# How do you do your water change?



## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

I was just wondering how you guys do your water change
I was dripping my prime treated tap water (25%) each week, I would let it trip over night. But now that I have a few tanks, this is becoming a pain in the ass. What do you guys do? Any major deaths?


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## Beijing08 (Jul 19, 2010)

Jimmy what shrimp do you keep?
It's more important to drip according to your specific shrimp. I know you have OEBT's, and those do not require dripping at all.


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## Rmwbrown (Jan 22, 2009)

I'm pretty lazy with the whole thing. 50% a week, RO water, GH booster, at room temp, pumped into the tanks.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Lazy here too - once every week or two, 50% temp adjusted tap water treated in bucket with Prime and dumped in.

Isn't 1 and 3 the same choice?


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

i have oebt, crystal reds a-ss+ grades,golden bee, regular bees, crystal blacks s-ss grades. No deaths with blues, but crystals sometime get a few deaths post water changes. 

1= just water straight into the tank from the tap while adding prime or water conditioner
2= into a bucket, mixed around then added in.


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

Rmwbrown said:


> I'm pretty lazy with the whole thing. 50% a week, RO water, GH booster, at room temp, pumped into the tanks.


how are u pumping it in?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

ameekplec. said:


> Lazy here too - once every week or two, 50% temp adjusted tap water treated in bucket with Prime and dumped in.
> 
> Isn't 1 and 3 the same choice?


I think 1 is you add the Prime directly to the aquarium, and add in the new water.

Choice 3 is when you add the water to a bucket, add the Prime to the bucket, and then pour the bucket's contents into the aquarium.


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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

Do you guys use those python hoses that hook up to the sink? I was wondering if those are ok to use... 

Do you just add the water conditioner to the tank right before you pump in the new water?


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Dis said:


> Do you guys use those python hoses that hook up to the sink? I was wondering if those are ok to use...
> 
> Do you just add the water conditioner to the tank right before you pump in the new water?


Yes, alot of people I know do it that way. Just hook up their pythons to the tap and add prime in the tank as it fills with temp. adjusted water.


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

yup I do that for a few of my tanks, but I just noticed few more shrimp deaths when I do that. So that is why I was wondering what everyone else does and how if they experience shrimp deaths due to quick water changes.


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## okoolo (Nov 1, 2009)

I do it a bit differently .. pump water from the sink which gets refilled by the tap which I leave running .. just add prime once in a while

just use hose from home depot with a cheap eheim pump


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

I water change twice a week, i fill a bucket and treat it with prime and then i let the bucket sit for a couple days before adding it to the tank. I dont drip it in, just slowly pour it in the tank. I have Oebts and cherry shrimp, havent seen any deaths after water changes


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

the ole python and added prime afterwards.


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## Kaiser.800 (Feb 3, 2010)

I do a 10% change every 2 days with prime treated water dripped in. I have a 20 gal with 4 cpos, numerous red cherries, ghost shrimps, mts, ramshorns, baby apple snails, scuds, 6 hara jerdoni and a couple of native to florida fish, that came in with the ghost shrimp, that I have not been able to id. (look like grey and black mini platies.)


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Well I don't really do any water changes, just top up the water in my tanks as they go down which is usually once a week. I check the ammonia levels every week, so I know if a tank needs a water change, if the ammonia is 0 then I just top up the water with Amquel + added. 

I do NOT use Prime 
I have discussed this with many others and it seems more shrimp deaths in tanks treated with Prime than any others.

When I put the water in I have the bucket with conditioner already in it and I just pour a container at a time over the top of my sponge filter area, as the water there is already agitated, the shrimp are used to this, so they don't notice anything different, and the new water is distributed across the tank. 

I also sometimes just put the container against the glass inside the tank and pour the water down the glass, this does not disturb any of the plants or substrate and is easier on the shrimps  if I have any hanging in the plants on the surface.

My tanks all contain either some duckweed or frogbit or water lettuce which also absorbs nitrates/nitrites and lessens the need for major water changes.

I am a firm believer that less tampering with the tanks is much better for the shrimps. I keep brig snails in my tanks too and they eat any and all leftovers including poop! yuck...

I have 18 tanks in my fish room, and it doesn't take that long to top up all of them. All of my tanks have shrimps berried in them, so I guess they like the way I am keeping them.


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## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

18 tanks?? wow thts too manny! so hows the electic bill going??


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## novice (Mar 14, 2006)

I use prime - will no ill effect - use tap water put the required doze of prime and let the water sit in a bucket for a week - then top off/or change with drip method - temp is cooler than the tank water.

Jimmy dont do direct tap and prime - use stored water the CRS are pretty sensitive to water changes.


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## bigd81 (Jun 8, 2010)

I have around 40 tanks, Just use the python and add prime while filling. I try and match the temp of the tanks to the water going in the best I can..Never had any problems, All cichlids and pleco's though so they are bit hardier then some..


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## bambi (Nov 11, 2010)

bigd81 said:


> I have around 40 tanks, Just use the python and add prime while filling. I try and match the temp of the tanks to the water going in the best I can..Never had any problems, All cichlids and pleco's though so they are bit hardier then some..


how do you match the temperature? By just turn on the hot water? I wanted to try that, but wasn't sure.

I have buckets of water sitting there for a week with heater in them to adjust to the same temperature. When I need to do water change, i put the water bucket on a shelf above the tank and use a thin CO2 silicon tube to drip. The dripping process only takes about 20-30 min. I don't like using any chemicals in my tank. Never used prime in my tank.


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