Water change Supervisors

[Sabrina]

My dog Dusty and my cat Bell were supervising my water changes this morning :)

114551
114552
114553
114554

[bluelagoon]

It would make things a whole lot easier to have a hose to reach a toilet,bath tube or even a window or door..I did that once,but had to make it easier and less time consuming.

[Sabrina]

Hi Blue :)
Yes it is time consuming, takes 2 hours for water changes lol I do have a back door close to the tanks and a hose but I am fickle with my water changes, the water must be treated before it goes in the tank, as with hose the water is just going straight into the tank without treatment. That's why I use buckets so I can treat the water with Prime first before I put it in the tank, I think its the safest way to do it.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Blue :)
Yes it is time consuming, takes 2 hours for water changes lol I do have a back door close to the tanks and a hose but I am fickle with my water changes, the water must be treated before it goes in the tank, as with hose the water is just going straight into the tank without treatment. That's why I use buckets so I can treat the water with Prime first before I put it in the tank, I think its the safest way to do it.

Hi Sabrina, You could also add Prime to the tank vs the buckets prior to filling the tank from the buckets. I use food grade brute cans for my new water for my water changes. The brute can allows me to age the water prior to use. Just some considerations. :)
Pat

[DiscusBR]

Cute pets! From what I can see the discus look good too.

As Pat mentioned, there is not need to carry water on buckets. Based on how I do water changes here is what I recommend:

1) Get a Brute trash can like this one:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-Commercial-Products-Brute-44-Gal-Grey-Round-Vented-Trash-Can-2031187/202649169

2) Set the can in your service area, bathroom or any other area. Use a hose to fill the can. This will allow you to aerate and heat the water for 24 hours or so before water changes;

3) Get a pump. I use this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-One-Lifegard-Aquarium-758-Gallon/dp/B005F5DG4C

With some plastic tubing you can pump water from the tank to a bath tub and then from your Brute can to the fish tank. Everything fast with no need to carry buckets.

I change 40g in my 70g fish tank. The whole process takes 30 minutes.

[Sabrina]

Hello Pat and BR, thank you guys for your replies here..

These suggestions sound amazing, 2 hour water changes suck lol

I have checked both the links, I'm not sure I can get that exact Brute trash can here in Australia, but I will check Ebay for it, and also the pump, maybe I can find it on ebay too! I will report back with my findings later tonight :)

[Sabrina]

This is what happens when I sit down and leave my fish alone and turn on some music lol

114562

[Sabrina]

@DiscusBR,
I have checked Ebay for those products just now, those trash cans are only imports from the USA and the price is huge! I will go to my local Bunnings warehouse and see what I can source from there, does it have to be food grade plastic or will any type of plastic trash bin be ok? With the pump, I also checked Ebay, I cant get the brand you showed me, all the ones that came up here were submersible ones, is that what I need? Thanks in advance :)

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Sabrina, I would suggest food grade is possible. The reason for this is so the plastic does not leach anything harmful into the water. I can ask another member from Australia to pop in if you like. :)
Pat

[DiscusBR]

@DiscusBR,
I have checked Ebay for those products just now, those trash cans are only imports from the USA and the price is huge! I will go to my local Bunnings warehouse and see what I can source from there, does it have to be food grade plastic or will any type of plastic trash bin be ok?

As Pat says, any plastic container that is food grade works. It does not need to be a Brute trash can. I just thought you were in the US.


With the pump, I also checked Ebay, I cant get the brand you showed me, all the ones that came up here were submersible ones, is that what I need? Thanks in advance :)

You can get any submersible pump, it does not need to be the same brand. Just check the gallon/liters per hour flow. If you buy a smaller, less potent pump, then your WC will take longer. The one I use, which is in the link, transfers 758 gallons per hour.

[DiscusBR]

Also, make sure that heater is off during WCs. It should be submersed all times. You might want to put it horizontally and low in the tank to avoid potential issues (like forgetting to turn it off during WCs).

