Your opinion on water changes?

[Gr8KarmaSF]

On a scale of 1 to 10 - with ten being death and one being un-noticable, how stressful do you feel your water changes are on your fish? Perhaps you feel they enjoy them like a breath of fresh air? Or do your fish stop eating and decrease in color?

I realize there are a milion different ways to do water changes and each fish reacts differently to water changes but lets assume we all attempt to do the least stressful way that we feel is best. Simply vote on how you yourself do your changes.

Feel free to state what fish you have, your method of water change and how stressful you feel the water change is on your fish.

 

[keepinfish]

it does not seem to bother my fish. On the tank i do not have a drip, i drain around 80-90% and the fish all still eat when the water is that low. Depends on the type of fish though IMO

 

[knifegill]

I know it ticks off my Oscar. He changes color and hides. Otherwise, everything is fine.

 

[juneblood3]

my fish love it. Pbass is the only one that hates it.

 

[mitchkin5]

I think Tony my Oscar enjoys his water changes because he likes to try and terroize me and bite my arm. I think is funny but sometimes it will startle me because I'm concentrating on gettting all the yuckie stuff and not paying him any attention at all. He has a seventy five gallon tank and I use the vaccum hooked to my kitchen sink so its easy and doesn't take very long and I can adjust the water temp to match his tank. What upsets him and makes him pout is I move everything that he has moved back to where I want it so he will pout for a few minutes when I'm done and then he proceeds to bank up the gravel in each corner and move the marbles and plants to where he wants. I do this once a week and have since he was 2 inches and now he is huge and has so much personality.Its so cool to watch him move things. He can pick up a shooter marble and carry and spit it from one end to another!

 

[BODYDUB]

I know it ticks off my Oscar. He changes color and hides. Otherwise, everything is fine.

Same thing goes for my two large O's........

 

[benzjamin13]

Depends on the fish. My Pbass and FF runs and hides until it's over. I notice my Zamora Cats seem to breathe rapidly during the change, but they don't run and are always hiding anyways. My Dats, BGK, Polys, Anabantoids, and Plecos seem that they don't mind it.

 

[Warborg]

Seems none of my fish like it when I'm doing it. Afterwards they are like, "Sweet! fresh water"

 

[Redearsunfish]

My fish love it. all of them.

I do too. In fact i'm looking forward to doing some tonight!

 

[phillydog1958]

It's stressful, but they do seem to get used to it, over time. My silver arowana freaks out more than any other fish, but what do you expect from a silver arowana.