# Water change methods



## Andrew Butler (5 Nov 2017)

I know people have their suggestions dotted around the forum in various threads but I haven't come across them in one place.

I have a couple of queries which people might help me with or people might put their water change methods up for all to see.

-I can siphon my aquarium straight into a drain so that is fine, I can also connect a hose to a tee in my return which then allows me to drain straight from there to make things easier.
-I have also fitted a water temperature regulator which I connect to a hose straight to my aquarium
so it will only let water through at that temperature (once the water in the pipes has warmed up)

The part I struggle on is filling up without disturbing the substrate; I have tried things like a colander, aiming the water upwards which have all failed. Are there other methods people use out there which doesn't involve slowing the water right down? As the water is gravity fed the moment I put a shower type adaptor on it slows right down then takes an eternity to refill.


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## ian_m (5 Nov 2017)

Be careful about using your filter pipes (that is my reading of your message) as water inlets and outlets for tank emptying and filling.

There are a couple of issues:
- When emptying, it can be very easy to suck filter the filter the wrong way and end up pulling filter detritus out of the filter and into the pipework/tank.
- Putting non dechlorinated water in filter pipe work will quickly kill (or render less effective) the filter bacteria.

Can be done, but think carefully before you either fill your tank with filter detritus or fill the filter with chlorinated water.

When I pump water back into the tank I put a 2litre jug in the tank and pump into that so as to not disturb the plants and/or substrate.


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## Andrew Butler (5 Nov 2017)

Maybe my wording wasn't quite right!



ian_m said:


> When emptying, it can be very easy to suck filter the filter the wrong way and end up pulling filter detritus out of the filter and into the pipework/tank


It's just using a siphon (gravity; no pump) like the water which usually travels to the filter so don't see how this could be an issue, I have a G6 filter so it's at this point I would normally be getting the pre filter out so the filter would be isolated in any case.



ian_m said:


> Putting non dechlorinated water in filter pipe work will quickly kill (or render less effective) the filter bacteria


The hose goes straight into the aquarium, I don't refill using the tee. I add Prime as its going and dose enough for the whole tank rightly or wrongly. It seems the way a lot of people using a hose straight to the tank or python type systems tank do it without issue.



ian_m said:


> When I pump water back into the tank I put a 2litre jug in the tank and pump into that so as to not disturb the plants and/or substrate


thanks, has been noted


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## OllieNZ (6 Nov 2017)

Fill into/onto a plastic shopping bag.
How much water are you changing at a time? I can do a 50% with little to no substrate disturbance during refill but my tank is 50cm deep.


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## Andrew Butler (6 Nov 2017)

OllieNZ said:


> Fill into/onto a plastic shopping bag


I've seen that method and it just looks messy

50% water change is normally what I normally go for to.


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## OllieNZ (6 Nov 2017)

Andrew Butler said:


> I've seen that method and it just looks messy
> 
> 50% water change is normally what I normally go for to.


Not as messy as you might think. I typically only use it on a first fill though.


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## GHNelson (6 Nov 2017)

You could try attaching a Gardening Watering Can Rose to some tubing!
Or even rig up 2 or 3 together with some plastic pipe .




hoggie


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## kadoxu (6 Nov 2017)

I had the same issue and made loads of little holes in a plastic milk bottle with a dremmel. 
Just put the hose into the container and it reduces the amount of flow coming out of the hose.
The more holes you have the faster you can fill the tank up.


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## Andrew Butler (7 Nov 2017)

OllieNZ said:


> Not as messy as you might think. I typically only use it on a first fill though.


First fill I can understand a bit more but I'm hoping for an easier solution than having a wet piece of plastic every week, thanks for the suggestion though.



hogan53 said:


> Gardening Watering Can Rose to some tubing!


I've used a multi function spray gun which has the same effect but it just seemed to restrict the flow a bit too much, the hot water's only gravity fed.



kadoxu said:


> I had the same issue and made loads of little holes in a plastic milk bottle with a dremmel.
> Just put the hose into the container and it reduces the amount of flow coming out of the hose.


do you mean it spreads the flow? - not meaning to be picky!
I assume you just put the end of the hose into the container and leave the top open?
I like this idea as I can adjust the size and amount of holes to suit my flow and it would be unrestricted like with the spray gun or watering can attachment.


