what all do you have to do before you start doing waterchange?
- Thread starter livebearerfreak
- Start date
Wash hands with vinegar, rinse with water. Unplug filters, make sure heaters are low so they aren't ever exposed to air. Unroll hoses, get out buckets for small tanks, switch siphon parts, every tank is a little different. I also like to scrape any algae first so that I remove most of it while siphoning.
Depends on the tank!
30 gallon, remove plastic top, light. Turn off filters, place filter media in a bucket with old tank water (I've had problems with my HOBs siphoning themselves dry during water changes, so this is a preventive measure.) Roll out my siphon/hose to the bathtub. After the siphon starts going, and I'm about ready to fill, I hook up my home made water changer to the sink, turn on the hot water full blast for a few minutes, then start adjusting the temp to 76. Once it's that temperature, I add Prime to the tank, and send the water to the tank.
55 Tall - Turn off filter. No lid, so, just remove filter media to bucket with old water, then run siphon/hose to outside (this is a planted tank, not bare bottom like the others), then do the same with the water changer, but the temperature is 80 instead of 76.
55 Long - Turn off filter. Remove filter media to bucket with old tank water, Same with siphon/hose to bathtub, water changer to the sink. This one has a canister filter too, so every other week, I wring out the prefilter fiber-floss to remove built up sludge. Water temperature 76.
90 gallon - Unplug heater. Only filter is Fluval FX5, turn off valves, remove hoses. Drain most of the contents into a bucket, wring/swish/bang out the sponges, reinsert, put it back together. (I do this weekly if I have time, goldfish are messy poopers.)
Then the same old story after I let the filter run for 2 minutes. Turn the filter back off, run the siphon/hose to bathtub. Water changer to the sink, tank temperature 72.
The two ten gallons, I use a bucket filled at the sink to temperature, Prime it, take out water from the ten gallon, into a 5 gallon bucket. Clean out filter media for either the whisper internal filter (planted tank) or the sponge filter (cory fry.)
30 gallon, remove plastic top, light. Turn off filters, place filter media in a bucket with old tank water (I've had problems with my HOBs siphoning themselves dry during water changes, so this is a preventive measure.) Roll out my siphon/hose to the bathtub. After the siphon starts going, and I'm about ready to fill, I hook up my home made water changer to the sink, turn on the hot water full blast for a few minutes, then start adjusting the temp to 76. Once it's that temperature, I add Prime to the tank, and send the water to the tank.
55 Tall - Turn off filter. No lid, so, just remove filter media to bucket with old water, then run siphon/hose to outside (this is a planted tank, not bare bottom like the others), then do the same with the water changer, but the temperature is 80 instead of 76.
55 Long - Turn off filter. Remove filter media to bucket with old tank water, Same with siphon/hose to bathtub, water changer to the sink. This one has a canister filter too, so every other week, I wring out the prefilter fiber-floss to remove built up sludge. Water temperature 76.
90 gallon - Unplug heater. Only filter is Fluval FX5, turn off valves, remove hoses. Drain most of the contents into a bucket, wring/swish/bang out the sponges, reinsert, put it back together. (I do this weekly if I have time, goldfish are messy poopers.)
Then the same old story after I let the filter run for 2 minutes. Turn the filter back off, run the siphon/hose to bathtub. Water changer to the sink, tank temperature 72.
The two ten gallons, I use a bucket filled at the sink to temperature, Prime it, take out water from the ten gallon, into a 5 gallon bucket. Clean out filter media for either the whisper internal filter (planted tank) or the sponge filter (cory fry.)
anyone know if i have my glass tops on that it will help keep heat in the tank with the heater going and save a lil electricty?
Before I do anything I make up a bucket(5-30g) of RO water and bring it up to temp. Usually 24hrs.
livebearerfreak;4708191; said:
it would be negligible.
your tank is losing heat through every glass panel all the time.
Wow, That's quite a bit of prep.
When I change water in my 100 and 140 I just drain 30% into our irrigation system, shut off my power heads and then put the hose in the tank and treat with 1/8 cup API stress coat.
I do 3 x 30% changes a week so I need it to be fast and simple.
When I change water in my 100 and 140 I just drain 30% into our irrigation system, shut off my power heads and then put the hose in the tank and treat with 1/8 cup API stress coat.
I do 3 x 30% changes a week so I need it to be fast and simple.
turn off filters and heater, put the syphon in, drain and fill, i got well water so i dont have to worry about meds/chems
Pull the ol trusty buckets out from underneath the tank,move some of the rocks around to get all the poop out from underneath them and start cleaning.