Simplifying my water changes.

[thotyler]

I have done the first weekly water change on my 75g. i did somewhere around 25%.
since doing this requires a huge amount of lifting water and it is my first time for this tank. i would like to make sure i am doing it all right. here's what i did step by step.

1. vaccumed out several 5g buckets of water. (when vaccuming should i pull up the plants to get around them? how do i make sure i get all the "stuff"?)

2.i filled the tank up with my 3g bucket after adding dechlorinater and easy balance. ( for getting the temperature right should i be using a thermometer inside of the bucket? also does the amount of easy balance i put in to neutralize ph need to be exactly correct dosage? also do i need to wait before pouring it for the ph to neutralize? should i stop using easybalance since it is "just another chemical"

3. poured the water in the tank. (should i be gentle when pouring in the water so as not to distrub the fish/plants)

4. turned the filter/heater back on

also regarding my cycle: i did my water change sunday. i got a reading of 1.0 nitrites tuesday which is great because it means i finally have some nitrifying bacteria. if my nitrites starts to drop by sunday can i add my next batch of fish? (4 very small ones)

[peanutbowl]

i'll give this one a try. this is just my take and should be taken with a grain of salt!!!
1. you probably don't need to pull up your plants every time you vacuum. maybe once every two or three times i vacuum works for me. just make sure you are getting the gravel as well as you can.
2.before i start refilling my bucket with fresh water, i just add my conditioner to the bottom so that it mixes with the water as it fills. if you insist on using the ph adjustment, you should be as consistant with the dosage as possible. and keep in mind that most tropical fish can live well in less than ideal ph as long as they are acclimated properly and the ph stays consistant. and yes, the temp of your fresh water should match that of your tank. i keep a little food thermometer with my aquarium stuff for this very purpose. and please, only use this thermometer with your aquarium and not with food. you can pick one up at the grocery store for a few dollars.
3. as long as your fresh water is the same temp as the tank, and all your "chemicals" are mixed completely, you should be able to add it freely to the tank. but as you said, try not to disturb the fish or your beautiful aquascaping in the process. my gourami likes to come and play around in the fresh water as it's falling into the tank. he definately digs it.
4.let the heater cool off for a few minutes before you start taking water out of the tank. but if you have a HOB power filter like i do, you may be able to just let the filter run during your water change as long as the filter intake stays submerged and keeps it's prime. i don't really like the idea of my bio media drying out, so the filter stays on. it only takes a couple minutes to take my filter apart and clean it so i usually do it before or after the water change.
as far as your cycle goes, at this point, you should just wait until your ammonia and nitrItes are both at zero. if you do add fish before that, be prepared to do water changes if your ammonia or nitrItes reach dangerous levels. the advice i've been givin is this. you should add fish slowly as not to overload your bio filter, but quickly enough so that newcomers don't get bullied for territorial reasons. say within a month or so. the latter can be avoided by making sure there are plenty places for the fish to occupy once they are in the tank, or in some cases, just a little rearranging of the tank may help.

that said, good luck.

[thotyler]

thanks for the info also...

1. HOW do i stop using easybalance since the water i need to add should be the same ph as in the tank.

2. honestly i don't think pictus catfish would bully cichlids much, even when introduced. but i do know from personal excperience that even non-agressive fish can be territorial. but my tank is large enough they should be able to hide/take care of themselves(cichlids are tuff)

[peanutbowl]

1. if you are only doing 10 percent water changes weekly, then your ph should not show a dramatic change after only one. that, of course, depends on the difference in ph from your tap to your tank. what are these values? if the difference is dramatic, then you are probably adding a lot of chemical for the desired effect. be careful, osmotic pressure is stressfull on your fish. in this case, you may wish to consider using reverse osmosis/deionized water and buffering to the desired ph. if the values are close, and acceptable for your fish, not using it at all is probably the better choice. and with your water change schedule, this will give the fish plenty of time to acclimate to the new ph.
2.yeah you should be alright. it seems cichlids get along with cats in general. however, i can't seem to find anything that shows compatibility with pictus specifically. my friend has a 75 gallon cichlid tank and does have some territorial issues whenever he adds new fish. but it is only temparary. and it probably has more to do with over stocking issues on his part as well. i think he has like 25 or 30 fish in that 75 gallon.

cheers!

