Boston Aquarium Society Message Board

I have well water (no chlorine). I am curious how one does water changes on large tanks when they don't have private deep well water (no chlorine).

Seems like a lot of work if you don't have the well water. ??

Thanks.

PS I am thinking of moving and this could be problematic. I have developed MTS.

It's not a big deal. You just add water conditioner to the water. You can also age your water, but that is a pain in the neck. I'm lucky enough to have a well now, but in the many years I've kept fish before that, I would just add the water conditioner to remove chlorine before I started filling the tank. Never any ill effects on the fishies.

I have a 55 gallon plastic drum that I age water for several days before using. I need to watch for chloramine though, it won't dissipate on its own like chlorine does.

-- Dave

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There are 10 kinds of people - Those who understand binary
And those who don't

I have a serious case of MTS and I use chlorinated town water.

My biggest tank is 125g and has big messy fish - so it gets big water changes (usually 75%, hopefully weekly, often bi-weekly).

I dechlorinate as I fill - using "Tap Water Conditioner" brand - its a drop to a gallon, a capfull to 100g, something like 9000 g per bottle.

Biggest issue I've run into with town water is the chemistry - I have really really soft water (which some fish love, some fish hate) loaded with phosphate.
If I don't keep up with my water changes my pH plummets - I have some tanks I keep around 6.5, some I try to keep around 7, the big one I'd like to keep just over 7 but it often gets down below 7, and one tank I keep the pH around 7.8.

The extra phosphate means that if I'm lax about maint (or overfeed) - I get gobs and gobs of algae. Having lots of live plants helps, but I still battle the algae monster.

Good news - fish that love soft water love my water, and its easier/cheaper to harden soft water than it is to soften hard water

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Rich
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Its new, its improved (its still a work-in-progress)
its http://redpaulhus.com !

ah yes. I live in Boston and use the city's water too. the ph is somewhere between 5 and 6. I use neutral regulator it keeps the ph neutral and adds a buffer)

I know I added my 2 cents about this before but..........
I am in Chelsea-the lovely little city on the north side of Boston.
In a nutshell the MWRA treats the water to protect the pipes.The water
has an artificialy high p.h. and is very soft.My p.h. is as high as 8.8
and very soft.
Depending on where you are in the MWRA district your water may vary
due to proximity to treatment stations(and other variables).
When doing water changes, I may for example fill 5- 2.5 gallon buckets
w/tap water.I then will add Seachem Prime,also another chemical to
bind heavy metals.The water in the buckets is then stirred very well.
If ten gallons is removed from a 40 gallon tank,I'll try to add the 10 gallons back over a couple hours.Even when the water is added back right away I have never experienced a problem.I have even done daily 50% water changes in a 30 gallon that at times had up to 3 spawns(almost 300 fish) of albino bristlenose and never lost any.
I think the main worry is the p.h. dropping out due to lack of water changes w/water that has little buffering capacity. Tom L

air line tubing is your friend if you are adding the water back slowly. 10 gallons might take like half an hour to refill through air line tubing, but at least you can stop it when you see that there is a problem.