Bryan wrote:

Am I the only one using store bought water?!

No. I frequently buy bottled spring water.

What do you mix your new water in?

A 32 gallon plastic trash can. I don't use the can for anything else.

Do you sit there and stir or have extra powerheads doing the trick or is
there something I haven't thought of?

I use an old Hagen powerhead. I just drop it in and let it lie on the bottom. I
normally run this for three days.

What's the best way to take the water from the container on the ground up to
the aquarium?

I shut the powerhead off, hook it up to a piece of tubing, drop it back into the
can, run the other end of the tubing into my tank, and cut the powerhead back
on. The tubing must closely fit the outlet of the powerhead. You also have to
rig up something to keep the other end in the tank; I place part of my glass
tank cover on top of the tube.

When the water in the can has been pumped into the tank, I pull the plug on the
powerhead. The tube will now act as a siphon, so pull it out of the tank as soon
as the powerhead is off. You will still have a gallon or two in the can, but you
can pick the can up and pour that amount into the tank.

One other thing. I use a python to siphon water out of the tank. I mix up 25
gallons at a time, so I have placed one of those stick-on thermometers on the
tank at the 25 gallon low level. It's useless as a thermometer, but it shows me
how much water to drain.

1) I have Emperor 400's, when the water is too low they can't pull in the
water to circulate and aerate. This leads to one deadwater tank. I thought
maybe I should throw in air stones... is that what you guys do? Is stones
enough or do I need to have some filtration still working?

Airstones are pretty much useless for anything except creating salt spray for
you to clean up. The best thing is simply to circulate the water so that new
water is always being brought to the surface of the tank. Filters that pull from
near the bottom and discharge at the surface are great for this. Wavemakers are
also good. Even a simple powerhead can help.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.