Rooster94 Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 This thread will be a place to put how you do your water change, and any tips that you can think of for amateur and experience fish keepers Ill start it off with: always declorinate your water before putting in the tank. If you declorinate after you put it in you can kill/harm your fish and the water that gets into the filter can kill the good bacteria and that will raise the nitrates and kill/harm more fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasman Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 some good info in this thread. http://www.qldaf.com/forums/general-aquarium-discussion-19/water-changes-big-tanks-how-do-you-do-49932/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rex82 Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I have always dumped old water and added new aged water, I don't declorinate unless skipping ageing process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldestMagician Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I've only done it twice, but I: Drain Fill using hose (opposite end to intake) Pour dechlorinator into the water coming out of the hose so it gets mixed in a bit I'm fairly sure my hose water is from a rainwater tank (I'm in an apartment) but I add DC anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guest 11 Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I just drain water, add declorinator at the whole volume of the tank then fill up with hose, that's with a 500l water change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mq_camo Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) Drain, add stability and prime at the correct ratio to how much water you have drained and then fill (i use tap water), turn the filters on and then add clarity. Too easy Edited January 23, 2013 by mq_camo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFishkeeper Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I run a system using rainwater when available and tap water for water changes. Regardless of the time of year, I run all new water coming into my system through a high quality UV sterilizer before it goes into the sump and the system. I have been doing this for many years now and have not experienced any white spot in any of the tanks on my system in that time. I do not run a UV on the system itself. Cheers, Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuba Steve Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 ive always mixed my pime and buffer in 40lt containers and heated depending on time of the year before syphoning into the sump. fish are always happy and have never had a problem. ive herd of many people just pumping tap water straight in then adding their chemicals with no problems, but ive never had a problem doing it my way. as they say dont fix what ain't broken lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matmatmat Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I have a big water ageing drum in the middle of the room, I put the water in and use supachlor (usually double dose) turn the water over with a power head for 24 hrs atleast. Then I go round the room syphonig water out of each tank, hook a hose up to the power head in the drum and walk around the room filling tanks.. Well truth be told I'm pretty lazy so often I roll around the room holding the hose from an office chair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bidkev Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 All dechlorinators should be added at the ratio of tank water volume, not at the amount that you drain/replace. If you drain half a 400litre tank and only add the dechlorinator for 200 lites than your dechlorinator is going in at half the recommended dose. It pays to add more, not less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bidkev Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I just drain water, add declorinator at the whole volume of the tank then fill up with hose, that's with a 500l water change Correct! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt-sheeran Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 i'm a bit confused... if you add declorinator befor you start filling up wouldn't that be bad for fish?. just swimming in a tank full of "chemicals"? and its a bit 50/50 on what to dose, do you dose for the whole tank or just what your draining out? i've only ever done what i've drained out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikrman Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I've always dosed my smaller tanks at the full volume of the tank with prime. Since getting my big tank i was chewing through prime. I asked around and a lot of respected ppl on the forum have told me that's just a waste.. Who do you believe?? I've been dosing a little extra then what i'm adding back into the system for months now and had no dramas at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bidkev Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I've always dosed my smaller tanks at the full volume of the tank with prime. Since getting my big tank i was chewing through prime. I asked around and a lot of respected ppl on the forum have told me that's just a waste.. Who do you believe?? I've been dosing a little extra then what i'm adding back into the system for months now and had no dramas at all. It seems pretty obvious to me. It has a dosage rate per amount of water that you're putting it into, not the amount of water you're changing. If you have a 400 litre tank, irrspective of a 200 litre water change, the dechlor is going to be diluted by 400 litres of water, not 200. Forget that you're dechloring 200 litres of water and focus on the dilution of the dechlor. If you only dose for 200 litres, then the dechlor is being compromised by being diluted by twice as much water...............it isn't about how much water you're changing, but about the concentration of the dechlor. Anyone not following that path, with no negative