100% water change after about 4½ months??

JB wrote:
nut wrote:
JB wrote:
I have had a 10 gallon tank with 3 adult sword tail fish 2" in length
for about 4½ months.. the water is really dirty because when I did my
50% change as recommended by Tetra, my plastic bucket had some
dirt/debree in it that I didn't spot until after I added the 50%
remaining water..

You really should change water more frequently.

The dirt/debris at the bottom of the bucket isn't anything to worry about...
it was in there before you did the water change, you merely put it back.

My test kit shows medium water hardness, borderline Nitrate/Nitrate,
and border line unsafe PH.. I was told at my recent visit to Petco,
that I should completely drain my tank, clean all decor with water and
replace all water with filtered water and let sit for a few hours
before re-adding my fish.. Also they recommended a bubble stone to
introduce more Oxygen into my tank...

They said you should do this all at once?

I'd recommend removing the ornaments and cleaning one by one, then hoovering
the gravel while you do a 50% water change.

Then do the same again a week later... then the week after that.

Leave a bucket of water out overnight to dechlorinate so you don't have to
add any dechlorinating chemicals.

Has anyone done this before, and any tips, etc to help along the way??

I hope all fishkeepers have done this before... I do it fortnightly... so
should you.



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I'm using a Whisper Filter with the carbon in the filter cartridge ...
Also, should I remove my fish when trying to take out the decor to
clean, or leave them in?.. Also, should I just filter water before
adding more, or just add my water treatment chemical?...

I leave my fish in to avoid extra stress, then add the new water
slowly, de-chlorinating it prior or during addition of the water
(de-chlorinators are instant).

As default stated and clarified better than me is to not over clean
your media in your filter.
With Whisper filters you can remove the old carbon from the filter "Bio
Bag" and add it to your new cartridge to seed it. Also I often use
sponge pre filters (such as the Filter Max) on my HOB filters to add to
bio filtration and add a margin of safety when you change cartridges,
this also helps with the bio weakness of this filter. The addtion of
the air stone will aid in circulation. But an additional filter will
help even more.

You can clean your whole cartridge or a filter sponge by using used
aquarium water from a water change and squeeze the sponge or swish the
filter cartridge several times until nothing more is expelled form the
filter media. You also may use de-chlorinated tap water or well water
(without added chemicals) for rinsing your filter media. I often will
use both methods and I will use the de-chlorinated tap water for the
final rinses until the rinse water in no longer dirty.

Try and correct all your water parameters too.

Carl
More about sponge filtration, including pre filters.:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts....iltration.html