ok just wanna see how every one out there does their water changes. im pretty new to fish keeping and what ive always been doing is siphon the poop out of the tank then suck out about 40% water. then i get a 60 gallon bucket, fill it up all the way add stress coat or prime wait 10 min then pump it into my tank. ive been talking to a couple of people who say they just suck out the water and put the hose straight into their tank and add prime or stress coat at the same time while the water is pouring in the tank. i wanna eliminate using the bucket to make is less hard on me. is it safe to add water into your tank like that without being treated?
how to do waterchange
- Thread starter tigrey
- Start date
I add it in a bucket. I would like to add it straight into the stream of water. Looking forward to the answers.
I siphon the poop, then let the hose hang out my window to drain about 50%. Then I take that end and bring it to the sink. I run the water to get the temp I want, then stick the end of the hose up the faucet, turn on, and let it fill. I add the chems into the stream pouring into the tank. I do check my tap water often to make sure nothing extra is hiding in there, (extra chlorine etc). I fill all my tanks that way, and all fish have always been ok, even my discus.
Edited: I do one tank with buckets, and thats for my eel and puffer tank. It's only 20 gallons, so by the time I get the hose situated and turned on I have to run back to make sure its off, so I just use buckets and prime for that tank.
Edited: I do one tank with buckets, and thats for my eel and puffer tank. It's only 20 gallons, so by the time I get the hose situated and turned on I have to run back to make sure its off, so I just use buckets and prime for that tank.
I don't have to do it at all anymore since I installed a drip system. Before I installed it I would just drain the tank down 10-50% (Depending how big a change I wanted to do), add Prime directly to the tank, then fill it back up... I did it this way for years without any issue. I just got tired of doing water changes so I did the DIY drip system so it changes about 25 gallons per day automatically.
tigrey;4100472; said:
I used to pump straight in the tank but I found my tank is more stable and my fish exhibit less stress when I pump it into a drum with dechlor and then pump it into the tank. I say keep doing it the same way as its safer.
tcarswell;4100513; said:
Unless you have retarded fish that think its fun to swim thru the stream coming out of the tube
. My ID's will form a line and swim single file against the current from it, and my RTC and Giraffe love to play in it. Even my Fronts act like its a game. Tard fish ....mamapuff;4100506; said:
see how you put the hose in the tank to fill it up, arent you stressing out the fish by putting chlorinated water in the tank for like 10 min, or does the chemicals kick in right away like prime or stress coat. i would like to do it this way but i wanna make sure its safe before i try it.
My brother used to add water to buckets then add the water to the tank after adding dechlor. Now he just adds water staright to the tank. He hasn't had any fatalities (But he has cichlids, hardy fish). He uses prime and usually doses a little bit more than needed, just as a precaution.
If you had "well" water like me, then you could just add water staright to your tank because there isn't any chlorine to start with!!!!
If you had "well" water like me, then you could just add water staright to your tank because there isn't any chlorine to start with!!!!
tigrey;4100555; said:
I agree with the concern. I do test the water, and I hardly ever find any traces of chlorine. (knock on wood) However, I am meticulous about testing, especially after rain. I know our water company does treat after a heavy rain. If I find that, I will either post pone the change, or do a small change with buckets. Now, if my fish were showing any signs of stress, by all means I would discontinue the routine immediately. When I add the Prime, I dose for the full size of the tank, not just what I take out, but again I do 50%. What fish do you keep? I don't want to suggest the risk, if you keep delicate fish. My guys are hardy, down to the last discus. Tho I do have one new rescue upside down cat that plays dead when I do changes. I thought I killed him, so I moved him to the puffer tank when he was still twitching (not to feed, just because the puffers retarded and could care less about a living thing). Just to find out he was playing and quickly went back to cruising the new territory. Now, back in his old tank, he still plays dead until my hands come out.