results, is simply lucky so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenterra Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) As I quoted in the link Kasman posted. I drain the tank with 2 x 3/4" hoses. Add Prime to the tank and then refill with water straight from the tap. I make sure to adjust the water out of the tap to approximate temp of the tank. If dosing Prime in tank, make sure to dose for the volume of the entire system and not just the water volume you are replacing. The reason for dosing for the entire tank volume is as such. Chlorine and Chloramines are not the only thing that Prime will bond to on a molecular level. There are many chemicals, minerals, dissolved organics etc in our tanks that prime will actually bond to long enough for our biological filtration to take care of. The problem this makes for in tank water changes is when you dose for the amount of water you are replacing only, much of the Prime can be used up bonding to these leaving a lower concentration of the Prime to bond with the Chlorine/Chloramines. Seachem have this info on their sites and also state on their bottles to dose for the complete volume if treating in tank. For those treating in a tub prior to introducing it to the tank, treating for the replaced amount is fine. If you are going to age your water first, no prime is needed if your water has Chlorine only as this will evaporate off fairly quickly with a little aeration or water movement. However, if your water has Chloramines in it you will still need to dose. Chloramine is used now in most municipal water supplies because it doesn't evaporate off like straight Chlorine. There's quite a lot of info out there on the effects of long term exposure of Chloramines on fish for those willing to research. For those looking for a cheaper alternative to Prime, although I find it cheap considering its dosage rate, try Supachlor from Techden. Same dosage rate but at half the price and from my trials it seems to be just as good! Edited January 23, 2013 by greenterra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickkyjr Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I top it up when it falls below the spray bar, because the noise annoys the crap out of me. When i do add the 10L or so i just add a dash of supachlor. Don't know how much just squeeze the bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikrman Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 That was my understanding also? For others to say they've been doing it for a while they must be lucky i guess or their fish are either hardy or just used to it. I was going to get some supachlor once my prime runs out which will make it more economical to dose at the correct rates and also playing it safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ash Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 unless, you treat the water first. I have always done it by filling my 30L drum with tap water and then treat the 30L in the drum with dechlor, then pour into tank. can see why you would treat entire tank if you were to refill it by just pouring straight tap water or filling via a hose, but that seems to me to be an uneconimical way of doing it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matmatmat Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 Does anybody know how long it takes for the dechlorinator to dechlorinate the water? ..Something I've been wondering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt-sheeran Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 For those treating in a tub prior to introducing it to the tank, treating for the replaced amount is fine. I was going to start using a tub "barrel" for my water changes... so only dosing what you've replaced when using a barrel is fine. sounds good to me.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ash Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 Exactly, will save money doing it that way aswell. Some people have to do it that way as they may not be able to physically lift a big barrel of water, or on a large system is not practical to fill a container all day long lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETFISH Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) i declor 200 ltr,s in drum and circulate for 24 hr,s before adding to tank ,i double dose because of the amount of clorine in t/water ,but if putting t/water straight in tank i would treat tank volume ,i have 5 drums ,2 for soft/acidic and 3 for hard/alk Edited January 23, 2013 by PETFISH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenterra Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I had a member on MFK tell me Hagen specifically told them otherwise so I emailed them myself just to call their bluff. It seems even Hagen agrees to dose based on the full aquarium volume and not just what is being replaced when performing a water change directly in tank. An email I sent them and the reply from Hagen. ( bsp.brentsmithphotography@gmail.com 12/22/2011 I know you have directions for dosage when treating new water first before introduction to an aquarium on your labels but I was wondering if I should dose on the complete aquarium volume with your product when I perform an in tank water change. Say a 100 gallon tank with weekly water changes of 50%. Brent Smith Reply: no-reply@hagencrm.com Tanya Schwab (Hagen Customer Service Rep) 12/23/2011 Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Correct. The dosing instructions for water changes consider the total gallon size of your aquarium - not the amount of water changed. Regards, Customer Service Rolf C. Hagen Inc. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikrman Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 Lesson learnt won't be doing that again.. Thanks guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ash Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 follow the instructions for what product your using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
