Doing Water Changes

Doing water changes on your tank is very important if you want to keep your fish healthy and the smaller the tank the more often you need to do them. We do our main water change on our large tanks every 4 weeks replacing around a quarter to a third of the water but inbetween water changes we try and take out 4x 3 gallon buckets every few days. We also use an electronic PH monitor so that we can keep an eye on the levels. Small tanks get a quarter to a third of the water changed weekly.

All our water changes are done using a gravel cleaner so that we can syphon up any debris or waste food from the substrate. The water is always treated with T.A.P water conditioner which removes chlorine and detoxify heavy metals from the tap water.

When you do a water change make sure that the bucket you use is only intended for that job and has not been used for anything else, if needed buy a new bucket. Another handy tool to have if you use powerheads or internal filters is a toothbrush, they are excellent for cleaning out any debris that has got trapped and are very inexpensive but remember to use one that has not been used for anything else.

I currently use CaribSea Eco-Complete African Cichlid substrate to buffer the water as commercial water treatments and buffers such as cichlid chemistry (not water conditioners) can work out to be quite expensive. If you have a large tank but there is a homemade remedy that works just aswell. The following information is provided by M.C.H

"Common bicarbonate of soda is effective at raising the PH, not to mention it is very inexpensive. Epsom salts (i.e magnesium sulfate) can be used to harden the water in lieu of calcium. Then you could also add aquarium salt (i.e non-iodized salt) to provide trace elements and potassium. For every 5 gallons of water add 1 tablespoon of epsom salts, 1 teaspoon of baking powder soda and 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt".

If you use fine sand as your substrate then the best way of cleaning this is with a hosepipe or the pipe from the gravel cleaner. Hover the end of the pipe about 2 inches above the surface of the sand and syphon up all the waste. Once a month take out all your decor and stir up all the sand before using your pipe as over time sand can develope gas pockets which are actually hydrogen sulfidel also known as H2S which is toxic to both you and your fish in large amounts.

If you use gravel which is not really recommended for africans, then just use a gravel cleaner in the standard way, stirring up the gravel with the end of the uplift then syphone out the water and debris as you go.

On large tanks I use 2 large external filters which are cleaned out about every 4 weeks alternately. Both filters contain Bio Balls and Zeolite along with the usual sponge and filter pads. The Zeolite helps remove nitrites from the water but this has to be re-charged in a salt solution.

If you use internal filters and or powerheads and you notice that they are not working aswell as they did then this is probably because they need cleaning. Unplug them from the mains and then take them to the sink and use a toothbrush and clean tap water to clean out any blockages.

On tanks with hoods I firstly release the light and the digital thermometer from the hood so that the hood can be lifted away. Now a good deal of time is spent cleaning whatever substrate I am using. Due to the sandy substrate I do not use any type of undergravel filter plates I use the "hovering the hosepipe" technique but like stated above every few weeks the substrate is stirred up and given a good clean with the gravel cleaner being careful not to syphon up to much sand.

While you are syphoning you can hold your thumb over the end of the pipe going into your bucket which keeps the force of the water flow going but stops the water being syphoned up thus making any sand fall back down the tube. You can do this as often as you like during a waterchange and it saves syphoning up your sand.

Once I are happy with the substrate I give all the inside of the glass a clean with a sponge which is only used for this purpose. Now I bank up the gravel, replant any floating plants, give the tank a general tidying up and if there is any big pieces of floating debris or waste food then running a fine mesh net through the water will catch this.

When I are happy with everything then I start to fill up the tank with clean water which has been treated as described above and once the tank is full we check the temperature and make sure that both of the external filters are working correctly. The last job is to clean any drip trays with warm tap water and a sponge before replacing them and the hood. The front of the tank will also get a clean with a warm soapy sponge.

If I was going to give the substrate a good cleaning then all of the decor is taken out first and would be replaced just before we are ready to fill up the tank with clean water.

African Rifts /waterchanges.html