water changes

[rna]

every time i do a water change my nitrates seem to stay at 35-40ppm and
i am trying to get them down. my amm and nIts have been at 0, but the
nAts have been at 30<x>40ppm. but i think i know why they are stil the
same, is because i take out about 11% water at water changes. becuase i
have to let the water sit for a day for the water conditioner to break
down the chlormanie in the tap(i onlly have a 5gal bucket and a 3gal, i
fill the 5wit water and let sit, and at water changes i take out 6gal
and put bac 5). and if i dont let it sit ill get a spike in amm and
nIts. and now since i am out of watr conditioner (will be picking soem
up soon so i can do a 50% water cahgne to get the nAts lower) well
between now and than, how should i treat the water? i let the water sit
for a couple days, but here in long beach, theres chromamine in the tap
and the bond has to be broken. so how can i neutralize chlromanine with
otu water conditioner? thanks


i will be pciking up the big bottle of Prime, because its more bang for
the buck ( capful treats 50gall~2500gal a bottle) compared to
amquel/novaquel teaspoon/10gal



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[Margolis]

I wouldn't do anything until you get some decent dechlorinator. Chloramine
doesn't readily evaporate from water, so you are pretty much screwed until
you get the chemicals. Nitrates in the 30-40ppm range aren't really all
that bad for freshwater fish, so I wouldn't worry about it until you can get
your water changes back on track properly. How often do you do water
changes?

btw, get some more buckets ;op Or a 30-40gallon rubbermaid trashcan

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Amateur Cichlids]

"Margolis" > wrote in message
...
>I wouldn't do anything until you get some decent dechlorinator. Chloramine
>doesn't readily evaporate from water, so you are pretty much screwed until
>you get the chemicals. Nitrates in the 30-40ppm range aren't really all
>that bad for freshwater fish, so I wouldn't worry about it until you can
>get your water changes back on track properly. How often do you do water
>changes?
>
> btw, get some more buckets ;op Or a 30-40gallon rubbermaid trashcan
>
> --
>
> Margolis
> http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
> http://www.unrealtower.org/faq
>
>

You may also want to measure the nitrates of your water out of the tap. If
they're coming from the tap at 30-40 ppm, you won't get them down in the
tank through water changes. You may want to look into some nitrate sponge
type plants.
Tim
www.fishaholics.org

[Elaine T]

rna wrote:
> every time i do a water change my nitrates seem to stay at 35-40ppm and
> i am trying to get them down. my amm and nIts have been at 0, but the
> nAts have been at 30<x>40ppm. but i think i know why they are stil the
> same, is because i take out about 11% water at water changes. becuase i
> have to let the water sit for a day for the water conditioner to break
> down the chlormanie in the tap(i onlly have a 5gal bucket and a 3gal, i
> fill the 5wit water and let sit, and at water changes i take out 6gal
> and put bac 5). and if i dont let it sit ill get a spike in amm and
> nIts. and now since i am out of watr conditioner (will be picking soem
> up soon so i can do a 50% water cahgne to get the nAts lower) well
> between now and than, how should i treat the water? i let the water sit
> for a couple days, but here in long beach, theres chromamine in the tap
> and the bond has to be broken. so how can i neutralize chlromanine with
> otu water conditioner? thanks
>
>
> i will be pciking up the big bottle of Prime, because its more bang for
> the buck ( capful treats 50gall~2500gal a bottle) compared to
> amquel/novaquel teaspoon/10gal
>
>
>
> --
> Posted via CichlidFish.com
> http://www.cichlidfish.com/portal/forums

I'm in San Diego and getting at least 15 ppm nitrates from the tap.
Long Beach could be worse. However, if you have 40 ppm nitrate and
change 11% even with nitrate-free water, it only goes down to 36 ppm.
You have to do bigger water changes. As others have said, there is no
way to neurtalize chloramine without water conditioner. Chloramines are
very stable.

However, the reaction with water conditioner is very fast. It does not
take overnight to happen. You can siphon down the tank, put the correct
amount of water conditioner in the tankwater, and then use a hose to
fill the tank back up. I used to do this with discus, believe it or
not. It was the easiest way to do the 30 gallon water changes. Match
temps at the faucet before you start adding water to the tank, of course.

--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><

[rna]

*UPDATE*

been doing 25gallon water changes every sat morning, with prime. also
ive made a diy python from 25' of clear tubing, siphon, and a metal
adapter on the tap. ive noticed some clarity in the water and noticed
the nitrates are 10 and get to bout 20-40 by sat depending how what/how
much ifeed. thanks for the advice. appreciate it



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