my first water change

[MARIA]

i am ready to make a 25% water change. any helpful tips on how to do this. step by step? will i disturb and stress my fish? i have a 44 gal and i don't have anything special to help the tap water. please help

[ssgibby]

25% is that once a month? Since that is 11gallons, I would purchace a 15 gallon garbage can. Start making the water about 1 week in advance. Use a powerhead to circulate the water and a heater to bring it up to time. Check the salinty daily, and change salt content as need. Are you using RO water?

[phistio]

best way is to take a tube, suck on it some...swallow some saltwater, and accidently drop the shipon and let water go all over your dark blue rug...

just kidding...

first, try and determine a good plan for the water change...i usually maintenance my tank a little beforehand...i'e. scrape all unwanted algea, and stir any unwanted detrius. then i siphon water from the tank, and siphon from the middle of the water column...sweeping side to side and back to front...

waste water empties into a 5 gallon bucket...it ywould be wise to have several on hand, and lined up, making it easy to go from one to the next...

have plenty of dry towels on hand to clean up any accidents, and remember that the siphon can be removed at anytime for almost immediate stoppage of flow...

best of luck

[ssgibby]

lol, too funny. seems like i did that before... except the carpet was white, and it was my parents :)

[Pineapple House]

best way is to take a tube, suck on it some...swallow some saltwater, and accidently drop the shipon and let water go all over your dark blue rug...
lol, that brings back many memorys of me sucking in saltwater, coughing and letting it fall out of my hand, and will spray water everywhere. Now I have some moldy areas in the corner :cry:

PH =)

[ssgibby]

I just blamed it on the dogs :)

[saltyfishboy]

3-4 days before you plan to change your water, preheat some ro/di water to about 80 degrees, mix heated ro/di water and salt in a large plastic container. Once the salinity is around 1.023 place 1 or 2 power heads in the container. Add a heater to keep the water temp up in your tank. After 3-4 days take the equipment out and perform your change. This will allow the salt to fully dissolve. It will also reduce stress on your inhabitances due to a rapid temperature change.

[phistio]

"brings back memories"

it happened to me last week...

lol...just kidding :lol: :P

[MARIA]

thanks for the advice, but i don't have an extra pump or heater. what should i do? should i buy them? also, does this whole process of cleaning the tank and mixing up stuff from the bottom bother the fish? i have a 30 gallon container. what about the rest? can i do this without a pump and a heater? if not, what size heater and pump?

[HoopsGuru]

Just buy a small powerhead...they are only 14-20 bucks in most places. Salt mixes dissolve and achieve a balance quickly, there really isn't any reason to make your change water until the day before. A heater is a must though....I would just get a 75w Ebo-Jager.

HTH

[Irisservice]

I mix the day before with no problems.

Small mixing pump (which came in a bucket of salt)
Small heater
And a Hydrometer or Refractometer