Set up my water change barrel

[Fish Tank Travis]

I just got my water change barrel set up this afternoon. I put a 600gph pump and a 300W heater in it to keep the water moving and heat it up. When I put the water in the barrel it was 59.5 degrees and it looks like it is coming up around 2-2.5 degrees per hour. Basically, I can fill it up with 50-55 gallons and have it ready to go overnight. I have been having trouble getting the pump and heater suction cups to stay on the sides of the barrel, so they are just kind of dangling in there right now. Lol



Anything any of you would change?

 

[nossalucard]

Just a heads up....

I learned when I started doing this for my saltwater (reef & Fowler with 5 stage RODI) setups, that if you're not planning to use this water pretty quickly that bacteria WILL start to develop in your container, and you can tell by a slimy feeling on the sides of the containers(and a weird smell). I'm almost certain this would be the same with freshwater. Fortunately, I don't have to worry with fresh as I pump it into the tanks straight from the tap adding dechlorinator as I add it.

May I ask why you're not pumping straight from the tap, assuming it's freshwater?

If it's saltwater I TOTALY understand, as that's what I have to do(when I have saltwater tanks set up - not at present), due to the fact it takes so long for me to make 30 gallons of 5-stage RODI water, add salt, heat up, measure with refractometer, etc...

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Thanks for the heads up. I mainly want to have the barrel to make my water changes quicker and more convenient. I don't have a way to add straight tap water except to haul it with 5 gallon buckets. With the barrel I can fill it up with the hose and let the heater do its thing. I will be using it at least once a week but I'm hoping I can use this to do water changes more often.

 

[thacarter546]

You don't have a faucet,shower, bath or anything wishing 100-150 feet? A 100 foot drinking water safe hose is only 25 bucks and a water bed pump is only 7 bucks to drain the tank.

 

[nossalucard]

 

[nossalucard]

If you get a python, you just try you best to "match" the temp (by touch) when you do your refill. It comes with practice the more you do it. I've been doing it over 25 years, no problem yet.

Add your dechlorinator to tank, feel water in tank, feel water from python discharge at sink, match as best as possible, turn collar on python to refill. Every 2 minutes feel water coming out of python vs. water at far end of tank, adjust temp at sink accordingly. Constantly check refill water temp every 2-5 mins after you think you have it right.

ALSO....never walk away from this operation, or you will learn what a flood is before you know it.....LOL

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

I will look into this for sure. I always thought it was better for the fish if the water was aged for consistency of parameters like ph.

Another reason I wanted to age the water is because I am planning on keeping and growing out discus. I think that our water here generally comes out of the tap around 7-7.5, but then rises to 8.2-8.4 over a 24-48 hour period. By aging the water I am able to remove the ph swing that is caused by using the tap water.

Also, I was hoping to use two of these to age water for my 220 so that I can use large pumps to to a quick 50% water change rather than have to wait on a small faucet to refill the tank. I can then use my hose (which has a very high output) to refill the barrels and let the heaters work to bring it all up to temp.

I will definitely work on doing some more research and testing to be sure of all of this and will possibly change to using tap water via a hose instead of buckets or storing water in barrels.

 

[thacarter546]

If you are planning on growing out discus please please don't start out like I did. Get a good ro/di unit. Once they are at 4-5 inches they are hardy enough and can be weened to tap water. Honestly ro/di water and remineralize it using seachem or Kent discus buffers would save you money and heartache in the long run.

My tap is very low in ph, low in gh, low in kh. Pretty good for blackwater species. The discus I have now (all adults and in my display tank) are fine with tap water. I would never grow out discus again it's a ton of effort. If you decide to I would join a discus forum and ask for advice a lot.

I have never ever had these issues with any other sa cichlid species. If I had it to do all over again I would have never gotten discus.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

If you are planning on growing out discus please please don't start out like I did. Get a good ro/di unit. Once they are at 4-5 inches they are hardy enough and can be weened to tap water. Honestly ro/di water and remineralize it using seachem or Kent discus buffers would save you money and heartache in the long run.

My tap is very low in ph, low in gh, low in kh. Pretty good for blackwater species. The discus I have now (all adults and in my display tank) are fine with tap water. I would never grow out discus again it's a ton of effort. If you decide to I would join a discus forum and ask for advice a lot.

I have never ever had these issues with any other sa cichlid species. If I had it to do all over again I would have never gotten discus.

Ahh, you bring up a dilemma I've been having. It seems that I can get good 2.5" discus at about $15-25 each and then grow them out myself, which I would feel really like to do. Or, I can go ahead and buy adult 5"+ discus for anywhere between $100-200 and then put them straight into my main 220 tank. I'm really torn over what to do here.

 

[freak78]

I've thought about doing a 55g barrel myself for my water changes on my 220 but I've decided it's just easier to fill it from the tap.