Anyone here have a flounder? - Page 6

wait your Lfs is petco petco is not a fish store they sell fish yes but they do not take good care of them I was there today and there was a cute kole tang that was dead

Oh ok just chekin they have nice supplies they just dont have good fish

Personally, I use an Equeon water changer to syphon water out of my tank and into the sink.  I just keep the powerhead with the hose attached inside of my water change can and hang it over the tank and let it fill untill it's done.  I made a diy U tube out of pvc with a cut off vavle in order to hang it on the tank.

Not sure I understand. To drain the tank you mean? 

You keep it submerged when you're filling the tank up with the hose connected to the output of the pump.

If you want to use it to drain the tank then you just put the powerhead in the tank and if you have a long enough hose you can run it to a drain somewhere like a sink or bath tub.

I see only one TINY flaw in your method. A new person does not know how much to drain away. Once it is in the drain it's gone. I always advise to hang onto that last bucket of saltwater until you refill with the new. That way if you over did your change you still have enough water to fill the tank back up. An inch or water off the top of a large tank may not look like much, but it is like 10gs of water.

The question:

so do i keep the pump submerged when doing thing or can i take it out of the water and keep the suction hose in the tank?

The answer: You can do it either way; once the suction has begun you can continue it as long as the hose stays submerged. You can also just let the pump do the work and not concern yourself with the hose.

Take a piece of tape that can be written on and tape along one back edge that's visible but kinda out of sight.  Mark the current water level.  Siphon out 5 gallons and mark the level again.  The distance between the marks represents a 5 gallon drop.  Measure the difference and use that distance to mark off 5 gallon increments on the tape.

Now you know how much water to remove for a 10 gallon water change.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bang Guy 

Take a piece of tape that can be written on and tape along one back edge that's visible but kinda out of sight.  Mark the current water level.  Siphon out 5 gallons and mark the level again.  The distance between the marks represents a 5 gallon drop.  Measure the difference and use that distance to mark off 5 gallon increments on the tape.

 

Now you know how much water to remove for a 10 gallon water change.

You are so helpful and smart 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flower 

 

I see only one TINY flaw in your method. A new person does not know how much to drain away. Once it is in the drain it's gone. I always advise to hang onto that last bucket of saltwater until you refill with the new. That way if you over did your change you still have enough water to fill the tank back up. An inch or water off the top of a large tank may not look like much, but it is like 10gs of water.

 

The question:

so do i keep the pump submerged when doing thing or can i take it out of the water and keep the suction hose in the tank?

 

 

The answer: You can do it either way; once the suction has begun you can continue it as long as the hose stays submerged. You can also just let the pump do the work and not concern yourself with the hose.

I agree, it's a good idea to hang on to some of it for someone new in case of accidently taking out too much.  That's why I like the syphon method as apposed to using a power head beacause it's slower.  But I keep a close eye on mine  so I rarely have an issue like that.

I have to dissagree with your generalization about 1" being around 10G of water unless you have a 300G tank that is 30" tall.

For Wayners tank or a standard 75G which is basically the same dimensions of a 55g but a little wider is still 21" tall...1" of water taken out equals 3.95G.  So for a 5 gallon water change he'll need to take out 1.1/4" worth of water. 

For Wayner, it's good to remember that taking out actual gallons is different than figuring out actuall precentages for doing water changes.  For instance, the standard 75G tank when I put it in the calculater says that it holds 79 actual gallons.  But once you take into account that most of us don't fill our tanks all the way to the top and you figure in the amount of solid mass that takes up volume in our tanks...things like sand, rockwork, livestock and equipment..etc, then that number changes.  So unless somebody has accurately measured the amount of actual gallons in their tank from the start than the best any of us can do is make an educated questimation as to what that mass is. 

Lets say that once Wayner eventually adds some extra rockwork in there he gets to somewhere where the solid mass takes up 10% of his actuall volume in the tank and figure he fills his tank about an inch or so shy from the very top.  We'll say he ends up with 70 actual gallons totall water volume.  In order for him to do a 10% water change he'll need to take out 7 gallons which comes to approximately 2".  Essentially 2" would be as close to a 10% water change as I can figure without accurately knowing how many actually gallons his system has.

Edit...Sorry, math was off a touch.  Pulled out the calculater...to do a 5 gallon water change you're looking at 1 1/4", Wayner.  The 10% guestimation is for when you get a little more rockwork in there but it should get you by for now.  A gallon or two here or there isn't going to hurt you to bad when it comes to a simple water change on a FOWLR system for your tank.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Quills 

I agree, it's a good idea to hang on to some of it for someone new in case of accidently taking out too much.  That's why I like the syphon method as apposed to using a power head beacause it's slower.  But I keep a close eye on mine  so I rarely have an issue like that.

 

I have to dissagree with your generalization about 1" being around 10G of water unless you have a 300G tank that is 30" tall.

 

For Wayners tank or a standard 75G which is basically the same dimensions of a 55g but a little wider is still 21" tall...1" of water taken out equals 3.95G.  So for a 5 gallon water change he'll need to take out 1.1/4" worth of water. 

 

For Wayner, it's good to remember that taking out actual gallons is different than figuring out actuall precentages for doing water changes.  For instance, the standard 75G tank when I put it in the calculater says that it holds 79 actual gallons.  But once you take into account that most of us don't fill our tanks all the way to the top and you figure in the amount of solid mass that takes up volume in our tanks...things like sand, rockwork, livestock and equipment..etc, then that number changes.  So unless somebody has accurately measured the amount of actual gallons in their tank from the start than the best any of us can do is make an educated questimation as to what that mass is. 

 

Lets say that once Wayner eventually adds some extra rockwork in there he gets to somewhere where the solid mass takes up 10% of his actuall volume in the tank and figure he fills his tank about an inch or so shy from the very top.  We'll say he ends up with 70 actual gallons totall water volume.  In order for him to do a 10% water change he'll need to take out 7 gallons which comes to approximately 2.8".  Essentially 2 3/4" would be as close to a 10% water change as I can figure without accurately knowing how many actually gallons his system has.

 

Edit...Sorry, math was off a touch.  Pulled out the calculater...to do a 5 gallon water change you're looking at 1 1/4", Wayner.  The 10% guestimation is for when you get a little more rockwork in there but it should get you by for now.  A gallon or two here or there isn't going to hurt you to bad when it comes to a simple water change on a FOWLR system for your tank.

LOL..I am a total math cripple. My 1 inch statement however was just as an example that in a large tank an inch is allot more water than you would think. Spanko has a great idea of how to measure, and of course you are correct, if wayner adds rock he must adjust his measure. It still amazes me that people can calculate stuff like you did. I can't even do it with a calculator.

haha, you guys are getting TROLLED lolol

So sad...

Yeah those alert badges are garbage.  Probably even less reliable then the test strips.

The only reason I suggested the alert badge is because a certain someone does not listen very well and the only way that certain someone had any info on their tank was a report that it was cloudy from just looking at it.. Anything was better than nothing at all. Those alert badges however are accurate enough so that as soon as ammonia is getting to dangerous levels the badge does change color. Does it really tell you how bad, no...To be honest I expected it to change instantly and spur you to do a water change.

Honestly, the last few posts are the only real effort I have seen you (wayner) try and do something right and follow instructions. So I rejoice in that. Now quit bashing my little ammonia badge, it has been the ONLY test you have done. I am so happy to hear you actually ordered some real water tests

Ok Ok...I was bashing a little bit.  But only cause I've used them before don't think they are as reliable as a half way descent test kit.