Aquaone water changer... Could this be?

1456 Views 17 Replies 13 Participants Last post by sick lid, Sep 20, 2012

greenpointer

Discussion Starter · Sep 20, 2012 (Edited)

I saw their video but I don't get how this works without harming/killing the fish.
Taking water out is obviously a no brainer but adding water straight from the faucet and into the tank seems to pose a few of serious issues:

1. The water temp will be much cooler (in almost every place) so by adding it like this it should create a huge drop in the temp if you are doing a decent 40-50% change.

2. Water has chlorine and such in it. By adding such water straight into the tank - you can kill the fish.

3. Adding water so quickly will change the water chemistry too fast and might harm the fish

Am I missing anything?

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

tetra73

· #2 · Sep 20, 2012

You are pretty much correct.

I still find the changer helpful and although expensive. I didn't get one yet because I would need something like 40ft long. Instead of adding the tap water directly, you can use the changer to add water to your tub. My water storage tub is next to my tank and my tank is some 30 ft away from my kitchen sink. And some 40ft away from the bathroom. So, I have been using a 5g bucket to do my WC.

fishboy199413

· #3 · Sep 20, 2012

What I do is just try to match the faucet water temperature to the tank temp. and just fill up the tank. As I am doing this I add Prime in small amounts at different times while the tank is filling so at the end it matches the amount needed for the water taken out. I have never had a problem doing this except when I had one come off the faucet as it is filling almost causing a flood. Also if you have the plastic faucet adapter I would change it out with a metal one because the plastic ones get threaded. Hope that helped answer your questions.

-Michael

greenpointer

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 20, 2012

What I do is run a garden house, to which I connect a pvc elbow to & a pipe (so the length of the pipe will always take exactly 50% - when it goes lower the air stops it), and water my garden with it. Then I fill up a plastic container over the tank (on a shelf), add chlorine removal to it, and then I run a small 1/4" pipe - that I actually made smaller by only allowing an inlet & outlet holes the size of a needle in it, to drip into my tank. When it is done - it is done. I can leave the house and nothing will happen because it is all connected and when it finishes it will stop by itself.

So work wise it takes 10 minutes to set up and I don't need to keep an eye on any stage as they both ( the emptying the and filling) will stop by themselves and then for it to fill up with drip - it takes about an hour but what do I care? I can go on with my business.

And it makes the fish lives much better and safer.

greenpointer

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 20, 2012

fishboy - beside the fact you need to add small amounts all the time (which is annoying and time consuming) by adjusting the temp in the faucet you are actually adding water from your house water heater into that water. Now unless you have a tankless heater (and I hope you don't - they aren't worth the money on a cost/benefit analysis) your water heater is most likely a regular tank heater that works on gas or electricity.

Have you ever drank tea by using the hot water from your faucet? You shouldn't try... it tastes awful because those tanks have coatings in them to prevent rust and calcium build up and they sit in those tanks for days sometimes. Nasty stuff indeed.

Do you really think your fish are better off breathing that?

So yes. I do believe you that you never had issues or anything but that is a bit like the cigarette argument - "my grandfather smoked for his whole life and died when he was 90 without any issues..."

catch my drift?

NWA-Planted

· #6 · Sep 20, 2012

Water changes are way over thought

I keep discus in my tank notoriously finicky... I drain the tank up to 50% plus. my refill is hard plumbed in from the cold line, start it filling ad a capful of prime, never had any issues

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

fishboy199413

· #7 · Sep 20, 2012

Yeah my tank is heated and I only add the prime in small amounts just to be sure. I do not always do that.

Noahma

· #8 · Sep 20, 2012

greenpointer said:
I saw their video but I don't get how this works without harming/killing the fish.
Taking water out is obviously a no brainer but adding water straight from the faucet and into the tank seems to pose a few of serious issues:

1. The water temp will be much cooler (in almost every place) so by adding it like this it should create a huge drop in the temp if you are doing a decent 40-50% change.

2. Water has chlorine and such in it. By adding such water straight into the tank - you can kill the fish.

3. Adding water so quickly will change the water chemistry too fast and might harm the fish

Am I missing anything?

I use the waterchanger, its pretty easy, suck the water out, add the water in. I temp match it, using a thermometer int he sink on a suction cup. I add the prime right as the water starts to enter the tank, but add it right in front of the hose so it gets mixed in quickly. Have not lost a fish because of this, and I have been using it for years.

