Treat tab water for BIG TANK water change

[HarryDk]

Hi all,

I have been struggling with water change recently with the addition of the 600L tank. I do 25-30%w/c weekly for that and another 500L system. Filling a 180L bucket and treat it with Seachem safe take sometime and I need to do it a few times.

Can I add water straight from the tab slowly and add dechlorinator? would it hurt my fish and bacteria? I will add water slowly so the temp change wont be as bad.
If you have a big tank, please share your experience. :book:

[Clawhammer]

Hi all,

I have been struggling with water change recently with the addition of the 600L tank. I do 25-30%w/c weekly for that and another 500L system. Filling a 180L bucket and treat it with Seachem safe take sometime and I need to do it a few times.

Can I add water straight from the tab slowly and add dechlorinator? would it hurt my fish and bacteria? I will add water slowly so the temp change wont be as bad.
If you have a big tank, please share your experience. :book:

I am currently going direct from the tap, I treat with enough dechlor for the whole tank and matching temperature is not much of a problem in a large tank.

[bluelagoon]

IMO,a 25-30% WC is fairly safe straight from the tap.It's after your get into the larger WC's it can make a difference with gases/PH swings from the tap.The greater the WC the greater chance of being unstable from the tap.I have a 75 gal. aging barrel and use tap water along with it to do 80% or > WC in a 110 gal. every 4-5 days.Add the dechlor for the volume of the tank(600 litres) just prior to filling.Total amount of WC's and frequency would depend on the stocking and feeding of the tank.

[Neptune]

You will want to check for a pH difference between aged water and tap water.
Tap water can have a lower pH than aged due to dissolved gases.
My pH out of the tap is about 7.8 or so and goes up to 8.2-8.3 after aging.
I don't like that big of a swing..nor did the fish so I age.

If your tap and aged are pretty close in pH no problem going out of the tap.

[Phillydubs]

You will want to check for a pH difference between aged water and tap water.
Tap water can have a lower pH than aged due to dissolved gases.
My pH out of the tap is about 7.8 or so and goes up to 8.2-8.3 after aging.
I don't like that big of a swing..nor did the fish so I age.

If your tap and aged are pretty close in pH no problem going out of the tap.

+1 here - it all depends on the water from the tap and after 24 hrs. You should really do a little experiment and figure that out before you do it.

[Bill63SG]

I have done 90% water changes straight from the tap from a 180 gal on down.Just add enough SAFE for the whole tank whatever your percentage is,not just the amount changed.I have 22 tanks and no room for storage so this is how I do most of my wc's.I only age my fry when theyre with the parents.Once they are in their own tanks,straight from tap.

[HarryDk]

Hi all, thanks for your comments.
My water out of tab is close to 7, sometime does jump to 7.4 after rain.
What I did before is fill the 160L plastic bin and add SAFE before pump into the tank.
Now that I know I can safely use water from the tab, I can do wc faster now :).

Is there anything I should avoid? Like close down the sump for certain amount of time to protect the BBs?

[HarryDk]

I am currently going direct from the tap, I treat with enough dechlor for the whole tank and matching temperature is not much of a problem in a large tank.
Would I pump the water into the sump directly? It may be easier to match temp without pissing off the fish. I just want to know if the beneficial bacteria can survive the short contact with chloride before the de-chlorination fully work.

[Clawhammer]

Would I pump the water into the sump directly? It may be easier to match temp without pissing off the fish. I just want to know if the beneficial bacteria can survive the short contact with chloride before the de-chlorination fully work.

Good question, I am not sure. I would be hesitant to do it, but I use canister filters so I don't have that option. I do run the canisters while filling up the tank, although I add Safe first.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

On my 180gal = ~700L tank, I do daily WC usually 60% sometimes 75% straight from tap, and add the Seachem Prime when the water starts going in.

[Willie]

Much of this depends on where you live. If you live in the temperate regions, the water coming into your house can be very cold. It's 14F this morning in Minnesota (relatively balmy for us) and the water enters the house around 35F. Even warmed, it takes time to off-gas.

Because cold water can sustain much higher levels of dissolved gases, two problems can occur:

1. As fish take in water and gases are released, it causes the classic "bends" symptoms - mechanical issue
2. As CO2 off gases, pH will rise - chemical issue

Obviously if you live in the Cayman Islands or Portland, OR, this is much less of an issue. If you don't have this problem, then going straight from the tap poses less of a risk. Around here, we can use a lot more tap water in the summer. Definitely not recommended for the winter.

Willie