# water changing help pleeasee



## fante&bukowski (Apr 12, 2011)

i have a ten gallon tank. just got it yesterday & i have 1 female betta &3 african dwarf frogs. how often should i clean the tank? should i do 25% water change everyday?? ( i have no filter) & if i do .how much tap conditioner should i put?!?1 i only put 5-8 drops in the tank but when i change the water should i put a drop into the new water then pour it into the tank?? ahh so confused someone PLEASE help i dont want my lovelies to die


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

since it's a new tank, you shouldn't have to do a water change for a couple months because your tank is still cycling. As far as tap conditioner, you may not even need it depending on where you live. Sometimes tap water in locations is ok to put directly into the tank. Call your city and see if you can't find out.


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## Lanette001 (Apr 7, 2011)

Hello! 

If you just got the tank, like snyderguy said, your tank isn't cycled. You will want to let it cycle for a little wihle. After it is cycled though, you should changed around 20%ish of the water each week. You may or may not need to add chemicals, it depends on what is in your water. If you have chlorine or chloramines in your water, you deffinitely want to add a conditioner that gets rid of those. Most people will add the conditioner to their bucket of water before they add it to the tank. This is to keep the chlorine and chloramines out of the tank totally, and that is what I do. Others add it afterward when the water is in the tank. Personally I would play it safe and add conditioner before putting the water in the tank and until you know about what is in your water I would add conditioner.

Dad told me that our water doesn't have chlorine in it, but I still add conditioner to play it safe


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Always condition the water BEFORE putting it in the tank. It only takes a few seconds for the chlorine to wipe out your filter.
Also, it is best to let new water sit overnight in a bucket, preferably while having an airstone run in it, before adding it to the tank. New "raw" water from the faucet can easily kill all your fish even without chlorine just from the gas imbalance caused by the pressure in the pipes. Let it breathe.


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## Lanette001 (Apr 7, 2011)

Ohh, I didn't know that TOS about the gas imbalance... I will do that from now on


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

I also agree TOS, whats the technique tho with tropical tanks?
If you let the water sit out all night then its gonna turn cold which can cause stress to your fish. Dont tell me you have an extra heater too lol


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I didn't let my tank cycle and I tested it at petco and the water PERFECT. I would clean out my tank once every two months.


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## physasst (Apr 3, 2011)

Unless you are a complete newbsauce like myself, and you keep overfeeding your fish....

Dam....

None of them have died except one of the Oto's, but the water is pretty cloudy again....Sigh....


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Well, Mr Fish, it's almost always hot down here so I rarely have to worry about it, but when I do, then yes, I DO add a heater to the bucket. It only takes a short while to get it warm again. 

I personally usually fill a large 45 gallon plastic container with water and get it ready a few days in advance, with a power filter and heater going the whole time. That way I can just scoop out water for working on several tanks at once. Pretty handy.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

the person has no filter according to the first post so I would say they need to be doing water changes a couple times a week.
Either that or get a filter and let it cycle as per regular fish tanks.


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## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

TheOldSalt said:


> Well, Mr Fish, it's almost always hot down here so I rarely have to worry about it, but when I do, then yes, I DO add a heater to the bucket. It only takes a short while to get it warm again.
> 
> I personally usually fill a large 45 gallon plastic container with water and get it ready a few days in advance, with a power filter and heater going the whole time. That way I can just scoop out water for working on several tanks at once. Pretty handy.


Could I just store water in a 30-gallon new trash bin, lined with a garbage bag? That's how I store my rainwater, but I might have to do that with my WC water, too, now. Thanks TOS. :fun:


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## Skorpy (May 1, 2011)

fante&bukowski said:


> i have a ten gallon tank. just got it yesterday & i have 1 female betta &3 african dwarf frogs. how often should i clean the tank? should i do 25% water change everyday?? ( i have no filter) & if i do .how much tap conditioner should i put?!?1 i only put 5-8 drops in the tank but when i change the water should i put a drop into the new water then pour it into the tank?? ahh so confused someone PLEASE help i dont want my lovelies to die


Hi

You should leave your tank to cycle for at least a few days before adding a couple of hardy fish to help get the cycle going. Then think about cleaning the tank out after a few weeks.

I do mine every 2 weeks...it seems fine done this way. So then it needs a 50% water change. Once you fill it with your tap water, you need to pour in 5ml of your conditioner. Just drop it straight in after you put the new water in.

Why have you got no filter. You really need a filter to keep the cycle going, and it helps keep the tank cleaner.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

hmmmmm...i may have to quit keeping fish...i don't follow any of them rules...


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

once a month should be fine. 50 percent of the water should come out.


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## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

lohachata said:


> hmmmmm...i may have to quit keeping fish...i don't follow any of them rules...


Rules are for breaking, obviously. XD


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

lohachata said:


> hmmmmm...i may have to quit keeping fish...i don't follow any of them rules...


Me neither. o_0 I cycle my tanks with a couple fish in them, and do daily or every other day small water changes until the cycle is over. Then I switch to weekly.


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## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

egoreise said:


> Me neither. o_0 I cycle my tanks with a couple fish in them, and do daily or every other day small water changes until the cycle is over. Then I switch to weekly.


Seriously? That sounds so much simpler and cheaper than all the articles and books and threads that I've read. :???: Cycling has reached quasi-mystical status by now.


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

It is veery very simple. Just use a hardy fish. A lot of people will disagree with me because it's putting the fish in less than ideal conditions. I haven't lost any or seen signs of illness or stress yet.

I've read that at the very least, you should start water changes on the third or fourth day because that's when toxic levels of ammonia build up.

Just yesterday, I put two platies and some live plants in a new tank to cycle it. Of course that tank had a head start because I seeded it with the biowheels from two other tanks, and I added a filter that was still moist from being used on another tank....


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

who the heck cycles ???..i just fill up the tank..add some dechlorinator and add fish...
but keep this in mind...when you are a hobbyist with 1 or 2 tanks or so ; you can play around with taking time cycling..when you have a bunch of tanks with lots of fish like a shop or breeder or wholesaler ; having tanks sitting around for weeks and weeks just isn't doable...


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I'm always answering 'cycling' questions here. I understand it pretty well. But, honestly, I don't actually do it. I just move 'cycled' filters around from tank to tank and do huge water changes (drop the water level until the fish are sideways) at the first sign of poor water quality. I am fortunate to have good, consistent water here and room to pre-treat it.

I always wonder why anyone ever 'cycles' their second tank.


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## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

Darnit, I really need to buy some sponge filters, don't I? I would start seeding extra HOB filters on my established tanks, but there actually isn't any more room on the back.


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

Or you could just buy sponges and add them to each filter so they are ready to go. I do the seeding, but I'm still not confident that the tank is cycled, so I watch the fish closely and do those little water changes to be on the safe side.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

my favorite sponge filters are from Steve Rybicki....he is the owner of www.angelsplus.com ...i have been using his filters for years...as far as i am concerned ; they are the best...and very reasonably priced....
http://angelsplus.com/FiltersSponge.htm


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

OMG so much stuff wrong in this thread


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Mikaila31 said:


> OMG so much stuff wrong in this thread


Sorry guys, but, I'm with Mikalia on this one... :-?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It has drifted off the question. 

Get a filter or do 100% water changes twice a week. Smaller water changes with no filter will just let the poisons build up and up.


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