Ok I got a good question about water refills

[Discus master]

Can I go straight from the bathroom sink with a hose, directly to the tank it self and just add my dechlorinator and or other water treatments directly to the tank?

I am trying to make water changes easier on my self so my father gave me a section of hose I figured out a way to attach itt o the bathroom sink, assuming my ph is the same and I do not need to age the water and I got the temp correct first can I just add the dechlor tot he tank and fill straight from the tap? My only concern is adding the dechlor to my tank directly will this dilute the solution to much? but then on the other hand I have no chlorine/chlorimines in the tank, so say I was to put 20 gallons of fresh water intot he tank and treat the tank for 20 gallonbs with the dechlo 10ml of dechlor for 20 gallons would this work or be ok or not at all?

Thanks for the help!

Other wise I maybe able to put the 20 gallons into a large trash can like I do now throw a pump in there and attacht he hose to the pump and then add itt o my tank that way, this would require more ingunity on my part as I do not have the proper fittings for this kind of set up but I do got the pump, hmm any thoughts?

[kitykatfunkiehat]

This probably depends on how much chlorine/chloramines you have in your tap. When I do water changes, I refill the tank with buckets and add the dechlor when I finish, but this only works because I'm pretty sure I don't have much, or any, chlorine or chloramines in my tap. If this is the case for you, then you most likely could just fill up straight from the tap. This is just my opinion-but I'm sure others will have better answers for you!

[Eddie Wells]

Discus master,

I would first check the ph of your tap water straight out of the faucet.
Mine is 7.
Get glass of water and let it set 24 hours and check the ph again.
Mine is 7.6
Then check the water again after setting 48 hours.
Mine is still 7.6.

A lot of people do run it straight out of the tap but their ph doesn't change much.
.6 change is quite a bit so I age mine in a 55gal. barrel for 24 hours as to try to keep the ph as stable as I can in my tank.
I'm sure others more will offer more or other imput here.
Good luck,
Eddie Wells

[kitykatfunkiehat]

A lot of people do run it straight out of the tap but their ph doesn't change much.

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that my pH never changes, so thats why I'm able to take water directly from the tap too.

[JaredP]

It's been covered already, age some water and check the PH, if it does not change much then you should be good to go.

One other thing to consider is age of house and potential contiments in water from copper pipes.

[Discus master]

Yeah but what I also wanted to know is do you treat for the entire tank volume or just what your adding back in when you go straight from the tap? I migine you would treat for the entire 55 gallon even if your only replacing 20 - 40% is this correct?

[ILuvTropicalFish]

I run water straight from the tap and I add Prime directly to the tank. I have no problems. I used to fill buckets and add Prime to the bucket etc.... But then I tried the PH test over 24 hours, which turned out fine. But I wanted to simplify too and started adding straight to the tank and adding Prime to the tank as well. I have been doing it that way for a year or more with no problems.

HTH.

[kitykatfunkiehat]

Yeah but what I also wanted to know is do you treat for the entire tank volume or just what your adding back in when you go straight from the tap? I migine you would treat for the entire 55 gallon even if your only replacing 20 - 40% is this correct?


Yes, you can. I usually do.

[Willie]

I only do 100% water changes. The fishies go flat, I squirt in some AmQuel and turn on the tap. The slight pH bounce is an artifact of dissolved CO2 and not a factor for the fish to consider. Everyone's water does the same and a 100% water change does not faze my fish. If I'm just vacuuming out the bottom of a tank, then I just add enough AmQuel proportional to the amount of water added (1 drop every 10 gal).

On the flip side, dechlor is pretty cheap and adding 3 - 4X the recommended dose does not impact fish. I've also used sodium thiosulfate crystals and just squirt in some AmQuel afterwards just to make me feel better. I won't do this, however, if your pH is > 8.0. The release ammonium ion would cause problems.

Then there's the lessons you learn from the masters. Cary Strong once confided that he doesn't bother with any dechlor for water changes less than 25%. I'm not that brave ... cause I ain't Cary. :o

Willie

[Discus master]

Hmm interesting I think though to be on the safe side even if doing a 50% water change I will add enough dechlor for the entire 55 gallon, if I go thru it faster s be it its not all that expensive, I will just doit every other day like this and see what happens. I think I have heard enough to be fairly confident in my actions thanks for all the help guys/girls

[Eddie]

I only do 100% water changes. The fishies go flat, I squirt in some AmQuel and turn on the tap. The slight pH bounce is an artifact of dissolved CO2 and not a factor for the fish to consider. Everyone's water does the same and a 100% water change does not faze my fish. If I'm just vacuuming out the bottom of a tank, then I just add enough AmQuel proportional to the amount of water added (1 drop every 10 gal).

On the flip side, dechlor is pretty cheap and adding 3 - 4X the recommended dose does not impact fish. I've also used sodium thiosulfate crystals and just squirt in some AmQuel afterwards just to make me feel better. I won't do this, however, if your pH is > 8.0. The release ammonium ion would cause problems.

Then there's the lessons you learn from the masters. Cary Strong once confided that he doesn't bother with any dechlor for water changes less than 25%. I'm not that brave ... cause I ain't Cary. :o

Willie


Ditto ;)