[Sabrina]

Thanks Pat, food grade is what I will look for now, yes if you can please ask your friend from Aussie to drop by, maybe they know of a source here where I can buy a large bin from :)

DiscusBR, I have noted all you said thank you. With the heaters, I turn them both off 30 minutes prior to taking the water out of the tanks, its a ritual so I doubt I will forget it, though your right, I have once forgot to turn one back on after the water change years ago (during winter) and I woke the next morning to find my discus tank at a low 18c!! Thankfully my discus at the time survived my stupidity that day. Maybe your right, perhaps I should place the heaters lower so as to not forget :)

[two utes]

Hello Pat and BR, thank you guys for your replies here..

These suggestions sound amazing, 2 hour water changes suck lol

I have checked both the links, I'm not sure I can get that exact Brute trash can here in Australia, but I will check Ebay for it, and also the pump, maybe I can find it on ebay too! I will report back with my findings later tonight :)

Hi Sabrina.

Its nice to see another hobbyist on here from Australia. I'm from Melbourne. Where are you from?
I hate to think that you are being consumed doing very necessary water changes, and as others have suggested your process can be stream lined and made easier.

Not sure if i read correctly but are you dumping your used water in a tank? When i drain my aquariums the used water goes straight down the closest drain or with a slightly longer hose out the door and on my lawns

As far as aged water goes, i started by using 'willow' plastic rubbish bins that can be purchased from your local Bunnings store for $16.50. If you can source food grade containers that will be much safer in the long run, but i had never had any issues. I have since learnt that we have excellent water straight out of the tap in Melbourne, and the reason i only do 30% water changes every 4th or 5th day with a little prime added straight to the tank,with out any issues.


114566



The reason i keep the water changes at 30% is not to alter the water temperature by more that 2 degrees, but if you want to do larger changes by all means store the water overnight and heat an aerate it.

I started a thread of my journey when i purchased by group of Juveniles at about 30mm and they grew nicely to 170mm in a year. They currently sit at around 200mm and am now enjoying the next stage of breeding off them.

You can see my journey here and i am sure you can apply the same or similar husbandry

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?119095-Getting-back-into-Discus


Don't hesitate to ask questions, as there are lots of people that are willing to help you on here.

Good luck with your journey...Keep it simple and enjoyable :)

[Second Hand Pat]

Thanks for chiming in Joe :)
Pat

[Sabrina]

Hello Joe :)

I'm just an hour and a half up the highway from you at Castlemaine.. So not far, If I hadn't just brought my new baby discus I could have brought some off you!

I am dumping the used tank water straight down the drain. I use fresh tap water to refill the tank, I run warm water into the buckets from the kitchen sink, test with my finger for the temp and I'm usually stop on within 1-2C temp to the tank. I sit the buckets in front of the tank and stir in Prime, I think put the water straight into the tank. That is my ritual at the moment, but will soon change when I can buy the trash can from Bunnings later this week, I will then be able to age the water ect as you mentioned. Thank you for the help on this!
I will have a read of your journey a little later today, it will be a good read I'm sure and I might learn a few things! I have also started a post on my journey here, I'm a bit of a talker so I'm sure most people wont read it being so long winded lol
Thank you again for dropping by here, hopefully we can keep in touch and maybe meet up one day seeing that your not far from me :)

[two utes]

You're very welcomed Sabrina.

Bunnings also sell submersible water pumps in their garden section that you can place in the bottom of the bin...the bigger the pump, the quicker you'll get the job done.

[Sabrina]

Ok great, thanks a million! I will check both products out hopefully in the next week. It might sounds silly but do I also need a hose to connect to the pump, I'm not a technical minded person, or does the pump come with a hose? I can just see me flooding my house lol I will also need 2 bins as I have 2 tanks, I have room for 1 of the bins, and i'll have to make room somehow for the other one. :)

[DiscusBR]

This video will give you an idea how to make WCs with a pump:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKSWr8nLpk8

You need plastic tubing in the right diameter to connect to the pump.

