I just set up a 29 gal which is cycling right now. Previously I had a 12 gal which i could do water changes easily with little 1.5 gal buckets. With the 29 that would be a little more of a hassle. Would filling the tank directly from the tap and then adding the appropriate amount of treatment be overly harmful to the fish? Or do I really need to get a bigger/more buckets so let the water treat and degas? I have tested the ph of my tap water before. I dont remember exactly what it was, but I remember thinking it wasnt far off the tanks ph.

I know what i do is a big No No, but I just use tap water as my water change. I dont let it sit out or anything like that.. however when i do a Huge water change i let water sit for a day. but in my 65g tank i use a 3g bucket. I just do one bucket at a time. One out one in

If you are going to use a python or something simular, treat the tank before adding water. I use that method and I would put in enough to treat the entire tank then fill.

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No adverse effects for you like that? I guess it will depend on the quality and chemicals in each person's tap huh?
By going one out on in you are losing a lot of efficiency though. If I was going to use smaller buckets I would take out as much as you need first then refill bucket by bucket.

Yeah, I have a python type thing to siphon and fill directly from the tap. Thats why I was asking. It would make life pretty easy in the water change department if I could just drain, treat the tank, then refill all without buckets.

i figure by doing one out one in. Im not really shocking the water as much as if i pulled out 12G then put back in 12G. im prolly at most doing 6 to 8G since its one out one in. but im always 0ppm plus with all my plants in my tank they for sure help. Im afraid of doing much more then that cause i can actually smell the chlorine in my water just from the running tap.

i do what Susan does, i use a python and drain the tank, add prime and then fill back up, no problems for fish or anything doing it that way, its easy and mess

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Awesome. That's what I was hoping to be able to do without hurting anything. Thanks!

Aging water does little good anymore since the chloramines that are added by most municipalities don't age out and they will kill your fish. The key to successful water changes right out of the tap is to buy a little fitting at Ace hardware #45077 Aerator dual thread which allows you to hook up your kitchen faucet to a garden hose. That way you can mix your water temp right out of the tap which is even more important than chlorine or chloramines. Just add your Safe start or prime or whatever you are using directly to the tank then turn on the hose. I use an old Stanley spring clamp to hold the hose in place while it fills up lest the water pressure kicks the hose out . If it wasn't for this method all I'd have is a betta bowl rather than 2 60's, a 30, a 20 and a 10gallon to change water for. I plan on adding a 75 soon too.