[bigblueallday]

I got in some new driftwood and plants that I plan on adding to my 54g corner tank today. The tank is 24in deep so it's much easier to plant and scape with about half of the tank emptied but i'm worried about doing such a large water change at one time. I have 2 dwarf gourami and 1 rainbow shark in the tank (lost 2 angelfish yesterday that didn't make it a week unfortunately) and obviously the health of the fish are much more important to me than adding plants. Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations? I'd hate to endanger any more of my fish due to my lack of experience. Thanks in advance.

 

[Veritas]

discus owners do 50% water changes all the time. I don't see a problem with it.

I know the pain of scaping a corner tank. it's tough!

 

[Betta132]

That's fine to do, it won't hurt them. In fact, they'll probably like it.

 

[hazenight]

Thats how i do it

 

[bigblueallday]

discus owners do 50% water changes all the time. I don't see a problem with it.

I know the pain of scaping a corner tank. it's tough!

Very tough, especially for a newb without the most creative mind! Thanks for the feedback.

is it ok to leave my filter off for about an hour or so while i do this?

 

[Oceangirl]

yep, I left my filter off for 3 hours once, it will be fine and long as the filter media is kept underwater (use old tank water), I throw my filter media in a bucket of tank water when I service my filter.

 

[bigblueallday]

yep, I left my filter off for 3 hours once, it will be fine and long as the filter media is kept underwater (use old tank water), I throw my filter media in a bucket of tank water when I service my filter.

I have a canister filter so the canister itself should remain filled with water no?

 

[Knotyoureality]

If you're worried about the water change--just drain the water out into jugs and return it to the tank when you're done.

 

[bigblueallday]

If you're worried about the water change--just drain the water out into jugs and return it to the tank when you're done.

Knot i would love to do that but i have nowhere to store 25 gallons or more of water. Thats a lot of milk cartons to keep in a 2 bedroom condo lol

 

[JustJen]

I routinely do 50% water changes on my tanks (except the couple of shrimp tanks), shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Nestle_]

When moving a bunch of stuff, plants wood caves rocks etc, and adding in new I almost always pull the water down as far as I can and shut off the filter/heaters etc
As others said as long as the media stays wet it will be fine, this includes the substrate also as its one huge bacteria colony as well.

The best part about drawing the water down, is putting in the fresh water, as that disturbing the soil when planting often releases gases and other funky stuff. Sometimes I even refill the tank just about all the way and then drain some more out if enough debris is put into the water from the soil disturbance.

 

[lauraleellbp]

I have a canister filter so the canister itself should remain filled with water no?

What kind of canister you running? Many brands are designed with shutoff valves to help keep the filter full of water and primed while doing tank maintenance.

I always recommend doing a big water change or two after a major rescape, as disturbing the substrate can often stir up enough debris to trigger an ammonia/nitrite spike and/or algae bloom (algae isn't an issue for the fish, but the ammonia/nitrite sure would be).

 

[bigblueallday]

I have a rena xp2 Filstar

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[lauraleellbp]

OK, then all you need to do is lift up the black handle part of the "quick disconnect" on top of the filter. No need to pull it out or anything, but just lifting that handle closes a valve that will keep the filter and tubes full of water and primed. :thumbsup:

Nifty little feature that's one of the reasons I love Renas. :icon_cool

 

[bigblueallday]

thanks Laura!

 

[lauraleellbp]

:icon_bigg