Topic: Doing water changes...

[mrbigfish]

I will have to get back to you. I know you were asking Gerry, but I just switched from tetra dechlorinator to a much more cost effective one. Oh yeah its called kordon novaqua.

[TimP]

Thanks, I'll be sure to read up on that one! 

[Gerry]

Up till now I use hagen aqua plus but am going to change to pond dechlorinator due to the amount I need.

I have no water issue though, tap is Ph7 Kh1 and believe the Gh is around 3.

[TimP]

I would imagine you could really buy the pond dechlorinator in bulk! Should I be testing my harnesses regularly? Only because it has been years since I've used that part of my test kit. Ha ha. I do believe that when I tested those that they were within good parameters. (5-10 years ago)

[Katt]

Hm, I havent tested my water hardness eather in year`s eather Tim. 
But don`t think you need to with SA. CA.

[Stormbringer]

ive got some fluval internals in our tanks and dont have any probs with bacteria die off when refilling with a hose conected to the mixer tap in kitchen  , i predose the tank with dechlorinator tho 

[mrbigfish]

I too have not tested for hardness in many years. You know what I was thinking. do test kits have expiration dates on them? gonna have to check. you would think chemicals wouldn't go bad.

[Gerry]

yes they have an expiry date

[SKurj]

Just bought my first tank, and while the python looks to be the ticket...  My tank is nowhere near a tap with hot water...  The LFS said sure extensions are available but at $2.50/ft 

I need probably about 75ft to reach the laundry tub (also upstairs)... and then thats along run of hose through the house with water in it ...  I'd hav to drain the tank, drain the hose then reconnect and fill, then drain that mile of hose again...

Looks like buckets will be my best option..  at least its only a 56 gal.


Hmm mebbe a hose permanently run through holes in the floor/walls ... oops still the issue of draining it between changes.

[callen]

 $2.50 a foot sound expensive.  Have you checked on line?  We had 100 foot one and I don't remember it being that much. 

I'm not very good with piecing things together ...but could you buy a plastic hose and add it to the python with a adaptor?

[fnesr]

Buckets aren't too bad if you have a helper. 2 Large buckets, 3 small ones and an assistant is the way to go. Then you can use the large ones to empty into and one person can keep vacuuming into one while other takes the other one away and empties it and just swap 'em over, can do it all in one go without breaking the siphon which makes it quite fast even on big tanks. Then you can get one person filling smaller (lighter) buckets at the tap and just retrieve them, 3 works best unless you are good at running with buckets of water. Only having 2 to fill is a pain 'cause if you're not quick enough getting back to retrieve the next bucket then have to turn off the tap and then you've gotta get the temperature right again (unless don't mind wasting water).

One person bucket waterchange is not so fun but promotes fitness 

[zvpr45]

Most people do approximately the same volume in a water change most of the time. Drain out how much water you normally do, say 20 gallons. Measure the outgoing water in the same containters from which you will be drawing the incoming water so that you come up with equal amounts. Once you've drained the appropriate amount, draw a line with a permanent marker on the sump or side of the tank. Next time you need to do a water change, hook up a powerhead to a long hose (long enough to reach somewhere that won't be affected by the old saltwater, like the driveway) turn on the pump and let it run until it goes down to the mark. Then plop that powerhead and hose in the buckets of new SW and pump into the tank.

Works for me and I can do a water change lickety-split this way.

[Paulus1962]

All you people using buckets must have arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger, lol!  I use a hose pipe for filling and syphon hose for emptying.  It does take me a day to do with filter cleaning and changing, but I do have eighteen tanks.

[fnesr]

That sounds like a good idea zvpr45, powerhead beats buckets for sure.

All you people using buckets must have arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger, lol!

 Haha, I have stickman arms but I think the weight of the buckets has stretched them out. When I do African tanks though I like to get into the whole theme of it and carry the buckets on my head 

[altaaffe]

I run my change water through an HMA filter with a Chlor+ cartridge into a water butt.  I then let this get up to temperature overnight and use a power head to feed to the revelant tank.

For draining the water, I've plumbed in drainage points around the back of the tanks in the fish room.