Instead of getting 2 bins for 2 different tanks, just get one larger bin.

[Sabrina]

Hi DiscusBR,
I just watched that video, looks like I can empty the water out of the tank with the pump too, my only issue on that is how to hold the tubing down in the sink while its pumping the water out. Second issue is I have glass lids on my fish tanks, I'm wondering how to hold down the tubing when refilling the tank, i guess i could buy a clamp of some type, i think ive just had a brain wave, i can get clamps, one to hold onto the tuning on the sink and then use it to clamp the tubing to the tank while filling!! I'm getting technical now haha this could be fun :)
Ok so, i have just figured out i will need another heater for the bin, i have a spare air pump so i just need air stones to aerate the water in the bin too. This little project is going to be costly, but i know it will make things easier in the long run.

[DiscusBR]

I just watched that video, looks like I can empty the water out of the tank with the pump too, my only issue on that is how to hold the tubing down in the sink while its pumping the water out. Second issue is I have glass lids on my fish tanks, I'm wondering how to hold down the tubing when refilling the tank, i guess i could buy a clamp of some type, i think ive just had a brain wave, i can get clamps, one to hold onto the tuning on the sink and then use it to clamp the tubing to the tank while filling!! I'm getting technical now haha this could be fun :)

Yes, you can hold the plastic tubing with a clamp like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/UEETEK-Adjustable-Aquarium-Water-Holder/dp/B0753GSMKD/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8


Ok so, i have just figured out i will need another heater for the bin, i have a spare air pump so i just need air stones to aerate the water in the bin too. This little project is going to be costly, but i know it will make things easier in the long run.

It is worth it! WCs will be much easier after that.

[Sabrina]

Cheers DiscusBR, I'm planning on going to Bunnings later this morning for the bins and clamps, and i'll grab a couple of air stones too. The pump and heater will have to wait until next weeks pay day :)
I will report back with my shopping items later today, cant wait to have everything so i can put this little project into motion!

[BmoreBraap]

Hello Joe :)

I'm just an hour and a half up the highway from you at Castlemaine.. So not far, If I hadn't just brought my new baby discus I could have brought some off you!

I am dumping the used tank water straight down the drain. I use fresh tap water to refill the tank, I run warm water into the buckets from the kitchen sink, test with my finger for the temp and I'm usually stop on within 1-2C temp to the tank. I sit the buckets in front of the tank and stir in Prime, I think put the water straight into the tank. That is my ritual at the moment, but will soon change when I can buy the trash can from Bunnings later this week, I will then be able to age the water ect as you mentioned. Thank you for the help on this!
I will have a read of your journey a little later today, it will be a good read I'm sure and I might learn a few things! I have also started a post on my journey here, I'm a bit of a talker so I'm sure most people wont read it being so long winded lol
Thank you again for dropping by here, hopefully we can keep in touch and maybe meet up one day seeing that your not far from me :)

Everyone is already on top of you for making sure you get the water aged, but I cant express it enough to do it ASAP. I killed one of my first Discus pretty quickly by doing the exact same method before I realized that my water comes out of the tap around 6.5 ph but then aged it jumps to 8.5-9. That flux in my PH levels for almost 4 weeks def did one of my young guys in :(
Also, at least here in the states, dont use warm/hot water from the tap as a lot contains minerals/metals that are not present in cold water.

Cold water, trash can, heater and a air stone and your set to go.
Personally on my 125g a 40g change takes me no more then 10 min. PVC rigged as a drain for the tank will drain 40g in about 1 minutes. Then a sump pump into the clean water can takes about 2 minutes to pump 40 back into the tank. The most time is spend siphoning, but if in a huge pinch I could easily do a change in 5 minutes. All about doing a little work now, creating some specific tools and making life later MUCH easier. Hell when I started Id lug 8-10 5g buckets up 2 flights of stairs lol so you're better off already.

