George, thanks for the advice and tips. Sounds like you got the water
change to a perfect process. I'll get another powerhead and let it do the
work next time. (My wife is only being tolerant of the mess for now, I
better get it smoother and faster soon.)

Regards,
Bryan


"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:7yRpg.779$iW2.693@trnddc03...
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.