Water Changes

[jodip]

I am on well water with a softener system.  We use our hard water lines to fill the tanks. We have Molly fish that like the hard water.  My tank is set at 78 degrees. The hard water lines come out at around 50-60 degrees.  The mollies are currently in a 10 gallon tank and doing small water changes we put the new water in a 2.5 gallon jug and let it come to room temp which is about 70 degrees before we change water and add it in.  We just set up a 29 gallon tank with hardscape and plants a couple days ago. The plan is to put the Mollies in there when it's ready.  When doing a larger water change on the 29 gallon tank, what would anyone recommend in regards to warming the water in an attempt to avoid shocking fish or plants?  Also, I'm only on day 3 of the 29 gallon being set up and am trying to figure out when to do water changes with a new planted tank. As of day 2 my ammonia was .5 ppm, nitrite .25 ppm, and nitrate 5 ppm.  When should I water change and how much would anyone recommend?   There's so many different answers out there it's almost overwhelming. 

[Guppysnail]

I warm water by placing a dish of water in the microwave and boiling it. Then add it to my ingoing water to make it a closer temperature.  When I use my hard water line. 

[Whitecloud09]

If u got some nitrite showing up at all, I would do a quick 30% change. I am still thinking of some suggestions for how much…….🤔

[jodip]

Thank you! Would you water test every day on a new aquarium?  I'm a complete newb to planted aquariums or any aquarium really.  

[Whitecloud09]

Yes daily, if doing the fishless cycle, it is important to know your paremeters and check for when the nitrate shows up and nitrite starts rising @jodip

[jodip]

I will keep testing daily.  It is fishless. Had a rough start on my 10 gallon. Long story short, went to petsmart and got some very poor advice, had a lot of trouble, lost a couple fish, but have made a nice rebound on that tank.  Have a few small mollies in there currently. Someone is now popping out some fry and I have no idea which of the 3 possibly 4 females it is.  None of them look big enough to be pregnant,  but I have 3 fry right now that haven't been eaten. There only seems to be one or two at a time. The females are only an inch or so long.  I watched one get gobbled up yesterday.  Kind of a bummer, but at the moment I don't have a good way of keeping them separate. So for now, if they live, great.  If not, free food I guess.  

[Whitecloud09]

On 3/14/2024 at 9:13 AM, jodip said:

. So for now, if they live, great.  If not, free food I guess.  

With another tank on your mind, yes I would not focus on that @jodip, exactly what you said, up top, but that’s good, keep testing, let us know if any more questions pop up, because I love to help on the fishless cycle, my favorite topic, becasue I did it, and learned a lot, now want to help oTheres 🙂

 

On 3/14/2024 at 9:13 AM, jodip said:

I will keep testing daily.  It is fishless. Had a rough start on my 10 gallon. Long story short, went to petsmart and got some very poor advice, had a lot of trouble, lost a couple fish, but have made a nice rebound on that tank.  Have a few small mollies in there currently. Someone is now popping out some fry and I have no idea which of the 3 possibly 4 females it is.  None of them look big enough to be pregnant,  but I have 3 fry right now that haven't been eaten. There only seems to be one or two at a time. The females are only an inch or so long.  I watched one get gobbled up yesterday.  Kind of a bummer, but at the moment I don't have a good way of keeping them separate. So for now, if they live, great.  If not, free food I guess.  

 

[jodip]

My two tank are side by side so it's not really a hindrance two manage them both, but I do find myself watching the fry and saying NO NO NO! every time the adult mollies try to eat them.

[Whitecloud09]

😅 yeah, you could add some coverage for them so they can hide better so they get a better chance of survival @jodip, could I see a pic of the 10 gallon @jodip?

[Tony s]

2 things. If you’re letting your water come up to room temperature. That will work until you get some sensitive species. I let all my water come up by aging it. I’ve never had a problem with shocking fish. It will mix in quickly. You’ll only drop the temperature by a few degrees. 

while you’re doing a fish less cycle, I wouldn’t worry about changing water. Plants will consume all form of your nitrogen. Whether it’s ammonia or nitrites, or nitrates. They’ll do just fine with any of those. So it’s just a waiting game really. Now, when you have the fish in there. Absolutely change water at any sign of ammonia or nitrite. If you can keep your nitrates under 30 that’s where you would want to keep it with fish. But for now, in fishless, patience is the hard part.

On 3/14/2024 at 9:22 AM, jodip said:

but I do find myself watching the fry and saying NO NO NO! every time the adult mollies try to eat them.

