i was curious how everyone fills their tank back up with water after a water change. i have had some trouble losing fish after water changes and can never seem to get the temp perfect as i have just upgraded to a 125 it is a little harder to do.

i know a lot of people just put a hose in and dump water and treat the whole tank with dechlor...personally i am really uncomfortable with putting chlorine in the tank and then treating it.

I used to have a second tank i would fill with water and let sit for a week before a waterchange and just pump that water into the tank. this worked great but i can no longer do that and treating buckets and dumping 5 gal at a time is more work that i would like to do if i can find an easier way.

please lemme know how you do it and if putting water in and then treating is really a safe thing to do

__________________
Tank
125g african cichlids making it work
75g rimless Reef in progress

I have a plastic beer pitcher that I use to get the water from my bucket to the tank. I fill up the pitcher, submerge the pitcher in the tank and then dump it out. I fill up a bucket with water to put in the tank and add stress coat while the bucket fills. I usually fill the bucket with warm water then wait until it cools down to tank temp (78) then do the change. My water only sits in the bucket for an hour or two, once or twice I didnt get to it the day I filled the bucket so it has sat over night. I add Kents to the tank (for my plants) right before the first pitcher of water goes in. It doesn't take long to empty a 5 gallon bucket with a pitcher, maybe 7 times, but I only do 5 gallons a week cause my tank is only 29 gallons. Maybe you could find a really big pitcher?

You add dechlorinator before adding water and it treats it as it goes in. I use a python on all my tanks.

__________________
SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

im thinking i might buy a 50 gal drum to hold water and pump it into the tank...idk why i lose fish there must be something in my water that Im missing

__________________
Tank
125g african cichlids making it work
75g rimless Reef in progress

water change?

sorry I can't help.

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I do what Susan does, I have a 75 and it was getting too hard for me to use 5 gallon buckets x.x

__________________
Frontosa Fanatic

I grabbed a 55gallon food grade plastic drum for $25, and I have my 5 stage ro/di filter setup with a float valve at the 50 gallon mark. Start my filter, let her run, and let her sit for a couple days. I have a temp gauge in floating in the barrel, and a extra heater in case I need to bump up the temp on a cold day when I plan to do a wc.

I'm also saltwater, and the mix needs to sit for minimum 24 hours before my fish seeing it. Which also means I have a powerhead in the bottom of the barrel to keep that water moving.

__________________
10 gallon fresh setup with 1 giant danio, 3 placos, and 1 guppie.
30 gal bare bottom QT
55 gallon salt setup with a bunch of crabs and snails. false perc clown, diamond goby, lawnmower blenny, a green mandarin, and 1 cleaner shrimp. And a few corals
180 gallon acrylic not setup yet. (Need a few more things before it gets filled with water.)
Tanks not setup, 10, 30, 55 with stand. Either 30 or the 55 will be the sump for the 180

Your fish can be dying from PH shock. I use a PH buffer that removes the chlorine while neutralizing the PH level.

For my last SW tank, I used an empty brand new black plastic trashcan to store my freshly mixed saltwater with a water pump to stir it.

__________________
36 Gallon Saltwater reef tank
Ocellaris Clown, Scooter Dragonet, sandsifter star, Decorator crab, emerald crab, coralline snails, blue leg hermit crab, and horseshoe crab.
Zooad's and shrooms
40 pounds of Live sand, 20 pounds of LR

A python or similar setup allows you to adjust the temp at the faucet. You dont have to get a thermometer out or anything as long as it is pretty close. FWIW, I make RO water to add to my tanks and usually have to start on that about 2 days before my water change day. Sometimes this water gets into the low 70s/high 60s after it has sat for a while if it is cold outside. I add all of my RO water first and then come behind with my tap. Have never lost a fish from the temp fluctuating, but it usually only swings 4-5 degrees at the most.

RO was another thing i thought of with a drum to fill it in...would a simple like 24 gallon a day suffice?

__________________
Tank
125g african cichlids making it work
75g rimless Reef in progress

i just use a python and tap water,just adjust the water comming out as close as i can to the tank water

__________________
What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

Do you think you need RO? How stable is your ph?

I lol at every one of your posts like this beasl. just letting people know that you have had your fish in the same water since 1982 ;).

its weird that your fish are being effected by water changes, maybe youre using old water dechlorinator?

I live in the country and i'm on a well so chlorine isn't an issue unless its summertime and the well is running low then we have to get it filled which is then city water.

This is probably unprofessional but I use my hand to check temperature. I use a large bucket put it under the laundry sink and add seachem prime directly to the bucket as its filling which removes chlorine, chloramine, ammonia and detoxifies nitrites and nitrates. Also provides slime coat according to the bottle.

__________________
36 gallon - 6 Rummynose Tetras, 6 black khuli loaches
20 gallon - 4 peppered cories, 5 danios, 4 glowlight tetras
10 gallon - cherry shrimp, jungle val, Red Ludwigia, dirted

my ph is around 8 off the tap..idk if its stable ive only checked it a few times but thats not a problem for my fish thats what they like

__________________
Tank
125g african cichlids making it work
75g rimless Reef in progress

If you're using a tank that big, Are you using any power heads? They help prevent dead spots in your tank. And maybe your PH is bouncing through out the day because African cichlids are really sensitive to PH swings. I would use a PH buffer made for cichlid tanks to keep it at 8.2.
Do you have Driftwood in your tank? It helps with the hardness of the water.

__________________
36 Gallon Saltwater reef tank
Ocellaris Clown, Scooter Dragonet, sandsifter star, Decorator crab, emerald crab, coralline snails, blue leg hermit crab, and horseshoe crab.
Zooad's and shrooms
40 pounds of Live sand, 20 pounds of LR

i have 2 powerheads only using 1 in the tank cause the eheim 2217 spray bar is pretty powerful too.

i dont have drift wood its suppose to lower ph right?

maybe i can buy a piece of dead coral will that keep ph high?

__________________
Tank
125g african cichlids making it work
75g rimless Reef in progress

More than likely it is not a temperature issue. It sounds like a PH issue. I had about 12 zebra danios seize and die due to PH shock. After that I quit trying to adjust the PH levels and I test my PH before I change the water because I know that the PH coming out of the tap is around 8.5 so if my tank water is to far below that I just add a gallon at a time(I have a 75 gallon tank). It takes a while to do it that way, but you lose less fish.
You might want to get a Aqua Lifter and add water that way if PH shock is truly your issue since they only pump about 3.5 GPH.

__________________
75 Gallon Planted

I agree. With a tank that big, I would go ahead and invest in a PH monitor because you will be checking that PH alot and having a monitor will let you see how much and when it changes without having to use chemicals or strips.

And if you want know more about a RODI unit heres a youtube link:

__________________
36 Gallon Saltwater reef tank
Ocellaris Clown, Scooter Dragonet, sandsifter star, Decorator crab, emerald crab, coralline snails, blue leg hermit crab, and horseshoe crab.
Zooad's and shrooms
40 pounds of Live sand, 20 pounds of LR

I was just wondering if you had drift wood cuz it lowers your tanks PH. If you did have any, power heads is a good way to raise your PH along with limestone like crushed coral.

__________________
36 Gallon Saltwater reef tank
Ocellaris Clown, Scooter Dragonet, sandsifter star, Decorator crab, emerald crab, coralline snails, blue leg hermit crab, and horseshoe crab.
Zooad's and shrooms
40 pounds of Live sand, 20 pounds of LR