Fish rack equipment question

[Jerry]

Hello everyone,

I have two questions. I’ve had a rack and along with a couple tanks set up in my garage for over a year now, fish do fine when I don’t touch the tanks but every time I top off the water or do a water change the fish and plants struggle. I’ve tried dosing more dechlorinator but it hasn’t helped, I am debating buying a used RO/DI unit but wonder if it would be better to age tap water for a few days in a large trash can with an aerator since the majority of fish I buy are local and probably used to the parameters of the water. My next question is does a linear air pump make sense for 19 tanks plus the tub to age water if I go that route.

thanks for your input

[Janoš Bećar Pecaroš]

What are the tank water parameters? What’s the taps? How much water do you change at a time? What fish?

[TOtrees]

What do you mean by the fish and plants struggle? A bad water change for fish is something that you see right away like within minutes. But plants react over weeks and more so I’m having trouble figuring out what you mean. Tell us more!

[Flumpweesel]

What are your tank parameters and tap parameters?

How often do you water change?

How often do you to up the tanks? 

Do the same things happen in all the tanks?

[TheSwissAquarist]

If you do go ahead with the RO unit, remember that rainwater is RO water, but free.

[Atitagain]

The linear air pump would definitely serve you well. I got mine with only 14 drops and it worked great.