See if you can get some hornwort. Float it in your tank. It grows really quickly and provides good cover for fry. Possibly have to get it at your lfs 

[Tony s]

On 3/14/2024 at 9:13 AM, jodip said:

So for now, if they live, great.  If not, free food I guess

Unfortunately, in a Molly, platy, swordtail, guppy tank that’s going to be a common occurrence. Nothing can be done really. Even when using a breeding box, some get eaten. You’ll still end up with a ton of fry.

I have a platy only tank. When I started getting too many fry, I tried separating the males and females. That didn’t work as the females can continue to have fry for months. Now they’re back together. And the age ranges from 2yr olds to 2 day olds. The population has become stable. And I just let them live out their platy lives in peace. 

On 3/14/2024 at 7:14 AM, jodip said:

When doing a larger water change on the 29 gallon tank, what would anyone recommend in regards to warming the water in an attempt to avoid shocking fish

I run my water into a 30 gallon Brute trash can and let it come up to temperature. Then have a small sump pump connected to a garden hose to move the water. For a 30g, 3 five gallon buckets of room temperature water would be fine. And cheap 

Edited March 14 by Tony s

[jodip]

I do have some anacharis floating in the tank and also planted in the gravel. The fry have been hiding in that and also munching on it a bit. There is also a crypt and I think anubius. For now, it's going to be a let nature take its coarse kind of situation.   I will see if I can find some hornwort.  We have a small lfs here.  Otherwise it's petsmart and petco.  

I will be patient with the fish less tank.  Thank you for everyone's advice! Much appreciated!

 

[Whitecloud09]

On 3/14/2024 at 9:30 AM, Tony s said:

2 things. If you’re letting your water come up to room temperature. That will work until you get some sensitive species. I let all my water come up by aging it. I’ve never had a problem with shocking fish. It will mix in quickly. You’ll only drop the temperature by a few degrees. 

while you’re doing a fish less cycle, I wouldn’t worry about changing water. Plants will consume all form of your nitrogen. Whether it’s ammonia or nitrites, or nitrates. They’ll do just fine with any of those. So it’s just a waiting game really. Now, when you have the fish in there. Absolutely change water at any sign of ammonia or nitrite. If you can keep your nitrates under 30 that’s where you would want to keep it with fish. But for now, in fishless, patience is the hard part.

See if you can get some hornwort. Float it in your tank. It grows really quickly and provides good cover for fry. Possibly have to get it at your lfs 

Yes I was just saying in regards of if he was doing a fish in , good info there.

[jodip]

On 3/14/2024 at 8:38 AM, Tony s said:

Unfortunately, in a Molly, platy, swordtail, guppy tank that’s going to be a common occurrence. Nothing can be done really. Even when using a breeding box, some get eaten.

I run my water into a 30 gallon Brute trash can and let it come up to temperature. Then have a small sump pump connected to a garden hose to move the water. For a 30g, 3 five gallon buckets of room temperature water would be fine. And cheap 

Thank you Tony! You were also advising me on my Molly's weird eye bubble. It has completely cleared up now!

[Whitecloud09]

On 3/14/2024 at 9:44 AM, jodip said:

I do have some anacharis floating in the tank and also planted in the gravel. The fry have been hiding in that and also munching on it a bit. There is also a crypt and I think anubius. For now, it's going to be a let nature take its coarse kind of situation.   I will see if I can find some hornwort.  We have a small lfs here.  Otherwise it's petsmart and petco.  

I will be patient with the fish less tank.  Thank you for everyone's advice! Much appreciated!

 

Hope it goes great @jodip! Pls give us updates every once and a while if u can, if not then that’s ok too! 🙂

[Tony s]

On 3/14/2024 at 9:47 AM, jodip said:

Thank you Tony! You were also advising me on my Molly's weird eye bubble. It has completely cleared up now!

That’s great! 

[jodip]

On 3/14/2024 at 8:47 AM, Whitecloud09 said:

Hope it goes great @jodip! Pls give us updates every once and a while if u can, if not then that’s ok too! 🙂

I can definitely do that. Thank you for your help! 🙂

[Tony s]

On 3/14/2024 at 9:47 AM, Whitecloud09 said:

Otherwise it's petsmart and petco

Nothing wrong with those. But I’d quarantine things from them for sure. And the plants are fine there. But you can only get the air breathing variety there. So everything needs converted to underwater growth. Which is fine.

i still rescue their bettas, whenever I have the space 

Well, nuts, I’m too reactive today. Can’t put any more likes down🤣. But good luck. And @Whitecloud09 good advice 😀

[jodip]

We do also have a beta with the mollies. He came from petsmart.   They all get along great which is awesome.   I'll still go to my lfs first. I prefer to support a small business over big chains.  I didn't even know we had a lfs until after my first purchase from petsmart.   

