Water Change - Little and often or big once a week

[Backfromthedead]

I am averaging 2 large water changes a week in the winter as it is easy due to the water coming out of the tap at a similar temp to the tanks, my issue is the summer months when the water is coming out of the tap too hot so I need to fill up containers and let them sit for 24 hours to cool. Having all 3 tanks in the front room = 7 125 liter containers in the room 4 out of 7 days a week which doesn't please the wife!!!!!!! So was looking at an easier way to manage this and thought 15/20% changes daily wouldn't matter with the water being warmer as it's a small amount and would not change the temp of the tank

Whoa that's crazy. I have the opposite problem here with cold water but its much easier to deal with than yours.

I would try something like 20% every other day. If your tank water is getting really warm make sure to invest in an air pump and diffusers for each tank to ensure the tanks are properly oxygenated. This will also provide lots more surface agitation without having a motor in the water which should help the water cool a bit more quickly (at least in theory).

Do you have a large freezer? Freezing block ice in old, clean buckets could also be useful if you find your tanks getting way too warm.

I would also consider reducing your feeding in the summer months. After all, the waste that builds up in your tank directly correlates to how much food you're putting in. Along these same lines, I would seriously consider reducing your stock if you continue to have problems.

 

[duanes]

Here in Panama it can be the same.
Most water storage tanks (here and all over central and South America)are often located on the roof to aid in water pressure, are black, or dark in color and during the day the sun bakes them. Great for showers.

But beside the one on the roof, I have an in ground cistern that tends to cool water down into the low 80sF, same as the waters my Panamanian fish come from.
But most aquarists here that keep rift lake Africans, goldfish, or other more northern or temperate species, need chillers, not heaters.

One thing about pH,
being desalinated sea water, it may come out of the tap at 8.2, but at the same time, be rather soft, and mineral free, so pH may easily drop within minutes from the tap, with its lack of buffering capacity, and be adequate for soft water species.

 

[RD.]

Not to pick on you duanes as this seems to be a common theme in this discussion, but the exact same thing applies as what you posted in the Oscar topic.

I would not keep an adult oscar or 2 in anything smaller than a 6 ft tank, no less than a 150 gal.
But its not just size, its also nitrate buildup.
In a 55 gal to keep nitrates at a healthy level you'd need to do 90% water changes almost every day, even in a 150 gal, no less than three 50% water changes per week to hold off chronic HITH.

I'm guessing that pretty much everyone posting in this thread has never seen the metabolic waste produced by an adult, or even semi adult Asian aro, or black ray - forget the polleni.

Those fish in a 180 are a disaster in the making. Forget about pH, alkalinity, TDS, or anything else. Warm water changes are not going to work, and neither is a drip - not in this set up. Better off discussing drop eye, gill curl, bacterial infections, and rays that go into death curls.

Not to be negative Neil, but it is what it is. We should be talking about potential tank upgrade, and then IF the OP is prepared to maintain a much larger body of water, on a regular basis. Otherwise, complete waste of time.

Good luck to the OP.

 

[ken31cay]

I'm guessing that pretty much everyone posting in this thread has never seen the metabolic waste produced by an adult, or even semi adult Asian aro, or black ray - forget the polleni.

Those fish in a 180 are a disaster in the making. Forget about pH, alkalinity, TDS, or anything else. Warm water changes are not going to work, and neither is a drip - not in this set up. Better off discussing drop eye, gill curl, bacterial infections, and rays that go into death curls.

Not to be negative Neil, but it is what it is. We should be talking about potential tank upgrade, and then IF the OP is prepared to maintain a much larger body of water, on a regular basis. Otherwise, complete waste of time.

Good luck to the OP.

Makes sense.