Water changes: how do you do it?

[characinfan]

Happy 2021!

I am a relative old timer in the hobby (keeping fish since the 1990s) and have always changed the water in my tank by filling buckets and letting them sit at least 24 hours to reach room temperature and let off the chlorine from tap water.

I know that some of you use Pythons to fill your tanks right from the sink.

What other techniques are people using? What do you do?

[coyote]

I fill in the 19lt water bottle and wait for a week to change. If I use python, add water conditioner.

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[ksimdjembe]

I have done buckets where I add conditioner to add back into tanks at that moment.

I more recently use a python system and add dechlorinator right into the tank.

I have heard some people keep a 50 gal food grade barrel in their fish rooms for aging water.

[brycon]

I use pumps and safe drinking garden hoses to empty my tanks.

I use a Mag 900 pump that pumps the water out via hose # 1 into the basement laundry sink. The reason I pump the water into the sink instead of the floor drain is so that I can make use of the emptying tank water to clean the filters if needed using a DIY spout I made rather than rinsing in a bucket of murky tank water.

While I'm emptying my tanks, I fill up a 50 gallon heavy tote via hose # 2 using the faucet of the laundry sink. The water gets aerated through a plastic garden sprayer and I use the faucets to match the temp. Once the tote is full, I turn on a circulation pump to agitate the water and treat it with Prime and let that go for 10 minutes or so.

Once I'm ready to refill, I have a Mag 500 that pumps the water from the tote into my tanks. This is a Python with another DIY attachment that loops over the rim of the tanks.

For the most part, the above are for my 75 and 90 gallon tanks. For my smaller tanks, I use a smaller pump with yet another hose. The refill process is the same though.

Emptying the tanks out with pumps is way faster and I can drain the tank to only a few inches of water if I wanted.

[QWC]

Happy new year! Hope you're all keeping well and still enjoying fish!


Smaller tanks, 29g breeding tank, 20 gallon

I buy distilled water that come in the 4L/gallon jugs for a humidifier, so I use these to age cold tap water at least overnight so the water gets to room temperature. I have about 12 of these jugs and two 5 gallon buckets.

Before I start the water change I would add 2-4 drops of water conditioner per gallon jug, and shake it. I use a small python to siphon into the buckets and just refill with the the jugs. This is usually once a week, maybe twice for the breeding tank, roughly 3 to 7 gallon per water change.

I used to dose seachem safe for these smaller tanks before I had shrimp and fry, but I switched to conditioning each jug to be safe!



Bigger tanks, 65g and 120g, direct from tap

I use the python hose, (can't remember if it's 50-75foot extended, but I run it from the first floor to the basement or outside) sometimes with the vac tube or the water pump to drain faster into basement floor drain, or out into barrels outside for the garden when the weather is nice.

30-50% drained. Power heads and filters will be turned off as the water level drops.

Before refilling, I use seachem safe for this and dose for the whole tank volume. I calculated the very first time I bought it and have some small measuring spoons that will dose 18gallon, 36, 75, 150, 300. I'll usually add half the dosage amount before I start refilling directly from the laundry basin tap, then another half when it's almost full. I always overdose for good measure, with the power heads back on shortly before I turn the filters back on.

I've been doing my water changes like this for over three years and it's worked for me.

[characinfan]

Originally Posted by ksimdjembe

I have heard some people keep a 50 gal food grade barrel in their fish rooms for aging water.

I keep my four buckets under my tank (48 gallons) when not in use, but when they're full of water they are in the kitchen! (My place is open concept so that's only a few feet away from the tank).

Total bucket volume is around 20 gallons. I change that much water every week. My tank is understocked so the water quality stays very good even if I miss a week from time to time.

[antlue]

Toronto use chloramine in the tap water.
This is more potent than chlorine and stays in the water much longer.
I would recommend using a reputable chloramine conditioner (example...Seachem Prime or Safe).

My water change approach for my 32 gallon planted tank:

1) Fill tub with 30+ gallons of tap water add Prime (half a cap / 5ml)
2) Throw a submersible pump in to mix and allow to sit / mix for 20+ minutes
3) Use a second submersible pump in the aquarium to drain to 75% to 25%
4) Once the tank is drained, run a hose from the pump in the tub to the aquarium
5) Takes just 5 minutes to fill up - done

I figure 30 minutes to do a water change.

Hope this helps