How do you do water changes?

So, at the moment I go all out buckets for water changes (we have chlorine and chloromine in our water). This includes the pond as well, so needless to say it takes a while!

So, I watched a video with this water changer thing, effectively just a hose on a top. She said to dose the tank with the conditioner and fill up. This scares me a little, both for my fish and bacteria. So, how do you do yours? I'd love to hear.

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Permalink Reply by LED on August 31, 2014 at 8:11am

Thats exactly how I do mine... Throw in tube, suction water use prime in tank then re fill. Simple as that. Been doing that for 23 years. However this shouldn't be done with large percentage water changes. Large water changes can negatively impact the fauna, plants and bacteria due to massive changes in temp, water chemistry, which can shock fauna and bacteria the most. Yes it's temporary but some damage can occur. In most cases I haven't seen many problems with water changes yup to 25% but with 50% or more I've seen some issues with fauna and massive gassing. This gassing will make you plants appear to look like they're pearling or bubbles will form on the glass of the tank PR surfaces of plants and objects in the tank. This is due to other gasses that are in the water which were under pressure and are now not under pressure. Typical home water pressure is 60psi in an American home connected to local water municipal sources. I can't guess what this could do to some fauna but there's a chance for mishap so I don't typically do very large water changes.

hope u all have fun tanking. Now off to bed I go again

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Permalink Reply by Matt on August 31, 2014 at 9:47am

Sounds much easier, thanks for the reply. Guessing the ambient water temperature in cali must be quite high, very cold here, guess that'd be OK for a 25% water change. So it's safe to dose the tank then fill up? Even if the filter is internal?

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Permalink Reply by LED on August 31, 2014 at 10:11am

If you're worried about the filtration then turn off the filters. Then resume filtration a fee mins after the water change ; however u must supply good water movement to ensure the proper use of the water conditioner