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This can be a comedy of errors if you let it.... at first you start with the buck routine. Five gallon buckets syphoning water out and using the bathtub to mix your conditioning and make the temp correct. Spilling water is a given, using up 4-5 towels at minimum, disrupting the tank inhabitants and stirring up gunk as you re fill the tank.... doing this once sometimes twice a week on 4 tanks is a chore to say the least....
I have since created a routine that has proven efficiant for me.....
first we lay down a towel in front of the tank, next we set up the phython in the bathroom sink, prime the hose, stretch the hose thru the house and to the tank. turn off the pump remove the light and top panel. have a large plastic container next to the tank to remove dirty plants or rocks that you may change you aqua scape of this week. Next place a cut panty hose (that's right) over the return bar for your canister pump.. If you have HOB filters then no need for the panty hose. Remove any large obsticals and place them in the large container. Start your phython and vacuum the gravel. Note the amount of water you remove. Place a mark on the wall or tank to indicate how much water you want to remove.. normally I remove about 20 gallons from my 60 gallon tank. Once you have removed the water, now take the end of the phython back to the bathroom so you can adjust the temperature, as you are adjusting allow the water to flow over the pieces you placed in the plastic container to clean them. (less waste) now bring the phython back tothe tank and place it inside the tank (get a large squeeze clamp to hold the end inside the tank) you do not want the end to fall out and water your floor. As the tank is filling, apply the proper amount of conditioner to the tank to remove the chlorine.. Now you can clean your filter...(as you refill the tank) ... once the filter is cleaned, fix your aqua scape and wipe the inside of the tank to remove the slime or algee... leave some so your pleco can eat..... Remember the panty hose? leave it in place and start your canister filter.... the panty hose will catch all the gunk that forms on the insdie of the inlet and return hoses and not allow them to make your tank look like a snow globe..... wipe down your tops and outsideof tank, replace the light, remove the phython and after about 5 minutes remove the panty hose..... your tank should be nice and clean... and no water thru the house or on the carpet.... I normally give my fish a treat after the water change....
I hope this helps others learn about how to do water changes easy.... If you have better or easier ways, please post them.. I know being new to this, these are the little things that I wanted to know but could not find any info about....
I can do 3 tanks in about 1 hour or so... A note on cleaning the filter..... figure out how often you want to clean it... As for me.. I will only clean the sponges and not the Bio Stars (bio material) if I do clean the bio material I will rinse in aquarium water.. I will clean the canister filter once a month... not every water change... and I always turn off the pumps when doing the water change so I do not loose any bateria from chorine that has not been completely removed in the refill process....
I have since created a routine that has proven efficiant for me.....
first we lay down a towel in front of the tank, next we set up the phython in the bathroom sink, prime the hose, stretch the hose thru the house and to the tank. turn off the pump remove the light and top panel. have a large plastic container next to the tank to remove dirty plants or rocks that you may change you aqua scape of this week. Next place a cut panty hose (that's right) over the return bar for your canister pump.. If you have HOB filters then no need for the panty hose. Remove any large obsticals and place them in the large container. Start your phython and vacuum the gravel. Note the amount of water you remove. Place a mark on the wall or tank to indicate how much water you want to remove.. normally I remove about 20 gallons from my 60 gallon tank. Once you have removed the water, now take the end of the phython back to the bathroom so you can adjust the temperature, as you are adjusting allow the water to flow over the pieces you placed in the plastic container to clean them. (less waste) now bring the phython back tothe tank and place it inside the tank (get a large squeeze clamp to hold the end inside the tank) you do not want the end to fall out and water your floor. As the tank is filling, apply the proper amount of conditioner to the tank to remove the chlorine.. Now you can clean your filter...(as you refill the tank) ... once the filter is cleaned, fix your aqua scape and wipe the inside of the tank to remove the slime or algee... leave some so your pleco can eat..... Remember the panty hose? leave it in place and start your canister filter.... the panty hose will catch all the gunk that forms on the insdie of the inlet and return hoses and not allow them to make your tank look like a snow globe..... wipe down your tops and outsideof tank, replace the light, remove the phython and after about 5 minutes remove the panty hose..... your tank should be nice and clean... and no water thru the house or on the carpet.... I normally give my fish a treat after the water change....
I hope this helps others learn about how to do water changes easy.... If you have better or easier ways, please post them.. I know being new to this, these are the little things that I wanted to know but could not find any info about....
I can do 3 tanks in about 1 hour or so... A note on cleaning the filter..... figure out how often you want to clean it... As for me.. I will only clean the sponges and not the Bio Stars (bio material) if I do clean the bio material I will rinse in aquarium water.. I will clean the canister filter once a month... not every water change... and I always turn off the pumps when doing the water change so I do not loose any bateria from chorine that has not been completely removed in the refill process....
uke: 
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