I just cleaned the tank out and need to put my fish back in. Does the water need to be at correct temperature BEFORE they go back in, or can I just put them in now? It's only a 2 foot tank, so the water shouldn't take long to heat up, should it?

My first aquarium, who woulda guessed :)

If you stick them in the water and it's significantly different to their natural climate, I hope you were planning on having fish fingers for dinner :)

it should be similar temp yes.

same reason you buy a fish and float the bag(or whatever you buy them in) in the water for half hour or so.

depends what sort of fish and how sensitive they are but generally match the water temp gradually.

also im sure you have done this as it is a golden rule but water strait out of the tap will need time to sit before you go putting your fish in. (you can of course add water neutralizer if you wish) but i find just run the filter full bore and it speeds up the process without need to add anything to the water.

without the filter it can take some time.

Yeah I added water neutraliser and have had the filter running for the last hour or so.

I have them in a bucket at the moment with a couple of litres of the original water. Is it okay to leave them in there until the tank heats up a bit? I suppose I have no choice ...

umm FYI, a standard filter won't remove chlorine, how many fish have you killed?
Chlorine breaks down in sunlight so you could sit a garbage bin full of water over a day or two outside an it will do it
Otherwise, just buy some "Prime" an you can drop fish in straight away (pending temp fluctuations)

I generally don't do a whole water change and then add fish into that or you'll give them toxic shock an kill em

Try removing some of the bucket water a half litre at a time an adding tank water to the bucket. This will speed up balancing the temp differences.

Oh yeah, try an aerate the bucket or at the very least, have something in there breaking the surface tension to assist in aeration or you'll drown em :)

last edited by HERMITech at 20:33:56 28/Dec/07

make sure you have enough room for the bucket and the amount of water in it to float it in your tank.

depends how thick the bucket is as how long it will take for the water in the bucket to match the desired temp.

the bucket will float at the level of the water in the bucket.

leave it a good amount of time to be sure. but remember the water at the top will be warmer than the water at the bottom of the tank. if the filter is strong this wont matter. i think the key here is be patient. no need to rush it.

never killed a fish doing a water change.
i have always let my water sit a long time anyways or used rainwater in anticipation of a cleanup.

you are probably right however i always thought by constant oxygen being put through the water removed the baddies. (with a spill filter) since the 'mix' has been added in this instance we can move on.

in order to sanitise the water, you should boil it, and then throw the fish in while the water it boiling to sanitise them

in order to sanitise the water, you should boil it, and then throw the fish in while the water it boiling to sanitise them

If done this way, and done correctly, the fish should attempt to get back out. On the other hand if you put the fish in first and THEN bring it to boil, the fish will fail to notice anything wrong and just die a slow death.

Oh wait, that's frogs. Nevermind.

put them in a clear bag, ontop of the water ... then after a fewminutes let them in

With respect to temperature changes.
In the Brisbane climate, you simply could not create enough of a change in temp with out refrigerating to cause any real stress.

Ever been for a swim in a creek or river and hit a cold patch ? ie. they exist in nature. (The Noosa River has heaps of little cold patches.

And can you imagine the massive change in conditions when 10 inches of rain drops in an hour .... Water changes too are a natural thing.

Its different say in colder areas where the tap water might be in single didgits or the very low teens and the tank is 28.


With respect to chlorine.

umm FYI, a standard filter won't remove chlorine, how many fish have you killed?

Incorrect... A standard biological filter won't.
Most filters, particularly aimed at nubs have carbon, and carbon will remove chlorine. Letting water sit will lower chlorine with out chemicals. Bubbling the water will get it out faster. Biological material and sunlight will break chlorine down.
As for the killing fish comment. the chlorine levels in tap water are not that high, and just say you are doing a 10% water change, that means you are diluting the chlorine/chloramine by a factor of 10. So unless you are doing bulk changes (more then 25%) and have very sensative fish, there is probably no noticable effect.

That said.... Brisbane water is treated with Chloramine (a mixture of ammonia and chlorine) as well as alum and lime! Chloramine will not be removed by carbon, will not aerate out easily, and is not quickly broken down by sunlight.

Prime is pretty damn awesome, in my experience. Some other were ok, but prime lasted ages (keep it in the fridge).


One final comment, there no difference between doing 1 big change every 4 weeks and, 4 little changes ever week. Except that doing big changes you have to be much more careful you have removed nasties and have a safe environment, doing smaller water changes you can be a fair bit more slack. (ps. don't obsess over numbers and fiddling, leave them alone.. how would you like it if some freak came in to your house everyday and changed the chemical composition of your air.)