[thotyler]

my tank is a 7.0 and my tap water is 7.6+(my test kit's max reading) should i be ok if i do bi-weekly changes of like 5gallons without using the ph changer?

i of course looked up compatibility for them. your right their is nothing specific but i have read in comments on www.badmanstropicalfish.com that they like to chase cichlids ocasionaly. also i read one article about a jack dempsy killing all of someone's fish except their pictus. i think they'll be fine unless i buy a 6"+ cichlid(no chance of that).

[louistheloach]

just a thought on the whole vacuuming thing.....

I have talked to some long time aquarists who hardly ever actually vacuum the gravel. Once your tank becomes well established and you have figured out the right balance of nutrients for the plants so as to maintain growth with little to no die back, as well as a good feeding schedule for the fish, none wasting on the bottom that the cleaning crew do not manage, you really should have very little debris that needs to be vacuumed.

between the filtering, the plants utilizing and the water changes, it seems you should be able to maintain a healthy tank with just water changes cleaning the filter and occasional vacuuming.

Personally, if there is plant debris, I clean that out but I do not move plants around to vacuum (I may move them around for lighting or asthetic issues) My loaches and cory's are always digging around in there so I figure they are keeping it clean. I have noticed that as time has passed over the course of the several months this tank (125g) has been up, that there is less debris in the gravel. There always seems to be dead spots on the bottom where things tend to settle more than other places....probably due to the direction of the current from my two filters and how the rocks and such are placed on the bottom. I definitely do less vacuuming than I did at first.

here is what i do for water changes....I know they have set ups that hook right to the faucet, but I cant see running that much extra water down the drain, it is hard on the cistern (we live on a farm), but even in town, that would be a huge extra expense.....

I purchased a submersible pump and a 13 gallon garbage pail (15 or 20 may have been better) and a piece of garden hose. I set the pump in the canister with the hose attaced, I use a couple of regular siphons with the end in the canister. I hang the other end of the hose in the laundry sink and start siphoning. when the canister is full I turn on the pump. the pump works much faster than the siphoning tubes, so sometimes i have to turn it off and then restart it. I either need to get one more tube or a larger canister.

When I have removed all the water i want, I run a gallon or two of clear tap water through the pump to rinse out the tank water...I try to empty the hose as much as possible, then I lay the hose with a garden watering wand that has adjustable flow rate and spray pattern (I put it on the lightest mist-like pattern at a low rate) I am able to lay the hose with the wand across the top of my tank and empty my new water into the canister and let the pump run it into the tank. When finished, I empty the hose, dump any excess water from the garbage can, and the pump hose and siphons all store in that.

good luck with it all.....it seems like the learning of this thing never ends and there are always ways to improve what we are currently doing.....

simplify, simplify, simplify.....

sorry for the length

ltl

[Jay]

I keep to a routine for water changes...50% weekly. That is for my heavy plant mass, high tech, high light, CO2 injected, and nutrient dosed show tank. I also deep vacuum 25% of the tank every week to keep the substrate fresh.

In my low light or low tech tanks I change 25% of the water weekly on a routine basis. These are established tanks as Louistheloach explains well. I deep vacuum 25% of the substrate each time.

Most experienced folks have an NO3 trigger for amount of water change and vacuuming. Example: if the NO3 is above 20 ppm after a week, then a water change is necessary. This routine is based on the fact that as NO3 rises so do undesirable unmeasurable pollutants.

Jay

[thotyler]

can you link me to a pump or something for water changes? (i only have a vaccum)

[louistheloach]

For the pump, if you are referring to the set up that i described for my routine then yes. Just go to almost any hardware store or farm implement like a fleet farm...something like that. I think I paid around 50, do some checking around, the price can vary quite a bit.

Ask for a submersible pump....one that you would use if you had water in your basement to pump out. The smallest size available will be more than adequate...but you want a submersible one. There are some that are two part with an attachment that you place in the water....you do not want that, they require more maintanence. the pump will sit flat on the bottom completely under water and will suck water from the bottom which is generally about a quarter of an inch or so off the surface it is sitting on. a regular garden hose will attach to pump from above which you run to the nearest sink. The pump box should tell you what size hose (usually 5/8 of an inch) to get and then purchase the length you need.

Hope that helps.....feel free to ask more questions.

ltl

[thotyler]

i think i'll stick to the vaccum instead of paying an extra $50, i don't always have to thourghly vaccum, just pump out water. thanks for all the help.
got my cichlids today !!!