Water Change

[Song]

I am wondering what people do for water change? I have a couple of 33g, 4 juvs in 1 and 4 babies in the other... and I siphon the waste out into a bucket, and drag the hose to the living room from the laundry room to fill the 2 tanks back up. I am just wondering what other people do... if there is an easier way than what i am doing... maybe some of you have other secrets... (btw, i have sand)

Also, when i siphon the waste out, and i take about 10% out.... this might be a dumb question, but will it be ok if i dont fill it back up again?

When I go out, and come home late, it stresses me out when I am unable to clean the tank (siphon the waste out)... how bad is this?

thanks for your help.

[poconogal]

Hi Song. I use a Python hooked up to the tap to siphon water out of the tank, and I vacuum the gravel with it while it is removing the water. Since I use aged water in a 30 gallon container, I have a pump in the container that I then connect my Python to, I plug in the pump, and it refills the tank. The container with my aged water is in a bathroom about 30 feet away from my tank. I used a bucket two times, 15 years ago, on my first 10 gallon tank. I then went out and bought the Python, and have used it ever since. If you don't need to age your water and you can use the water straight out of your tap, that's even better. You could then remove and refill right from the tap, adding dechlorinator to the tank when you are refilling, if your water has chlorine in it. When I lived elsewhere, I was able to do that. Water changes then took me about 10 minutes. Hope this helps!

[Elcid]

Hi Song:

Very good post, I often feel like you :) That's why I have my trusty brine shrimp net. There are many advantages to bare bottom tank. You will be surprised what you can do with a paper towel and a brine shrimp net to keep your discus happy!

goodluck,
Sandeep