URGENT HELP

First topic message reminder :

I came home to all the fish in my 55g hiding. i was like hmm..so i tested the PH it was below 5.0 did a 50% water change..today fish are still hiding my jacks were black now there pale..and i don't know what to do

I have 44 running tanks . I/we do water changes weekly , I work . Give me a different excuse . Your fish will Love you for clean water weekly . LOL

please explain the quickies way to conduct a weekly water change?

Go to the pet store and buy a Python to drain the tanks . If you are on well water then you just reverse the valve and fill it back up . ( we are on well water ) If you are on City water , you will need to fill a 55 gallon barrel with water the day before the water change to let the chlorine evap. and use a bucket to refill . It takes us approx. 7.5 hours to do ours !

I use Python to clean the gravel and fill the tank, it take me 30 min. on my 75 gallon.

lifeisgood wrote:

Go to the pet store and buy a Python to drain the tanks . If you are on well water then you just reverse the valve and fill it back up . ( we are on well water ) If you are on City water , you will need to fill a 55 gallon barrel with water the day before the water change to let the chlorine evap. and use a bucket to refill . It takes us approx. 7.5 hours to do ours !

Chlorine will evaporate , but chlorimine isn't so easy to get rid of make sure what kind of water your city uses : )

You can make a python a lot cheaper then buying one with a name on it. Water bed fillers/drainers tubing and a inline valve .

If you just have the one tank, then depending on how close your sink is to your tank, the python or aqueon water changers is the easiest thing.

I personally have 11 tanks and some of my tanks are close to 50 ft away and the suction generated by my Aqueon water changer isn't enough since the hose is such a long run. So I only use my water changer to fill my tanks and I picked up a submersible pump, with a 50 ft garden hose and I put them in 17 gallon plastic ice bucket similar to the picture below. Then I tie one end of the hose to my water changer faucet adapter and I empty my tanks into the buck and the pump pumps the water to my sink. Doing this method works great because I can fill one tank while start emptying out another tank. My water changes take me about 3-4 hours to do 10 tanks.

I use the home depot 5 gallon buckets to do all my water changes haha call me old school i guess :P

Jd. wrote:

I use the home depot 5 gallon buckets to do all my water changes haha call me old school i guess :P

Dude you have a sink within 20 feet of all the tanks in your garage. UPDATE!!! It will save you loads of time!!!

I. Use the. Five gallon. Bucket. Also. Working. On an filter. Using. An old ge water. Filr

First, add a couple tablespoons of baking soda, each day to slowly bring your ph up to normal.

Second, I have 10 tanks all over 135gal. I do 40% water changes twice per week. It takes me 2 hours. You do not need to let the water sit before using it. I gravel vac once/week and just do a water change the other time. Yes, days that I do gravel vacs it does take a bit longer. But not that much. Get yourself a larger house and make your own. I can siphon 100 gal out of my 300 in about 10 min. Also, fill your tanks straight from the outside faucet with the hose. Been doing it that way for years. While it is filling up, add your prime and your good to go. The hell with using buckets.

You have a 55gal tank. It should take you 30 min tops. My tanks that are in my living room, I take 1 siphon hose and hook to the sink and another i stick out the window. I siphon the gravel and at the same time I add new water. When your done cleaning the gravel, the tank is full, add some prime and your done.

Madness wrote:

First, add a couple tablespoons of baking soda, each day to slowly bring your ph up to normal.

Second, I have 10 tanks all over 135gal. I do 40% water changes twice per week. It takes me 2 hours. You do not need to let the water sit before using it. I gravel vac once/week and just do a water change the other time. Yes, days that I do gravel vacs it does take a bit longer. But not that much. Get yourself a larger house and make your own. I can siphon 100 gal out of my 300 in about 10 min. Also, fill your tanks straight from the outside faucet with the hose. Been doing it that way for years. While it is filling up, add your prime and your good to go. The hell with using buckets.

You have a 55gal tank. It should take you 30 min tops. My tanks that are in my living room, I take 1 siphon hose and hook to the sink and another i stick out the window. I siphon the gravel and at the same time I add new water. When your done cleaning the gravel, the tank is full, add some prime and your done.

That is assuming that your water is more or less ready to go into the tank out of the tap.

Baking soda is not a permanent way to raise PH and its buffering effect is quickly deleted. If you need to constantly raise PH it is better to use crushed coral ect... in this case it was a PH crash, likely caused by excess fish waste and the normal tap water is higher in PH already. With that in mind a few water changes and the PH will come back up. To me this is better using a limited buffer that could easily crash PH again.

You may not have to let your water sit but that does not go for everyone. It depends on the local water supply. Many people have dissolved gasses that act to either increase or decrease their PH along with an array of other things in the water. A days worth of sitting and aeration normally takes care of this. This of course is on a case by case basis, and each person should test their water after sitting to see if it does make any difference. Additionally using a holding tank/container for water allows you to adjust the water to what you need prior to its addition to the tank in much the same way you would pre mix saltwater.

Filling your tank from an outside hose may work fine in a mild climate but in the winter here tap water comes out at around 55 degrees. If I added that to a 55 gallon tank during a 25% water change I can kiss that tank goodbye. If you have to use buckets I would use the bath tube faucet to get the proper temperature first then go from there or use the sink faucet where I can also set the temperature. In my case an extra tank with water I treat from tap and let the heater warm it up to the desired temperature overnight.

