When is the best time.?

[benetay]

When is it' best for aquarist like use to do their Waterchange , pruning of plants, cleaning the walls of tanks..

Is it best before lights are on or after lights goes off?

IMO I'll do it after the lights are off but these still pose a problem like stressing the fish too much. How about doing it before the lights turn on? It still stresses the fish.

So when is it the best time to do it?

Don't tell me anytime or as and when i like it.

clear my doubts?

[victri]

I try to do it early, so that when lights come on, the tank has one full photo period to recover and settle.

[Simon]

for water change, i usually do in the afternoon.. reason is the temperature of the tap water stored in the tank should be as close as my tank water.. I have a blackout timing from 12 to 5pm and most pruning and maintenance is done between this period

[benetay]

Lets say if i do it at night so the plants can settle down and will have a fuller cycle in that way .

Does it mean that plants cannot be planted at night?

Interesting method you use Simon but lets say i don't have a blackout does it still means victri is correct?

[vinz]

Well, you lucky singles and childless ppl. I have to fit it in where I can between my wife's and son's schedules.

Anyway, I find most fishes get used to it, as long as they have places to hide comfortably. I don't know about other large fishes, but my arowana is pretty comfortable with my arms in the tank.

Most smaller cichlids are nervous by nature. My tanganyikans zip into their hidey-holes with the slightest hint of threat. Similarly, other shy fishes like rocket pencilfish.

SAEs and P. denisonii seem gegarious by nature, as are tiger barbs. They simply keep a safe distance from the hands.

[victri]

I don't think there's an absolute right or wrong way. The main reason why I do it early is so I have the entire day ahead to observe if anything happens, for the plants to build up O2, and then I'll touch-touch-here, touch-touch-there.. Sometimes I do stuff after lights-off too, but nothing major that involves upsetting the substrate.

[PeterGwee]

An early morning water change is the best imo/ime (water is cooler in the morning). Cooler water often holds more CO2/O2 which is a win win situation here. (CO2 for photosynthesis and O2 for the critters.). As for planting, it should be best done before the water change as you might stir up substrate and bring up heavy concentration of ammonia which are dangerous to critters.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[benetay]

The time when the water is coolest is actually in the wee hours of the morning when ambient temp. drops.

I guess i'm thinking too much for an answer maybe thats why i can't get any solid answers. I do agree that planting/pruning/upsetting gravels should be done before water change as the base fert will contribute to your good algae that thrive happily with it.

Thanks everybody for the respond i guess there isn't any right or wrong answer, the best timing will be in the wee hours where nobody is disturbing you , but that cannot be possible for me.

[vinz]

Errr... how wee? Water takes longer to heat up and cool down. So at about 7 or 8 am the water is probably quite cool, depending on how much sun your water source gets in that time (say, underground pipes for lower floors vs roof top tank for higher floors). Is that still too early for you?

[PeterGwee]

The most important factor I feel should be the amount of critters in your tank. Some folks overstock their tanks so a water change after the photoperiod is not advisable as the high amount of O2 from heavy photosynthesis are removed and the remaining O2 might not be enough for the critters and bacteria activities. Unless your critters don't mind lower O2 during the night, I definitely would do the water change a couple of hours before the start of the photoperiod.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[Green Baron]

[quote:b32364321f="vinz"]Well, you lucky singles and childless ppl. I have to fit it in where I can between my wife's and son's schedules.
[/quote:b32364321f]

Same here. That means usually about 3/4pm where they are taking a nap or out playing with their friends

[benetay]

7-8am is the time i wake up for school by the time i reach home i presume the water has heated up alot. I usually store bottles of water around so when i do my water change i fill it from the bottle rather then from the source.

I do have a purifier installed in series with the water source but i doubt they do anything IMO.

I agree with overstocking . Take my tank for instand. It's 60x45x60 which means 42.795gallons(US) meaning at 2.54(cm) or 1inch i can keep appro 108 pcs of fish in my tank. That means with that amount of bioload in my tank, i need a pump that can overturn at lease 5times IMO to have a relatively filtered water. I believe adding an airstone at night will do the trick.