 60... I used a hose running from the sink upstairs. When I had just the natives, I would use the same hose running from the outside faucet and had no issues, this was the first time pulling from the kitchen for that tank but I used buckets for my 10s from the kitchen all the time... This tank also isn't heated, just runs at ambient. Feel like a bad fish keeper atm...

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

split it into 20% for 3 times

 

[Ajno]

As long as you match the temp you will be ok. I take a cup of tank water up to the sink with me and make sure they feel the same before adding it to the tank.

 

[frasertheking]

most people like to let the water sit over night so grab an extra heater and throw that in the bucket over night with an airstone

 

[JamesF]

most people like to let the water sit over night so grab an extra heater and throw that in the bucket over night with an airstone

I can't say I know anyone who does that, except those who have drip systems. The majority use python type setups and go straight from the tap to the tank. I honestly can't see 6 degrees causing any more than minor discomfort. I raised my kids 10 gallon about 15C higher when an emergency came up mid fill. Every fish and the crayfish came out fine. Final water temp was about 95F.

 

[Poloboy]

Cablemonkey, you didn't say if your using buckets or a hose. I use buckets, and I check the temp of the water with a digital meat thermometer before i add it.

For getting the solid waste trapped in the filters, you may want to add a powerhead to the tank to help keep it from settling before the filters have a chance to grab it.

AGREE

 

[shua71]

I can't say I know anyone who does that, except those who have drip systems. The majority use python type setups and go straight from the tap to the tank. I honestly can't see 6 degrees causing any more than minor discomfort. I raised my kids 10 gallon about 15C higher when an emergency came up mid fill. Every fish and the crayfish came out fine. Final water temp was about 95F.

I use buckets directly from the tap and its always fine as well. Did you dechlorinate? Also shouldn't oscars be kept in water thats tropical while bluegill are cold water fish..?