Doing my first water change...any advice

regulatorocks · 05-03-2007, 01:26 PM

i started my 50 gallon two days ago...filled it up, and im letting it cycle. i added the appropriate water treatment, bacteria starter, and conditioning salt. right now i have 5 tetras in there to help start the cycle.

my tank has gotten pretty cloudy, and bubbles that form on the surface do NOT pop right away. i think part of the reason for the cloudy water is the gravel, i was kinda lazy when washing it. should i do a 50% water change???

im also gonna get a test kit for the water, i read on another site that if bubbles form on the surface and dont pop right away its bad?

anways...i have a 25ft python gravel siphon, never used it before. im still kind of confused about how it works. i connect it to my faucet, run it over to my fish tank, and how do i get it to suck water and gravel up if its connected to my faucet???? does the fish tank water get sucked into my sink?

when i add 20% water do i need to treat it as well??

gm333 · 05-03-2007, 05:19 PM

All that you have described is normal, dont do a water change unless absolutly necissary. It will just prolong the cycle that much further.

BJP · 05-03-2007, 05:59 PM

I'll second that. If you added a liquid bacteria starter you need to give the bacteria time to settle out and attach to something solid prior to changing any water. Wait at least a week. The cloudiness should pass in a few days to a week. Limit feeding, skipping as many meals as possible for now to give the bacteria time to get developed before you crank the ammonia up into dangerous levels with the can of fish food. Once the ammonia starts to rise you'll need to do whatever it takes in terms of water changes to keep it low, preferrably under 1ppm.

Adding some live plants to the tank can speed things along. They may bring bacteria in with them directly to help and they'll feed off the same food source as the bacteria limiting the total volume you would need to develop to have the tank safe.

The Python hooks to a sink and uses water pressure from the sink to establish and maintain a siphon drawing water from the tank and dumping it down into the sink. It's a good idea to select an alternative sink other than the kitchen to avoid contaminating the food preperation areas. I usually use plain gravel vacuums to avoid that and refill with a dedicatted hose. Saves running water down the drain powering the siphon every time you clean also if you have to pay for it and a matching sewar charge in some communities.

When you refill with clean water you need to treat it for whatever is in it. That's usually as simple as adding a dechlorinater for the percentage of refill during or immediately after topoff.

regulatorocks · 05-03-2007, 06:07 PM

well i did my first water test today....

O ammonia
pH is around 7.2-7.4
0 nitrate and nitrite as well

so i geuss the cloudyness is just the gravel

all 5 tetras are doing extremely well, not showing any signs of stress
water temperature is showing between 78-81

im gonna skip the water change then, i geuss i was just freaking out. ill do it in a week

regulatorocks · 05-03-2007, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BJP

The Python hooks to a sink and uses water pressure from the sink to establish and maintain a siphon drawing water from the tank and dumping it down into the sink. It's a good idea to select an alternative sink other than the kitchen to avoid contaminating the food preperation areas. I usually use plain gravel vacuums to avoid that and refill with a dedicatted hose. Saves running water down the drain powering the siphon every time you clean also if you have to pay for it and a matching sewar charge in some communities.

When you refill with clean water you need to treat it for whatever is in it. That's usually as simple as adding a dechlorinater for the percentage of refill during or immediately after topoff.

luckily water is included in my apartments rent!!