water change

[aukc]

Hi,

I am new to fish and planted tank and have just started a 4 ft tank.
I would like to ask how often should I change the tank water and how much to change? The next question is, can I just refill the tank with water straight from the tap or must I de-cholrinate the water first. If I do need to de-cholrinate, could you tell me what is the best way to do it easily?

I have a piece a drift wood in the tank and is now making the water very brownish after about one month. I have soaked and boiled that piece of drift wood before I introduce it into the tank but still the color comes out.
Do I need to do water change very often to get rid of the color? And will the color stop coming out of that piece of wood?

Any advice is most welcomed.

Thanks.
KC

[MikeKoh]

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On 12/11/2003 11:49:00 AM

Hi,

I am new to fish and planted tank and have just started a 4 ft tank.
I would like to ask how often should I change the tank water and how much to change? The next question is, can I just refill the tank with water straight from the tap or must I de-cholrinate the water first. If I do need to de-cholrinate, could you tell me what is the best way to do it easily?

I have a piece a drift wood in the tank and is now making the water very brownish after about one month. I have soaked and boiled that piece of drift wood before I introduce it into the tank but still the color comes out.
Do I need to do water change very often to get rid of the color? And will the color stop coming out of that piece of wood?

Any advice is most welcomed.

Thanks.
KC
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How often you change your water depends on your bioload (number of fishes) and the size of your tank. Usually, once a week is a good guideline.

How much do you need to change? Again depends on the above mentioned factors... for me... I change 50%. Try to go for at least 20% as fresh water got trace elements which are good for the plants.

Just refill the water without de-chlorinate. This is just my opinion. I top up my water (due to evaporation) at about 2%. I do not use any de-chlorination. I guess at this percentage, it is small enouf and wont do any harm to fish or plants. If you need to top up more than 5%, I guess you need to de-chlorinate your water fish. Pour the anti-chlorine into a pail, fill up with tap water.. stir, not shake, then pour into your tank.

The color from your wood. Actually this 'black water' is good for your fish. After a while, it will reduce. What you can do is change water at 50% every week until your water is not so brownish or blackish. This color wont harm the fish at all.... just a little unsightly. Dont try to put the crystal clear water solution... bad for your fish and BB. After a while...be patience, the wood will stop leaking.

[Peng Kang Hill]

Why is crystal clear not good for fish? Also, what is BB?

[blur one]

crystal clear is a product that clears the water by making the particles stick together then get filtered away. BB is benificial bacteria

[juggler]

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On 12/11/2003 4:09:34 PM

crystal clear is a product that clears the water by making the particles stick together then get filtered away. BB is benificial bacteria

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And I believe it causes the gill filaments to stick together as well. So the fish may not be able to take it.

[geoffrey]

What Mike has written is not to use off-the-shelf products to clear the water.

Water change helps nutrients maintain at an equilibrium and prevents them from building up as a result of the imbalance between dosing and plants uptake. This is important for a planted aquarium with livestocks.

Below is something I figured out myself and I may be wrong. I will be glad if someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Assuming that uptake is zero, nutrients will equilibrate at 2 times the balance if 50% water change is done. 4 times for 25% and 10 times for 10%.

Mathematically, it will look like this: n(Dosage-Uptake)=Equilibrium

Assumptions - no leaching from substrate and fishfood. Uptake is consistent.

[bttay]

If you need to top up more than 5%, I guess you need to de-chlorinate your water fish. Pour the anti-chlorine into a pail, fill up with tap water.. stir, not shake, then pour into your tank.
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I think I have the same question as Aukc. I recently bought a 4ft tank and have been wondering about how I should change water. If I were to perform a weekly 10% or 20% change, it would be very tiring using pail. I have to fill water straight from the tap. In that case, can I first pour some anti-chlorine into the tank before turning on the tap? I remember reading somewhere that there is no need to stir in order to mix the anti-chlorine. It seemed to suggest that the chemical reaction is very fast.

Thanks.

[MikeKoh]

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On 12/14/2003 1:49:02 AM

If you need to top up more than 5%, I guess you need to de-chlorinate your water fish. Pour the anti-chlorine into a pail, fill up with tap water.. stir, not shake, then pour into your tank.
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I think I have the same question as Aukc. I recently bought a 4ft tank and have been wondering about how I should change water. If I were to perform a weekly 10% or 20% change, it would be very tiring using pail. I have to fill water straight from the tap. In that case, can I first pour some anti-chlorine into the tank before turning on the tap? I remember reading somewhere that there is no need to stir in order to mix the anti-chlorine. It seemed to suggest that the chemical reaction is very fast.

Thanks.
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That's is what I always do. I change 50% of water for a 6x2x2. I overdose the anti-chlorine by 4 times, than add in the water using hose. Try to shoo the fishes to the other side if possible.