[Sabrina]

Hello BmoreBraap,
I'm sorry you lost your little guy, its hard when that happens. I'm pretty sure my tap water PH is 7.6 here, should I be careful when aging the water that the PH does not go higher?
Also, if i am using the air stones in the aged water, what does that do exactly? Does doing that mean I don't have to use Prime in that new water?
Oh my, lugging buckets up 2 flights of stairs lol What a job!
Yes, i cant wait to go shopping this morning, its only 5.30am here and I'm dressed waiting for the store to open lol

[Second Hand Pat]

Hello BmoreBraap,
I'm sorry you lost your little guy, its hard when that happens. I'm pretty sure my tap water PH is 7.6 here, should I be careful when aging the water that the PH does not go higher?
Also, if i am using the air stones in the aged water, what does that do exactly? Does doing that mean I don't have to use Prime in that new water?
Oh my, lugging buckets up 2 flights of stairs lol What a job!
Yes, i cant wait to go shopping this morning, its only 5.30am here and I'm dressed waiting for the store to open lol

Hi Sabrina, the airstone in the aging process serves to handle any ph swing there might be. Best to have the swing in the aging barrow vs the tank.
Pat

[gunnerschh2]

Found that hose holder on ebay for $1& change. WOW!

[Sabrina]

Cheers Pat,
I thought the air stones aged the water so you didn't need to use a declorinator like Prime, I heard when tap water sits out in buckets the chlorine and chloramine evaporate?

[Second Hand Pat]

Not sure about chloramine Sabrina, I think you need something external (like prime) to break the chlorine/ammonia bond.
Pat

[Sabrina]

Ah right, thanks again Pat, I will use the Prime anyway, id hate to poison my fish :)

[Sabrina]

Ok so due to other more important things my garbage bin and pump project has been put on hold right now, I will return to this thread once I have all the parts I need over the next 2 weeks :)

[fishbubbles]

Cheers Pat,
I thought the air stones aged the water so you didn't need to use a declorinator like Prime, I heard when tap water sits out in buckets the chlorine and chloramine evaporate?

Chloramine will not evaporate like chlorine does, you definitely need prime to break it down. My water here is treated with chloramine.

[Sabrina]

Cheers Bubbles,

Lucky I can verify that here and I didn't just assume it would be safe after sitting out. Thanks :)

[Sabrina]

Hi guys,
My lovely friend brought me most of what I need to set up this aged water project! I'm having trouble getting the tubing onto the pump but other than that I think all I need now is a heater and air stones :)
Tell me what you think of my parts: Garbage Bin, Pump, Tubing, Marine grade tubing clamp and Clamps to hold the tubing on the tank and sink during operation...
114621
114622
114623
114624
114625

[two utes]

Trojan clamps are similar to what I'm using and will do the job.
I think the pump may be a little too small. You will find out once you try pumping water out of the water storage bin. There may be too much head pressure to make it pump water off at ground level. With the hose, a piece of garden house may do the job. If it dosnt fit over the pumps barb, try soaking it in boiling hot water for about 5 minutes....you wont need the circular metal hose clamp

[Sabrina]

Hi Joe :)
I did as you said and tried the garden hose option, you little rippa, it worked. I tested the pump, I filled a small bucket and pumped from the bucket on the ground up into the kitchen sink, it worked! My tank isn't that much higher than the sink so I think it should work just fine. Here is a pic of it..
114626

[two utes]

Winning! :D ...you can get rid of all those buckets now ;)

[Sabrina]

Yes! Winner winner chicken dinner lol
Good bye buckets! :D

[Sabrina]

Hi guys,
I was searching Pre filters for my canister filter on Ebay, there is lots of different kinds, to be honest I don't know what I'm looking for. Could someone please post a link or photo of what I need to attach to my canister filter?
Thanks :D

Ps: I have decided to do a little project of my own. While I was in the Bunning store I noticed little flat wheeled trollies that would be perfect to go under my 60 liter trash can for water changes, but the ones there were too weak and the wheels would cut into my flooring, so I'm going to make one myself with heavy duty wheels, this could be fun haha :D

[bluelagoon]

just get yourself a sponge and make a cut and over the intake it goes.