Jayme

· #9 · Sep 20, 2012

Noahma said:
I use the waterchanger, its pretty easy, suck the water out, add the water in. I temp match it, using a thermometer int he sink on a suction cup. I add the prime right as the water starts to enter the tank, but add it right in front of the hose so it gets mixed in quickly. Have not lost a fish because of this, and I have been using it for years.

I do the same thing but don't even bother with a thermometer. I just get the water close by feel.

I do this with all my tanks, including ones with shrimp. Everyone loves to play in the water as it goes in the tank, no one seems bothered by it in the least.

OverStocked

· #10 · Sep 20, 2012

I use water that is sometimes 20 degrees colder than tank water. I've never once had a death. Do you think never experience cold rains or temp changes? One small stream could be cold and a larger lake or river much warmer.

Cold water changes have been used in cichlid breeding for decades. The only precaution I take is to make the water "splash" in to make sure it is aerated.

Adding your dechlorinator when you start the water change will do all you need to for the chlorine. Chlorine is not an instant killer. It is a long term problem.

I've used hot water to match in the past with no problem. in the dead of winter I use it to keep the water above 50 degrees. I do water changes of up to 90% with this cold water. Fish act sluggish for a bit, but then bam! Happy cause they have clean, clear water!

People make this so much more complicated than they need to. I'm not sure how we went from never changing water in tanks, to doing 100% water changes and disinfecting tanks, back to 10-50% changes with buffers, temp matching, dechlor, peat, etc, etc, etc. It isn't that complicated. If you have sensitive species, you should be mixing your water before hand.

But for about 99% of fish, setups like this(a hose.............) are fine. I no longer use any of the commercial setups. I make my own(and have sold them in the past) and love them. They are similar to tom barr's and he's got some pics on how he makes them. But think J shaped pvc pipe to hang on tank and threaded adapter for sink. If no sink, then you can hook to garden hose. IN my basement, the purge valve below the water meter works perfect for me.

I use the cheapest garden hose I can find.... Have been for about 9 years now. No problems yet....

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Higher Thinking

· #11 · Sep 20, 2012

OverStocked said:
I use water that is sometimes 20 degrees colder than tank water. I've never once had a death. Do you think never experience cold rains or temp changes? One small stream could be cold and a larger lake or river much warmer.

Cold water changes have been used in cichlid breeding for decades. The only precaution I take is to make the water "splash" in to make sure it is aerated.

Adding your dechlorinator when you start the water change will do all you need to for the chlorine. Chlorine is not an instant killer. It is a long term problem.

I've used hot water to match in the past with no problem. in the dead of winter I use it to keep the water above 50 degrees. I do water changes of up to 90% with this cold water. Fish act sluggish for a bit, but then bam! Happy cause they have clean, clear water!

People make this so much more complicated than they need to. I'm not sure how we went from never changing water in tanks, to doing 100% water changes and disinfecting tanks, back to 10-50% changes with buffers, temp matching, dechlor, peat, etc, etc, etc. It isn't that complicated. If you have sensitive species, you should be mixing your water before hand.

But for about 99% of fish, setups like this(a hose.............) are fine. I no longer use any of the commercial setups. I make my own(and have sold them in the past) and love them. They are similar to tom barr's and he's got some pics on how he makes them. But think J shaped pvc pipe to hang on tank and threaded adapter for sink. If no sink, then you can hook to garden hose. IN my basement, the purge valve below the water meter works perfect for me.

I use the cheapest garden hose I can find.... Have been for about 9 years now. No problems yet....

Yea you are definitely on target. People always want to over analyze some things and make them so much more complicated than they have to be. Matching tank water to the faucet is simple and going too cold can rarely be an issue unless you are just grossly inept, in which case you probably aren't concerned with water changes anyone.

As far as treating the water, there is no need to freak out about a couple minutes of chlorinated tap water. I have 7 tanks and routinely fill up a couple and then go and add the prime to those couple. I have no qualms about having a few minutes of untreated tap. This includes tanks with Roseline Sharks, GBRs, and Apistos. The amount of active ingredient in prime is designed to treat a known amount of chlorine so i usually don't even treat the whole tank as far as volume. If i do a 50 percent change on a 75 I'll usually treat about 55 gallons worth. I'm only adding 37 gallons of chlorinated water so the active ingredient will continue to be active until it has conditioned all the chlorine. That is of course unless you have heavily chlorinated water in which case prime recommends a higher dosage anyway.