Prime should be added before new water is put into to the tank. Chlorine burn can happen instantly to sensitive fish and kill plants, you also run the risk of it nuking your bio filter depending on local chlorine concentrations. Furthermore taking out water while adding new water to me defeats the purpose of doing the water change. If I do a 50% water change but add water as I take it out I might only effectively change 30% of the old water out and 20% of the new. To me siphoning out old water then adding new water seems more logical. This would also allow you to apply conditioner to the entire tank if using the tap method to refill the tank. It should be noted that when using the tap to refill the tank it is recommended that you treat the entire tank worth of water rather then just the amount that is being added. If you buy your De-chlorinator in bulk that is not all the bad (yay for Pond Prime) if not it is just wasteful.

As with anything their are many ways to do things and what works for one person won't work for all. It is simply done on a suggestive basis and we pick and choose what works for use.

The OP was asking for the quickest way. If your your vacuuming the gravel and adding water above, what does it matter if it is 10 %, 25% or freakin 35% clean water, your still accomplishing the issue. And a 25% water change in a 55 gal tank is only, (come on jump in, you seem to debunk everything else i say) is 13.5 gal. 13.5 gal of water at 55 degrees added to a tank at say 80 degrees will only drop the temp to apprx 75 degrees. Which if your so smart and seem to know it all, a lot of fish dont mind the quick sudden drop in temp. Now if it drops 10 degrees then we have a problem. The large drop in temp will easily bring out ICK in the tank. But a few degrees drop doesnt harm a fly.

Also, Take some warm water from your hot water tank and have it tested. See how many harmful metals and such are in that water. I always do cold water changes, always add prime during the change, and always have wonderful success.

As for the baking soda, it is a quick fix to get the ph back to where it should be BEFORE the fish die. Then add some grushed coral to the substrate or float a bag of it in the filter. Did you not read the OP? He asked for help, he didnt ask for you to comment on everything said.

It does matter because the idea of a water change is to not only remove the debris in the gravel but to lower the nitrate levels in the tank. This accomplished by the amount of total what volume removal. The over all cleanliness in your tank, include the total dissolved solids is dependent on the overall water change out not just gravel vacing the tank. There is no point in something being quick if it's not done to the best it could be.

I highly doubt it would only lower it 5 degrees and more then likely due to the two temperatures not mixing immediately create pockets of extremely cold water. In a larger tank this might not be a problem but I wouldn't suggest this as a rule for everyone to follow especially in smaller tanks which to me includes 55 gallon tanks.

True, not all fish respond poorly to quick drops in temperature but why stress any fish out if it can be avoided.

I can't attest to the quality of water from a water heater with no fact to support either claim but I doubt weather they are extremely harmful.

As I stated each person has their own way of doing things I simply said the recommended way to add a de-chlorinator is prior to adding new water to the tank. I base this of the general options of countless websites and in the viewpoint of safety.

I did read the OP and along with other attempted to seek the problem of the PH drop. It would be pointless to quickly raise the PH with baking soda if he clearly has to do a water change to remove the fish waste and it will therefore naturally increase.

BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

Just because someone opinion differs from your own does not make it

Present a logical or otherwise factual argument but don't just call something because you don't like it.

OK Children ,, this is getting out of hand !! Time out is needed ! Had I accepted KMX's invite to be a moderator , this would already be "CANNED" !!! Any moderators want to step up here ?

Wouldn't say children Life. This is a decent debate and we are all here to find things out and discuss our own takes on the hobby. Most of this has been presented in a good way with a meaningful purpose and in the heart of discussing some basics of aquarium keeping.

ty ty all for the ideas and recommendations..now can we all just along..no need to be at each other neck...

No need. I thought that I would try out the forum. I heard a lot of negative things about it but wanted to be sure any way. All-in-all, my short experience here was average. I have not said much on here but have read a lot. seams that strikingthematch gets off on jumping on people that he disagrees with. Its cool though, we all have a name for those people.

So my short stint is done, just not my cup of tea here. Dont need people shooting down everything I say. The advice I give has worked wonders over the years, and those that know me here in Washington and that have purchased my fish and/or my writings no better. Most people whom put up urgent help messages, are looking for a quick fix to better the situation. Mainly because the fish do not have time for a long term fix.

Enjoy this forum everyone, I will not be back. My id will remain so those that know me, feel free to pm me with questions or concerns.

Oh and strikingthematch if your up for a trip, id love to fly you out to my place and give you a first hand experience in quality and proper fish care. My treat.

Thanks and Madness out.

No problem Jaiko I really hoped it helped. It is not my intention to start anything just trying to present another view.

Ok ,, then agree to disagree and end the back and forth cr@p !!! Redundancy in ya'll's "debate" is going on and on . No matter how many times ya'll rephrase your opinions , they are still the same ! So just agree to dis- agree and move on . LOL

Never said anyone was wrong just presented my view. I don't jump on anyone nor did I say what you do does not work. I simply stated that it may not be for everyone and why.
I present my side of things compared to someone else. Giving more then one side to a story is important and this way others can research and decide for themselves.

I agree Life. and sorry for all the commotion. Done with this.

don't leave madness we need all the knowledge we can handle i say.. yes i was stuck in a jam there and thanks to u guys my fish made it another day

Myself and others here appreciate the different opinions here . And most of us take what is offered and "filter" it and use what we feel is good for our own situation , But for two members to go on and on with redundant opinions , no matter how relevant , is , to say the least , Irritating !
I can see both of your points , and can see some relevancy in both . BUT , please , state your opinions and don't go on and on trying to convince the other that yours is right ! I have always tried to live by the thought that , I will give you my opinion , use what you want and throw the rest away ! That is what I do when seeking help !

hmmmm