Archivarium 2004

[haname]

Final text moved to the Articles section:

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_waterchange.php
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Happy fishkeeping!

~Haname

[haname]

Comments welcome!
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Happy fishkeeping!

~Haname

[JennFish]

Great article! The one question that arose when I read it (as a newb) may seem like an stupid one but... do you remove all the water (like three buckets full or whatever) and then replace all the water? Or should you do it a bucket at a time?

Again, great article! Man, I love this board.

[haname]

That's a good question, thanks for asking!

You should remove all the water you are going to change out, then replace. The reason it is done this way, is that you actually remove more pollutants than you would if you were to do it in stages. If you plan to do 3 buckets and take out one bucket, the refill with one bucket, doing that three times, you will not have changed out as much of the pollutants as you would if you remove 3 buckets then put in 3 buckets.

A simple illustration might explain why: If you have a glass of water and put some dirt in it, you can try to remove the dirty water by pouring out half the glass of water, then refilling with fresh, then pouring out half again, then refill again with fresh. You will still have dirt in the water. It will take many more water changes to get all the dirt out. But if you pour out all the dirty water, then refill, there will be no dirt (assuming none sticks to the glass).

Even though water changes do not remove all the pollution because we are doing partial and not full water changes, the principle is still the same.

I love this board too!
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Happy fishkeeping!

~Haname

[Big Rob]

This article was FABULOUS!! I've had my tanks set up since January and have been doing weekly 20% water changes but could never get things just right. Apparently what I was missing was the exact way to vacuum the gravel. I had made the mistake in the past of disturbing the gravel and making the water cloudy. After I read the article and realized I needed push straight through the substrate the light went on in my head! I immediately went home and did a water change. I have never seen so much nasty water come out of my tank! Some times it's good to have someone explain the most simple tasks. Thanks for the article!!
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Stupid people shouldn't breed!

[haname]

Thanks Rob, I'm glad it was helpful for you.

I guess if there are no corrections or other suggestions for changes, I'll go ahead and call this one ready.
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Happy fishkeeping!

~Haname

[Broodingwolf]

Great article Haname! I'm glad someone took the time to write up such a clear explantaion for us beginning fish keepers!
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~*:: Jen's tanks ::*~
5g hex - 1 platy, 1 otto, 2 sparkling gourami,
planted
20g long -- platy's new home -- in progress

[NOAH]

haname, your article is quite imformitive.I wish you would have wrote it when I first started keeping fish.It would have saved me a few headaches.
Good job.
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simplicity works best with a little patience

[Marcos Avila]

Haname, I've finally added this great article to its permanent place. While doing so I made a few edits here and there, especially in the beginning where I added a little introduction paragraph. Please take a look and feel free to request any chages. Thanks!
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