water changes

[Mondo]

how do you guys do them?

do you get a few buckets of water and add them chemicals and a heater and let it sit for a day?

i live in the bay area, california and my tap water is not safe for fish, so i cant just pour water right in.

[FishLover]

Here is what I do with hard water.

Go to WalMart and buy a plastic container that can hold the amount of your water change. In my case, it is a 45g container for about $10. Invest some money to buy something like NoSpil Pyhon (about $30) that will allow you to connect your tap to the container. Fill the container with tap water, treat it with dechrlo. After that, add in Discus Buffer to soft the water. Use an air pump to keep the water moving in the container. Make sure the water temp and pH are the same as your tank water. I did not bother with the heater since I just adjust the tap water to the correct temp. I guess some people will say hot water from the tap is not good but since I use Prime to treate the water, it is going to take out the heavy metals anyway.

After you fill up the container, switch the Python around to drain the tank water. You can drain the water out of the house by gravity, or use your tap water to creat suction to drain waste water into your sink. After few tries you will know exactly when to stop or use something to makr the water level. I use one of the sticky on thing. Once you drain the right amount water of you tank, use a pump (about $50?) to pump the water from the container to the tank. Just sit back and watch it goes. The whole thing takes about 45 minutes for me to replace 45 g of water of my 125 g tank. The pump will have to be powerful enough to reach over the top of your tank. In my case, it is about 6 feet high. Makre sure your pump are reated more than the hight of your tank. Normal powerhead will not be strong enough for that. You can buy the pump and NoSpill thing from Dr Smith and Forster web site.

Total of about $100 solved my problem. I think it was cheap. No more buckets of water to carry around and spills on carpet. That makes my wife happy. It also makes me to change water more often because it is not a big deal to do so. Once I finished the water change, I put everything into the container, close the lid and store it away from view.

Actually, I spent bit more than $100 because I got two of the NoSpil thing so I can fill and drain the water at the same time. Save me some waiting time too. Of course, you will have to add in the cost of Discus Buffer. About $20 can treate 10,000 g of water(?) or something like that.

Some people don't like Discus Buffer. IMO, as long as you are not trying to breed them, you will be OK. Do watch for the algae growth and prepare to reduce the ligthing period. If you have a planted tank, that may not work. You may have to use Acid Buffer, which is harder to maintain steady pH readings.

Hope this helps.