Was wondering how people who use this method handle the large water changes that are suggested. I have a python, but I will use buckets that I let sit out awhile for my water changes. I have always been a little paranoid about putting water straight from the tap directly into the tank. I suppose you pre-treat the tank before the water goes in. Am I missing something, or is letting the water sit/age just one of those old methods that are no longer true.

Fred

Hi,

I have a 180 gal and do 50% weekly WC........

I go directly from tap to tank.

FIRST, I dose the remaining tank water with Prime and then just fill it up......

I had your concerns as well, but the prime works well.

The old method is good for chlorine, but not chloramines.

If you do large water changes with tap, then adding more tap does not change much in terms of KH/GH.

I do not suggest adjusting KH.

So all you need is add some dechlorinator like Prime or Amquel etc.
I toss the hose from the tap right on the tank, turn it on and add the dechlorinator.

Never an issue in many decades.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Great that makes life very easy. I did not realize the dechlorinators worked that quickly.

Thanks
Fred

Tom,

You said adding tap (to a tap-filled tank) doesn't change GH or KH much and recommended not changing KH. My tap comes out at 2 GH and 3 KH but within a few days, KH will have dropped to 1.5 or 2 if I don't add some baking soda. I don't feel good about a KH as low as 2 (the pH swings from night to day get pretty big). Is your advice not to alter KH a general truism for high KH tap or would you recommend filling the tank and later raising KH?

If you lose KH, it's likely due to one of two things: tannins, or Kh is being munched by bicarbonate using plants, eg, you may not have enough CO2 gas.......they will go after the KH then.

In any event, low KH is not an issue.
No KH is not an issue even.

What becomes problematic is when you want to measure CO2.

But a KH of 1 and a KH of 10 are just fine to measure O2, it's when you have very low KH or no KH that you cannot measure it via pH/KH.

A KH of 3 vs 1 makes no difference there however.

Adding some baking soda to keep it at 3 is not needed, however, it does not hurt either.

The real issue is keeping the same rate of CO2 gas being added to the tank, then it does not matter if the KH moved around, the CO2 is still the same in either case.

KH/pH can move around and still have the same CO2.

All we are concerned about really is CO2 for plants and toxicity if the CO2 gets too high, or too low and algae/poor growth of plants.

Fish are pretty good about water changes if done weekly. Your tap is pretty good really. No need to mess with it. I'd focus a bit more on tweaking CO2 is all from the sounds of it. We all can say that

Regards,
Tom Barr