[bluelagoon]

That's what hoses are made for.Water barrels usually stay put and will not require wheels.

[Sabrina]

Blue, I'm confused with the sponge over the intake, I'm assuming you mean over the intake value? If so wouldn't that be cause for leaking? Or do you mean over the intake strainer part in the tank?

With the trolley for the water bin, the pump I brought is only small and pumps ok to a 1 meter height, but if I was to place a longer hose on the pump and try to pump water all the way from my tank to outside the back door I might blow that little pump up, it would be too much for it to handle I imagine. So I thought a little trolley with wheels would be perfect to push the water bin from the tank to the back door :)

[DiscusBR]

With the trolley for the water bin, the pump I brought is only small and pumps ok to a 1 meter height, but if I was to place a longer hose on the pump and try to pump water all the way from my tank to outside the back door I might blow that little pump up, it would be too much for it to handle I imagine. So I thought a little trolley with wheels would be perfect to push the water bin from the tank to the back door :)

Just buy a bigger and more powerful pump. No need to move the bin around. Also, I recommend using transparent, plastic tubing that is aquarium safe, such as this one:

https://www.marinedepot.com/3_4_Inch_Clear_Flexible_Vinyl_Tubing_10ft_Clear_Vi nyl_Tubing-Plumbing_Parts-FT4310-FIFTTUVTCT-vi.html

Garden hoses can leak chemicals to the water. In terms of prefilter, I use this one:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/PreFilter.html

[Sabrina]

Hello DiscusBR,
Due to me not being able to work at the moment my finances are tight, I am lucky my good friend brought me the parts for this project as it is. So, at the moment I cant afford to buy a bigger more powerful pump as they are upwards of $100 here for a good one. I thought I could make the trolley for a fraction of the price of a new pump, and it would do me until I return to work and could then replace the pump.
Oh no, I didn't think the garden hose would do that, guess I'm off to the store for clear tubing on pension day next week.
Thank you for the link to the prefilter, I am still confused at where something like that would need to be attached to the canister.

[bluelagoon]

just get yourself a sponge and make a cut and over the intake it goes.

I think you can figure that one out for yourself or have already.

[Sabrina]

lol Blue, I havnt figured it out, I'm going to check youtube for instructions on prefilters a little later after my water changes this morning :)

[bluelagoon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpbhiiaYGp4.you don't have to go through all the trimming.

[Sabrina]

Oh! Thanks Blue :)
Ok that looks simple and like something I'm confident to be able to do myself. My canister filter strainer is quite fat so I will be on the look out for something similar to the one in the video in my local pet stores. I can do this!

[two utes]

Oh! Thanks Blue :)
Ok that looks simple and like something I'm confident to be able to do myself. My canister filter strainer is quite fat so I will be on the look out for something similar to the one in the video in my local pet stores. I can do this!

This is what i have used in the past. l stopped using it though because it use to gunk up and reduce the flow into the canister filter, If you choose to use one you need to clean it often. The large fat strainer you're talking about can be removed on most intake hoses making it easier to slip a pre filter over the rigid tube. The best use i have had for the pre filter sponge is to slip it over a piece of electrical conduit and use it to do wipe downs of the inside of the glass while doing water changes without having to reach down with my hands.


114645

Hope this helps

[Sabrina]

Hi Joe,
Thanks for the photos and advice, I'm going to try this prefilter and see if it works for me and my tanks. I already have a good glass cleaning pole with sponge and mesh on it for scratching the gunk off the walls :)

[Sabrina]

Hi all,
I was able to pick up some clear tubing for the pump yesterday, it says food contact on it so I assume is food grade tubing, which means its safe.. So all I need now is the spare heater and air stones! Wont be long now :D
114677