Water Conditioner

Not using any.

 

@mattie how often do you do water changes and how much of water at a time?

 

I use Sera test kits and electronic testers. I am a nut for testing and I am being criticized a lot, for over doing it. Important things to test for a newbie is NH3/NH4, NO2, NO3, pH and maybe gH. Fingers, eyes and nose test is for the experienced that knows how to use them. Cl is in my view a waste. Treat your water regardless and you do not need to test.

Read the thread http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?245-Nitrogen-Cycle-for-Aquariums to get to know the basics.

My pet subject is ammonia and you can read about it here.

 

50% daily.

 

@jwalker

There is no hard and fast rule on how big and how often you do WC. Factors influencing what you do that you take into consideration is:
1. Water parameters.
This is mainly looking at your NH4, NO2 and NO3 levels. In a new setup, the filter will not be very effective and the NH4 will build up very quickly. Especially if your tank is overloaded with fish. The WC is to remove the unwanted substance from the water and dilute the substance remaining with pure water. So that determine how often and how big. Once your filter start producing, it will be NO2 that builds up and need to be removed and finally NO3. Once the filter is working effectively, you will find that you are only concerned about the NO3, which can not be removed by the aerobic bio filter. This then become the sole reason for doing WC, to keep the NO3 in check. Bio load determines how quickly NO3 will build up and how often and how big your WC will be.

2. Disease
When you have a break out of some sort, WC is your prime weapon in many cases.

So, to summarize. To reduce the size and frequency of WC, increase bio filter capacity, with a low bio load. The filter will then handle the first two parameters and the low bio load will stretch the period before NO3 becomes a problem. Keep pH as low as possible that will still keep your fish happy. Normally at about 7pH.

 

HUH???????????????
Isn't your cold water also travelling through the copper pipes??????

 

I would love to do that. Do you have an automatic water change system or a lot of time?

 

My tanks are in the garage. I use a piece of a hosepipe to siphon all the poo out to a drain in the backyard.
Once finished, clean day old water is pumped back via the same hose into the tanks.
Take about a 1/2hour from start to finish.

 

Is it also heated?

 

i use to buckets of hot tap water on a 3/4 tank. it brings the temp in the tank to around 26'C.

 

Cool. Thanks. I'm thinking of ideas to make my water changes faster...

 

could someone please clear up this whole copper pipe story cos to my knowledge all water in the house goes through copper?

 

If the copper were to oxidize at such a rate that the fish would die, then I'm sure that people would also to be affected.

 

Ok, I am not sure how many of you are aware of copper poisoning. However just because our drinking water is run thru' copper pipes doesnt mean that it is safe. Especially in areas with acidic water, copper can be leached from pipes, leaving in severe cases, a greenish ring around the joins. Have you ever wondered why you dont use hot water from the tap to make tea or coffee? Have you ever tasted hot water from the tap, it tastes differently from hot water from the kettle. Now I am NOT saying you will be poisoned or anything like that. Geysers have a copper tank and hence my comment about using hot water from the tap earlier in this thread.

 

geysers are not made of copper anymore

 

Water from tap is safe enough for aqaurium use, always just add anti-chlorine to it and use warm water from the tap to up your water temp to match that of your aqaurium's temp. I do have a copper fitting (90 deg elbow) in my tank which helps to prevent certain diseases (is working for me) and my fish seem very happy and no diseases at all. In earlier days, up to today the older houses do have galvanized pipes which are more harmfull than copper pipes and fish survived it all of these years.

 

How does it help if you aerate your water overnight?

 

Pro:
Increase oxygen levels
Dissipate chlorine

Con:
Increase pH by reducing CO2 levels. (maybe desired effect?)
Thinking about it, it will happen anyway, in the tank as well, as you will aerated in any case.