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## kadoxu (7 Nov 2017)

Andrew Butler said:


> do you mean it spreads the flow? - not meaning to be picky!
> I assume you just put the end of the hose into the container and leave the top open?
> I like this idea as I can adjust the size and amount of holes to suit my flow and it would be unrestricted like with the spray gun or watering can attachment.


Yes, exactly. I had a 1000l/h pump to refill a 60L tank with fine sand and never had a problem.


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## kadoxu (7 Nov 2017)

A picture is worth a thousand words... well I tried my best!


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## Andrew Butler (7 Nov 2017)

kadoxu said:


> A picture is worth a thousand words


indeed it is! Thank you


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## parotet (7 Nov 2017)

Hi all

Use whatever you have for bringing water to the tank (hose, bucket...) and just let the water fall on a plastic with bubbles (the ones used for wrapping fragile objects). It floats and will be at the right position always. I cut a piece that has the same surface as my tank so it perfectly fits and doesn’t move during water filling 

Jordi


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## tmiravent (7 Nov 2017)

Hi,
i'm very lazy...
so i use this in my tanks:




- I never shipon direct to sewer, always to big box with 60 liters, is very easy to catch shrimps, snails, etc. (in the end i check the box!)
- I use a small piece of hose in outflow, avoiding splashing water during low water level.
- The tap water always comes very slowly, to smooth temperature shock.
cheers


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## Andrew Butler (8 Nov 2017)

parotet said:


> plastic with bubbles


Ah we call that bubble wrap, I'v not come across that idea before.

I'm unsure what other people call the 2 pipes from their filters but I use the terms flow and return; Flow being the 'clean' water from the filter to the aquarium and return being the 'dirty' water from the aquarium to the filter.

I'm not trying to pick your method apart tmiravent, just put my questions / answers over.



tmiravent said:


> so i use this in my tanks:


How does this carry on siphoning water when it goes below the line of the lily pipe / flow?



tmiravent said:


> - I never shipon direct to sewer, always to big box with 60 liters, is very easy to catch shrimps, snails, etc. (in the end i check the box!)


My tee is on the return so the only shrimp or snails that would get through are the ones which would normally be able to enter the filter through the guards on the return pipe.



tmiravent said:


> I use a small piece of hose in outflow, avoiding splashing water during low water level.


Does this mean you connect a piece of hose to the flow (lily pipe) in the aquarium? This wouldn't really be any different to me just using my hose straight into the tank as far as disturbance is concerned would it?



tmiravent said:


> - The tap water always comes very slowly, to smooth temperature shock.


I've fitted a water temperature regulator which will only let water out at a certain temperature +/- 1 degree


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## Coys (8 Nov 2017)

ian_m said:


> When I pump water back into the tank I put a 2litre jug in the tank and pump into that so as to not disturb the plants and/or substrate.



I half fill 10 litre buckets of pre-heated RO water and pour very fast over my hand to break the flow. Never seems to uproot any plants or stir up the substrate. I've been doing 50-100 litres per week using this method for more than two years.


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## Majsa (8 Nov 2017)

I am using Gilles' method as described here: https://www.aquascaping-blog.com/1848/aquarium-verversen-onderhouden (it's in Dutch but you see the pictures)
A summary including personal adjustments:
- I attach an Eheim pump to the aquarium glass + hose and start the flow to a sewer
- Once the water flows, I mostly remove the hose from the pump under water and attach it to the vacuum end of a syphon (I don't know how to describe this better) so that I can vacuum the gravel while the water flows to the sewer
- when refilling the tank, I put a bucket under the tap and the same Eheim pump in the bucket, and pump the water via the bucket to the tank. At the same time I monitor the temperature from the tap / bucket with a thermometer. 
- I use a spare Eheim filter inlet at the other end of the hose. No need to attach it to the tank as it can hang on the bend. I haven't cut the filter inlet so it hangs under water even with a big water change. Even when it's close to the gravel it does not disturb it at all as flow goes up and sidewards, it works really well and the otos and the Amanos love it too.


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