We have a 60 gallon pentagon tank and when we do partial water changes it takes FOREVER. I feel like there must be a more efficient way of doing things. We are new at this so any help is great. Here is what we currently do: siphon 25-30% of the water out using the gravel vaccum. Then we use a 13 gallon trash can(for aquarium use only) to put the tap water in. Then we dechlorinate the tap water and use the aquarium heater to make sure that it is the right temp. Then we lug buckets or gallons of this water over to the big tank and pour it in. One trashcan full usually will not do the job so we have to make a crazy amount of trips. We tried to siphon the new water back into the tank but couldn't seem to get it going. This may not seem like a lot but it takes forever. Please help.

Oh ya and I'm scared i am going to over-dechlorify the water :dunno: Is this even possible?

To the best of my knowledge it isn't possible to over de-chlorinate your water, at least I've never heard of it happening.

What type of filter system do you have and how often are you doing water changes?

Depending on filtration and frequency of water changes you may be able to get away aith doing a smaller % which would make it easier.

Python.... tis better to over dechlorinate than under. ;)

There is a nifty little product out, that hooks to your sink. Kind of like what you would use to fill a water bed. You just hook it up to one side, turn on the water faucet to start the sciphon. Once going turn it off. Buy a gravel vaccume that can attach to a garden hose. Then vaccume out gravel while draining. Once done take off the gravel vaccume, the a quick turn at the faucet and you can change the device to flow into the tank. So basically you, hook up the device, a hose, and your gravel vaccume. That's all it takes. You can adjust the temp. of the water at the faucet, to get it just right. Then once the tank is full again, put in the dechlorinator. You shoulden't have any problems with chlorene. The fish can take the chlorene for a little while. It's best to just do half water changes. Every other week is what I do. Of you can go longer it won't hurt any. Or you can go with quarter water changes more frequently. Here is what the device looks like. It only cost, $2.50 us.

thanks for the tip somethin's fishy. I saw the faucet attachments but I was scared to get one because I thought you had to dechlorinate before you put the water back in the tank. That would make life so much easier to just do that and then dechlorinate once i get the water back in the tank. THANKS!


dtroup, We have a fluval 304 and an undergraval filter but since the tank was given to me and I didn't know what an undergravel filter was at the time, I got gravel underneath it so I dont think it is doing anything beneficial for me at the moment.

When the tank was given to us it was disgusting. The water was dirty brown and you could hardly see the fish. The only filter they had was the undergravel. I am still trying to get it right and I am amazed that the fish have survived. I bought some test kits yesterday and the water is still pretty bad. I don't want to just change all the water at once because I already did that when we first got it. Is it safe for the fish if I do a partial water change everyday until we get the water right?

i would lose the UGF(cichlids digging nature will render it useless anyway), and get a power filter(emperor400 or AC110) to accompany the fluval. i add my dechlorinator to the tank first then fill it up with the python and haven't had any problems.

That's just personal opinion. I have undergravel filters on all my cichlid tanks. I do get a little digging from my german red, but all I have to do is fill it back in. Once I fill it back in he generally won't dig another pit for a month or so. I use bubblers, and powerheads on my undergravels. The best thing I like about the undergravel with a powerhead is that you do less gravel cleaning. Also if your lucky enough like I am and have snails living in the undergravel. They eat the excess poop and what not that's under there. They can't escape the undergravel either. If they come even remotely close my clown loach is there to suck em up. Works so well that I pulled one of the tubes took out the snails and planted them in my other undergravels in all my other tanks. So really it's just a matter of how you want your tank to look. If you like the undergravel keep it, if you like sand get it. There are even ways to use a undergravel with sand.

As far as doing water changes every day. I would not reccomend doing so. If you did a full water change, you want to let the tank run for a week or so. When you fill a tank with totally new water, the nitrate levels spike high for the first couple days. Other levels can spike also, like ph, ammonia, ect. Usually these levels will dramatically reduce after the tank has been running for a while, and the natural biocycle of the tank has begun. Then you want to start your regular water changes. Once a week or every other it's up to you. The wait for the cycle to begin can greatly be reduced by, using used filters at first, used gravel, decor. The reason is because your used gravel ect. already has algae built up on it. Algae plays huge part in starting a tanks cycle.

depends on the cicld, my fryeri is a dump truck, heck even my julies render a ugf worthless in a couple hours.

I agree. My fryeri doesn't dig at all. Out of all my 100 some odd peacocks, I'd have to say my german red is the worst at it. I really just depends on if the fish feels like moving gravel or not. Worst fish I've ever owned that would dig, is a melanchromis chimpoke. That sucker would move huge mounds all around the tank. Dig out one hole, then move the pile it just made. I even saw it dig out a hole and fill it back in, while digging another hole. Crazy ass fish. Always trying lure the ladies to his pimp lairs.

yeah i guess i should have said the cichlids i have would render it useless in a matter of minutes. it was just my personal experience with UGF's. they have not performed well enough for me to justify using them on my tanks. plus mine always seemed to collect a bunch of crap under the plates that i never could really get all out unless i took the plates out. then gravel vac them and set the system up again. maybe i was doing something wrong i don't know but it just was more hassle for me. :huh: