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Water change suggestions

N

nphsmith

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3 Dec 2012
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83
I have just ordered a 225 litre tank (90*50*50). I am physically lazy, and have no doubt that, even with the best initial intentions, I will not end up taking 10 11-litre buckets/bottles to the kitchen (about 15 metres away) every Friday night. I've been trying to convince myself that I can use a non-EI system and get away with considerably smaller changes (Say a bucket or two 3 times a week - maybe 35%), but the more I read the more I become convinced EI is the route I want to go down.

So...how do I use pumps and hoses to do these 50% changes? Nearest sink is 15 metres away. There is zero chance of being allowed to put in place any permanent plumbing, and I don't really have anywhere to store a 110-litre vat - though I suppose I could have a 60-litre or so box in the attic.

Getting the water out is reasonably straightforward - a decent size hose and pump going to the sink will be fine. But then I need to get de-chlorinated and warmed-up water into the tank, without it becoming such a chore that I stop doing it.

I'm sure you clever people have worked out ways to do this sort of water change that is reasonably straightforward (He says hopefully).
 
Here you go mate, Link! from the DIY section.
Involves adding the dechlorinator to the tank after the water which has put me off trying it (yet) but plenty of people seemed not to have an issue.
Cheers
 
Samuran said:
Here you go mate, Link! from the DIY section.
Involves adding the dechlorinator to the tank after the water which has put me off trying it (yet) but plenty of people seemed not to have an issue.
Cheers
Click to expand...


Thankyou - that was exactly the sort of clever suggestion I was looking for!
 
I do it all the hard way. 5 gallon drums sat over night and run an air stone for 4 Hrs in the container then pour in. I'm macho so don't mind lifting drums lol. I use one 5 gallon drum to drain into then tip it in the garden or sometimes the pond. I went back to using this method after reading about this pour in declorinator and garden hose straight in method my experience was my plants didn't like the declorinator for some reason I had mosses turn from a lush green to Brown in a few weeks. It may of been the brand I was using as other here find its a great method and saves you lots of time.
 
Having chatted to my plumber mate, he points out that the suggested plumbing is far more complex than my needs, as I have mixer-tap in my kitchen, so I simply need a single length of hose - all the taps etc. are redundant for me.
 
Must be some good quality spring water coming out of the tap where you live foxfish.... I made a mistake a couple of years ago involving not using dechlorinator... was an expensive shopping trip to restock afterwards...
 
I'm a lazy bugger too! There is a 'poor man's El method' (I think Tom Barr put me on to it a few years ago) which I use. It basically involves dosing less but over a longer time frame. Water changes are far less frequent and only 25%. I've adapted it even further (just because I'm lazy and forgetful) and I do a 25% water change every 2-3 weeks at best. Haven't lost a fish in 5 years so it seems like it works for the livestock, although I can't get CRS to breed in my tank. Plants are lush as you would expect. There are many ways to grow a tank.

Cheers
 
Manrock said:
I'm a lazy bugger too! There is a 'poor man's El method' (I think Tom Barr put me on to it a few years ago) which I use. It basically involves dosing less but over a longer time frame. Water changes are far less frequent and only 25%. I've adapted it even further (just because I'm lazy and forgetful) and I do a 25% water change every 2-3 weeks at best. Haven't lost a fish in 5 years so it seems like it works for the livestock, although I can't get CRS to breed in my tank. Plants are lush as you would expect. There are many ways to grow a tank.

Cheers
Click to expand...

You got any links to the method?
 
Manrock said:
I'm a lazy bugger too! There is a 'poor man's El method' (I think Tom Barr put me on to it a few years ago) which I use. It basically involves dosing less but over a longer time frame. Water changes are far less frequent and only 25%. I've adapted it even further (just because I'm lazy and forgetful) and I do a 25% water change every 2-3 weeks at best. Haven't lost a fish in 5 years so it seems like it works for the livestock, although I can't get CRS to breed in my tank. Plants are lush as you would expect. There are many ways to grow a tank.

Cheers
Click to expand...
You must be thinking of non injected tanks?
 
Try this, although all I really do is to take the El method recipe and 'water' in down by about 1/3. I do less water changes so any nutrient build up has to be kept in check by adding less in the first place. Lighting is moderate and I have CO2 injection. I'm not advocating this method as a 'best fit' for everyone. It's just that I know I cannot do 50% water changes every week, it's just not possible for me. I dose low, growth is lowered slightly I expect (less work for me) and livestock is healthy. I had to play around with this dosing regime until I got what I wanted (no algae + good growth).

I am linking to another forum, hope this is ok?

James' Planted Tank - PMDD

Cheers
 
PMDD - Poor Man's Dosing Drops
What is it?
Originally known as Poor Man's Dupla Drops it was created by Paul Sears and Kevin Conlin in 1996 as a method to supply the plants in the aquarium with all the necessary nutrients, but to restrict phosphate as a means to control algae. Phosphates must be restricted, but not eliminated, otherwise the plants will start to die. Originally the PMDD formula had no phosphates in it as it was presumed that enough would be available in the tank from the fish. In recent years though it has been shown that potassium phosphate is also required in the formula as not enough to supply the plant's needs comes from the fish. From this dosing method came Estimative Index (EI) which doses higher levels of nutrients, but resets the tank's levels with large weekly water changes and the Perpetual Preservation System (PPS-Pro) which is very similar to PMDD but with phosphate added and which tries to match nutrient dosing with plant uptake so reducing water change frequency. There are also many other variations of PMDD which are used very successfully around the world by experienced aquatic plant keepers. Even many hydroponics systems using the PMDD formula with great success.
The PMDD solution is added everyday so as to keep levels as stable as possible and help prevent any of the nutrients running out. Dosing levels have to be acquired by testing for iron and nitrates over a period of weeks. This is one of the major pitfalls of this system because of the difficulty in obtaining accurate test results.
 
I never match the temperature going back into the tank. Just treat the tank for the whole volume with Prime, and then fill from the cold tap. If it's really cold then I sling some hot water in as I'm filling.
 
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