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how/!!?!

55 gallon 1 rtbsm, 2 khuli loaches,2 gold rams 1m1f,1 leapord highfin pleco,6 black phantoms
2 odessa barbs ,1 tire track eel,2 green severums

with a syphon u take out 25-30% of the water and at the same time syphon the fish poo off the bottom as well then replace it with new water and adding tetra aqua safe to the water befor u put it in the tank like in the bucket. it is that easy

Is it necessary to heat the replacement water to the same temperature of the tank?

My tank is set to 26c and I do about 15% water change weekly. I let the new water sit in the bucket for a while before adding it, but it is still colder and the tank water temp drops about 2 degrees after adding it. Is that okay?

Wayne

I think everyone probably has a different routine; this is what I do:

-shut off heater and filter
-remove filter intake
-in my planted tanks this is where I check for any dead leaves or anything that needs trimming
-clean glass with scrubber and toothbrush
-gravel vac...I usually do 20% because I clean my tanks weekly
-treat replacement water with Aqua Plus and test temp to make sure it matches that of the tank water
-refill tank
-rinse out filter intake
-turn heater and filter back on


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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Nice routine, Theresa!

Some people like to take the step of storing tap water to heat and aerate it for 24 hours. They feel that this process de-gasses the water and allows additives to dissipate. Other hobbyists prefer to pre-mix water at this time with reverse osmosis water to reduce hardness or baking soda to increase hardness.

I have a planted 125G discus tank. Minimum water changes are 50% at least twice each week. I do not have the space, inclination or perceived need to store my water or attempt to change my tap water chemistry. The water change steps are:

o Clean interior aquarium glass with Mag-float floating magnet aquarium cleaner,
o Clean aquarium corners and substrate line with an oldtoothbrush,
o Vacuum and siphon aquarium using a Python,
o Refill aquarium with similar temperature water with the python.

Once a month I thoroughly clean the AquaClear filter. Once every three months I thoroughly clean the Eheim Pro II. I take care to preserve the bio-media for each filter when I clean them.

The water does de-gas in the aquarium after a water change. It sometimes strips away some of the heavy discus slime coat. This stripping caused some concern until I spoke with discus breeders who indicated that it made no difference to the health of their fish that the benefit of the water change significantly out weighed the temporary slimecoat loss.

IMHO, the key benefit to water changes is providing a consistently clean environment for fish with stable water parameters. Frequent water changes at the same temperature from a single water source is the best way to meet my parameters. (In my case, the tap water provides that source.



__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
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umm guys i have a 15gallon....wat should i do... u guys think im some kind of scientist man..

55 gallon 1 rtbsm, 2 khuli loaches,2 gold rams 1m1f,1 leapord highfin pleco,6 black phantoms
2 odessa barbs ,1 tire track eel,2 green severums

Everyone has a slightly different routine when doing water changes, you will develop one for yourself too.

An important thing to have is a gravel syphon. It is necessary to clean the gravel to get rid of waste that your fish produce and left over food. You should be able to get one from your lfs. The following link shows you what one looks like. http://www.equarium.com.au/store/detail.asp?id=294&cat=5
I gravel clean half of the gravel per water change (weekly) and take out about 25% of the water. Add water back in with a bucket, using a dechlorinator. It doesnt matter if its a 15g tank or a 150g tank the method is still the same.

If we arent giving you the information you want maybe you should be more specific with what you want to know rather than just writing

how/!!?!

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

When gravel vacuuming, just replace about 5 gal. of the tank water, with 5 gal. of fresh & dechlorinated water, with the same temperature of the tank water.



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Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Goto your lfs and purchase a gravel vacuum. follow the directions on it, start a siphon and push the tube into the gravel. You'll be amazed at how much gunk comes up. Then wait for the water to clear in the tube and move it a bit to get more, continue for about 1/4 or 1/3 of your tank bottom is done, try to remove about 3-5 gallons of water doing so.
Remember to turn off your heater and filter, running them without water could ruin them.
Then, refill the tank with water that you have already treated with a dechlorinator and warmed to the tank's temp. Within a degree or two is fine. now you're ready to turn the heater and filter back on.
You may also take advantage of this time to prune plants, do filter maintenance, or just move things a bit more easily.
A 15 gallon will spike easily with an average load, so you should do this very regularly, weekly or twice weekly. I do my ten gal at about 3 gallons twice a week because I have seen many spikes in the nitrate levels doing 5 gallons once a week.
The reason you gravel vac/water change is to remove the gunk in the gravel and also to remove the nitrates and dilute them down to a safer level for the fish.
The reason to match the tank's temp is because even a small change in temp can stress the fish verey easily making them more susceptible to many diseases and maladies that could be prevented. Ich is one example of that. You add a conditioner/dechlorinator to remove chorine and chloramine, which are harmful to fish and will poison them over time.
Hope this helps.

