Carbon Question

love_my_fish

Why do you do that? Is aged water better? I like the heater idea because I cannot always rely on having hot water in the winter.

caferacermike

It is recommended to ready your water in advance of a water change as dechlorinator will cause ammonia build up as it changes of the chlorine and chloramine.



I do 80% changes every other week in the pleco tank. And as some of you know my collection is quite large. I do heavy water changes as my tank is way over stocked. To help combat that I have way more filtration and water movement in my tank than is considered "normal" for fresh water. I wish more people over did it because I tend not to have any issues at all with my tank. No ich out breaks ever. No losses. Only brightly colored non hiding fish. I drain the water over the course of an hour and refill it over another hour. I understand my bud Jones first reaction of severe water pramater swings but in reality I do such large and generally frequent water changes that the water I remove is very consistent with what goes back in. With several THOUSAND dollars worth of rare plecos in one tank I tend to be very aware of what is going on in that tank.

I have a responsibility first to my rare fish in that they need to be tended to with the utmost of care for I am responsible for fish that may soon become obsolete.

jones57742

Folks:

Cm has saved me a “ton of grief” over the last 8 months “so if it seems like” that I am posting in deference to his experience “well you got it” (Mp has also done his share of handholding also).

One of Ce’s posts indicated that Prime strips the chlorine but does not generate ammonia.
I cannot find his post.
I fortunately have used Prime for my typical monthly thorough cleanings which result in a 25% water change.
“Having said that” if I had “any way” to do what you have suggested I would do so.

And impressive!!!
I am looking forward to seeing it next year!

While mine is not “way overstocked” it is “plenty stocked and
I also have “way more filtration” (wet/dry with biological and mechanical) than would reasonably be expected for a fresh water tank:
2.5 CF (+/-) of bioballs,
2 large media bags with ceramic cylinders and porous glass under the bioballs,
1 large media bag at the underflow of the 1st chamber of the sump into the 2nd chamber of the sump;
laminated above the bioballs
the “blue/white” foam,
quilt batting;
100Mu media
50Mu media and
sometimes 50Mu media before the media bag in the 2nd chamber.


The “proof is in the pudding”!!!

As I am certain yall have noticed that Cm resides in Austin, TX (a transplanted Yankee [ducking and running for cover] but still one of the good guys).
His tap water is produced from four surface reservoirs (lakes) which are situated on one of the major rivers (the Colorado river) in Texas.
Situated on the Colorado river upstream of Austin are several very, very large lakes (by Texas standards) .
Theses lakes and the Colorado River (in it’s reaches above and into Austin) are regulated by the Lower Colorado River Authority.
The City Of Austin, I believe, blends the water from treatment plants which are located on four of these lakes.
Due to the above:
The source of Cm’s tap water is very, very consistent with respect to water parameters and time.

I, on the “other hand”, live in semiarid West Texas.
The source of the City of San Angelo’s water is five lakes which are located on different drainage basins (or reaches thereof).
I can have virtually pure H2O one day and the next day have “light red ice cubes” high in NaCl, KCl, etc. (the red is produced by red marine clays which are surficially present in several of the drainage basins.)
Hence I must use RO for my daily 10% to 20% water changes.

Cm: In my response to BB’s HITH post (if I ever get “through with it”) are definitions.

TR

crazie.eddie

I do this on my L-046 zebra tank. L-046 zebras are expensive and I wouldn't want anything to happen to them. So take whatever precaution I can. I do this on my shrimp only tanks also. Even though they are not expensive, I would still hate to see anything happen to the colony.

My 125 gallon tank gets straight warm tap water, adding dechlor first. Most of the fish in my tank I've had for over 7 years and I've been doing the same routine since I got them, so why change now. They are beasts. Fortunately, the Discus in the tanks don't mind the WC from tap either and often swim under the strong current from the new water rushing in.

Prime is supposed to bond with chlorine/chloramine. One of the byproducts if this, as with most dechlorinators, is ammonia (ammonia + chlorine = chloramine). Fortunatly, Prime also bonds with ammonia, but from my understanding, ammonia is still available for the bacteria and plants that require it. I'm not a chemist, so don't ask me how.