On 3/14/2024 at 9:15 AM, jodip said:

We do also have a beta with the mollies. He came from petsmart.   They all get along great which is awesome.   I'll still go to my lfs first. I prefer to support a small business over big chains.  I didn't even know we had a lfs until after my first purchase from petsmart.   

Eventually, the mollies will be in the 29 gallon and the beta will have the 10 gallon of himself. 

[TOtrees]

If you want to get all scientific and mathy check out this site: https://rechneronline.de/chemie-rechner/mix-temperatures.php

You can calculate/anticipate temp changes from different volumes and temps of water. 

I use it for predicting final temp of water changes when the new water is significantly lower temp. And if the temp change will be too great, I use it to calculate how much and what temp hot water I need to bring the cold water up to tank temp. To be clear, I don't do this for a 3 or 5 gal bucket now and then, but more if I need to fill a tank and get temp stabilized right away. 

 

 

[Tony s]

On 3/14/2024 at 10:29 AM, TOtrees said:

If you want to get all scientific and mathy check out this site: https://rechneronline.de/chemie-rechner/mix-temperatures.php

Good site. Although I stopped doing the heavy maths thing 30 years ago. Was research trained at one point  

 

On 3/14/2024 at 10:29 AM, TOtrees said:

I don't do this for a 3 or 5 gal bucket now and then, but more if I need to fill a tank and get temp stabilized right away. 

Yeah, I so need to set up a system. Doing 260 gallons of water changes takes me all week with the 30 gallon can. 

Edited March 14 by Tony s

[jwcarlson]

Barrel with aeration and heater is what I do, but my water needs to be aged because it shifts 1.2-1.3 pH higher after it is aged.  But I'm doing big water changes typically and have about 450 gallons of water between all of my tanks.

I have two 63 gallon barrels with heat controllers and can customize the temps and mixes from there (some tanks cut with RO).  You also need a pump to get water back out effectively, unless you like standing around watching water siphon into a bucket.  I almost never use a bucket during water changes unless I'm cleaning an overflow box, or a sump, or a smaller tank (10 gallon) as it's faster with a bucket.

The above advice is probably only valid if you're going to scale up at some point in the future.  Otherwise you can get a 32 gallon garbage can from Home Depot or some other smaller storage.

[Phirefase]

On 3/14/2024 at 11:29 AM, jwcarlson said:

Barrel with aeration and heater is what I do, but my water needs to be aged because it shifts 1.2-1.3 pH higher after it is aged.  But I'm doing big water changes typically and have about 450 gallons of water between all of my tanks.

I have two 63 gallon barrels with heat controllers and can customize the temps and mixes from there (some tanks cut with RO).  You also need a pump to get water back out effectively, unless you like standing around watching water siphon into a bucket.  I almost never use a bucket during water changes unless I'm cleaning an overflow box, or a sump, or a smaller tank (10 gallon) as it's faster with a bucket.

The above advice is probably only valid if you're going to scale up at some point in the future.  Otherwise you can get a 32 gallon garbage can from Home Depot or some other smaller storage.

+1 for this. They also make a dolly for the brute trash cans if you want to be able to wheel the whole thing around. 

[Whitecloud09]

On 3/14/2024 at 9:52 AM, Tony s said:

Nothing wrong with those. But I’d quarantine things from them for sure. And the plants are fine there. But you can only get the air breathing variety there. So everything needs converted to underwater growth. Which is fine.

i still rescue their bettas, whenever I have the space 

Well, nuts, I’m too reactive today. Can’t put any more likes down🤣. But good luck. And @Whitecloud09 good advice 😀

LOL! I can’t either, idk want to do, can’t post a thousand times to say, I like that or thanks lol

[jwcarlson]

On 3/14/2024 at 11:35 AM, Phirefase said:

+1 for this. They also make a dolly for the brute trash cans if you want to be able to wheel the whole thing around. 

Forgot to mention that.  The point is to make water changes as easy as possible so that you actually do them.  It takes me less actual active time to change water in my 75 and 125s than it does in any of my other tanks.  I've got it "down to a science".  I don't know how people deal with bucket brigading their water changes or doing things like microwaving water.  I mean no offence by this, of course.  But all of that would drive me nuts and I would quit keeping fish.  The next step for me would be an on-demand heater and some sort of degassing tower so that I could do automatic water changes.  But we're starting to get pretty serious about moving out of the city, which has always been our goal.  Whenever that happens I'm probably done keeping fish more/less permanently just because of other priorities.  🙂  This system is working for now as it's grown over the last years.