What is the best way of heating the water for a water change? Is it safe to add some boiling water from a kettle to heat the new water?

Wayne

Using water from a kettle could be a bit dangerous. You could by mistake add water that is too hot for the fish. I have always used warm tap water and have had no problems. Some people dont recommend that because of the piping used for hot water through the house.

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Problem solved. Got a spare tank heater today. I can use it to heat the water in a bucket over night to the same temperature as the tank.

Wayne

could i use my tanks heater to heat the water?

or buy a new heateR?

55 gallon 1 rtbsm, 2 khuli loaches,2 gold rams 1m1f,1 leapord highfin pleco,6 black phantoms
2 odessa barbs ,1 tire track eel,2 green severums

Best to buy a second one. It is useful to have a spare anyway as they can fail suddenly.

Wayne

What I suggest for you after reading all these different methods select what is best for you give it a try and adjust to what every is best for you then that is the best one as with mine there is a slight variation for each tank.
This is a case of there is not only one correct way to do the job, there are many correct ways all basically the same with many variations.

My water change varies in each tank.
Both tanks are done on a weekly basis
The 11g Betta tank because of its size the extra work involves removing the Eheim internal filter and cleaning it.

5ft 300+Lt
Each tanks water is syphoned out using gravel cleaner (large for 5ft & small for the 11g). Both have markers on the tank for the water removal 50Lt-5ft and 11lt-Betta tank.
The water is stored for both tanks and dechlorinated for one week.

All the water is heated using the laundry trough.
I add the water via 10lt buckets, to this I have added a liquid plant food, Ph adjuster, Sera Bio Starter (cycle)
To eliminate the extra water disturbance in the Betta tank I replace the water with a plastic watering can without any spray head attached.

When I have finished both tanks I prepare the water for next week.

The 5ft has a Eheim Pro11 this is fully pulled down last week every month.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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u guys think im some kind of scientist man

It's not scientific but rather straightforward. Your goal is to clean the tank which is taken care of with a gravel van. They're available at any lfs and have instructions included. If your tank has buildup on the inside of the glass, you clean that with some sort of water.

Since you're removing treated (de-chlorinated) water from the tank the water you replace it with has to be the same. Fish get stressed from water temperature changes, so that water should also be the same temp.

That's it. Whatever method you use to achieve a clean tank is entirely up to you. And it's really not that complicated although I can see where it might be by reading all sorts of different responses. If you can buy a basic aquarium keeping book, or get one from the library, they usually have a section on tank cleaning, often step-by-step with pictures.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I have a question. . .what kind of water do you use in a tank? Currently I use tap water (with treatments to get rid of the chlorine) but I think it has high levels of silicon in it, and I am wondering, I have water that comes out of my fridge, bottled water, or I can buy distilled water (don't know what that is though ) It might be helpful to know the tank is covered in diatoms too. . .

Fish are like potato chips. . .you can't have just one

I used thermometer and mix hot and cold water to exact match tank water.


here is a post from FRANK on the subject of using hot water tank and the forum it came from.

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/28193.1.htm?10#

Hi Barb,
I've been doing water changes exactly as you describe
(mixing hot with cold water) for over 40 decades and have
never had a problem traceable to that.

There was/is some concern about accumulated metals in the
tank, including Mg and Cu however that was a problem with
straight cold water pipes as well.
It was thought that water standing in copper pipes
would collect the metal. This led to the normal
routine of turning on the cold water and letting it
run for a bit before taking a glass to drink. That way
you had fresh water, and it was (normally) colder than
the water right out of the faucet.
Indeed, in an old home with antiquated plumbing,
you can notice a difference in taste (metalic taste)
between the "stale" water and the fresh, running water.

Today, I use a Python brand siphon and I mix the hot and
cold water to use on the suction side and then when done
draining, I walk back to the faucet and check the
temperature, and then change the valve to fill.
By that time both the hot and cold water have been running
long enough to siphon off half my tank, and I figure the
incoming water is "fresh" enough for the fish.

With homes using PVC pipe, I doubt that there is any
concern.
Removing Chlorine and Chloramine are really the only
necessary treatments that you should do and you can
simply drain off whatever number of gallons you want
and then, as you add the fresh water, pour in enough
treatment for the gallons being replaced.

Welcome Ninjaseal, hope to see more of you on the boards. Aim to up the verbosity.

btw Frank has been given stick about the 40 decades comment. From what we can gather he has formaldehyde running through is veins or he meant 40 years/4 decades.

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

I siphon 10% tank water out and pump in my aged water bi-weekly water change here in Singapore.