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OverStocked

· #12 · Sep 20, 2012

greenpointer said:
What I do is run a garden house, to which I connect a pvc elbow to & a pipe (so the length of the pipe will always take exactly 50% - when it goes lower the air stops it), and water my garden with it. Then I fill up a plastic container over the tank (on a shelf), add chlorine removal to it, and then I run a small 1/4" pipe - that I actually made smaller by only allowing an inlet & outlet holes the size of a needle in it, to drip into my tank. When it is done - it is done. I can leave the house and nothing will happen because it is all connected and when it finishes it will stop by itself.

So work wise it takes 10 minutes to set up and I don't need to keep an eye on any stage as they both ( the emptying the and filling) will stop by themselves and then for it to fill up with drip - it takes about an hour but what do I care? I can go on with my business.

And it makes the fish lives much better and safer.

This is absolutely not necessary. I mean it in that it isn't doing anything necessary.

See this:http://www.aquaticplantenthusiasts.com/water-parameters-chemistry/3404-200-water-changes.html

I see eye to eye with orlando about as often as I see his eyes..... so take that all with a grain of salt. There use to be pics and vids in that. Though I'd be happy to film a video when I do my water change tomorrow or the next day. Fancy temp controller will tell you what we're doing to them the whole time.

greenpointer

Discussion Starter · #13 · Sep 20, 2012

Well you can't argue with so many people who done it and nothing happened.

I guess I'm going to to do this also now.

Really eye opening

Sdavis1982

· #14 · Sep 20, 2012

If a water heater is healthy enough to drink out of i have a hard time believeing its bad for my fish.

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jbrady33

· #15 · Sep 20, 2012

I'm on well water that is almost all zeros - 0/0/10, 0 hardness, no chlorine, low oxygen, high Co2. I use the 50ft version of the Aqueon water changer (the 25 is standard, you can get the 50 online easily enough). The only thing I have had to do is close the output valve a little to really froth up the water (and add from above the waterline, not below) to aerate it. Lost a bunch of fish on my first 50% water change because of that little detail.

If I had known what was in these changers I definitely would have built my own, the plastic ones feel cheap and the hoses aren't all that securely fastened (had one very damp wall and floor to prove it)

Actually, a valve couple of fittings on the cold water line under the sink with a quick disconnect would make a great attachment point, flexible hose up to the venturi/siphon assembly (which could go right into the drain - no splashing on the counter) and the usual hose to the tank from the venturi/siphon 't'. That would be a quick connect-suck-fill-disconnect and put it away.

AndreyT

· #16 · Sep 20, 2012

greenpointer said:
Taking water out is obviously a no brainer but adding water straight from the faucet and into the tank seems to pose a few of serious issues:

"Adding water straight from the faucet" is pretty much exactly how overwhelming majority of us do it, without any problems.

greenpointer said:
1. The water temp will be much cooler (in almost every place) so by adding it like this it should create a huge drop in the temp if you are doing a decent 40-50% change.

The water temp will be as you set it. Make sure that it is close to the aquarium temperature. There's no need to match the temperature exactly, just try to avoid any drastic changes.

greenpointer said:
2. Water has chlorine and such in it. By adding such water straight into the tank - you can kill the fish.

Not really. There's not enough chlorine/chloramine there to do any damage. Just remember to add the water conditioner straight to the tank before, during or immediately after adding the new water.

greenpointer said:
3. Adding water so quickly will change the water chemistry too fast and might harm the fish

Well, in theory, there could be some species of hyper-sensitive fish that might get harmed by a 50% water change straight from the tap... But in real life the fish are doing perfectly fine.

As long as you are not using any severe water-parameters-changing additives in your tank (like pH adjusters etc.), your tank water is not that much different from your tap water in terms of chemistry.

shrimpedout

· #17 · Sep 20, 2012

Temp match and add Prime straight to tank before filling.

No brainer.

---
Get shrimped out!

sick lid

· #18 · Sep 20, 2012

fishboy199413 said:
As I am doing this I add Prime in small amounts at different times while the tank is filling so at the end it matches the amount needed for the water taken out.

-Michael

It seems almost everyone on here does this, adding to the tank to treat only the amount of water changed.
From Seachem's website

If adding directly to aquarium, base dose on aquarium volume.

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