# Water changes in a planted SA aquarium



## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

> I perform weekly water changes of between 50% to 75% per week (remember to use a hose and not a bucket)


I clipped this from Richard T. Pon's article "An Introduction To Aquarium Plants."
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/i ... plants.php
Can anyone tell me why I shouldn't use a bucket? My planted tank will be going in my office, and I _will_ be using a bucket since I'm not going to run a 50' hose into the kitchen. So I'm curious. Disturbing the substrate/roots perhaps?


----------



## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

I don't know how big your tank is but you can get a Python hose that is long enough to syphon and fill without using buckets. It will seriously help your back and reduce water spills. It will also save you a lot of time.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3728+3761+3910&pcatid=3910

If you do fill from a bucket, pour it in slowly or into a bowl placed in the tank to diffuse the water since it can send substrate in every direction and uproot plants.


----------



## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

I don't know how big your tank is but you can get a Python hose that is long enough to syphon and fill without using buckets. It will seriously help your back and reduce water spills. It will also save you a lot of time.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3728+3761+3910&pcatid=3910

If you do fill from a bucket, pour it in slowly or into a bowl placed in the tank to diffuse the water since it can send substrate in every direction and uproot plants.


----------



## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

I think the point the author was trying to make was that it is hard on your back. 
In that case, you may be less likely to do the water changes because of back pain.
Just don't fill the bucket as full. It will take longer, but your back is worth it. :thumb: 
Also flowing water will disturb the plants.

The author does very high % water changes, probably because of fertilization dosing.

I agree with lotsofish that you will disturb the substrate/plants less if you pour slowly and/or pour onto a submerged bowl.
On the initial fill of an aquarium, I use a luncheon plate, same idea as the bowl.

Actually, I use the bucket method for water changes and pour slowly, no bowl or plate. 
You can see the if the substrate being disturbed when you add water, just pour slower. 
After the tank is planted you'll come to know the "sweet spot" where you can gently add you buckets
of refill water and things won't be disturbed. :thumb:


----------



## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

> I don't know how big your tank is but you can get a Python hose that is long enough to syphon and fill without using buckets.


It's about 50' from the nearest sink to my office, so I think that's a non-starter. I do have a python that I use with a 10 L bucket at home.



> I think the point the author was trying to make was that it is hard on your back.


That's sort of what I was hoping. I pour gently from a bucket at home into my Malawi set up and have lots of areas where I can pour without shooting substrate everywhere - although my Mbuna are only too glad to move things back!
I appreciate that it will be harder to avoid stirring things up in a tank with many plants and very few rocks, but I imagine I'll be doing a maximum of 10 gallon water change as this tank will be a 29. I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't some great evil presented by buckets that I had somehow missed.

Thanks for the answers.

kevin


----------



## macclellan (Nov 30, 2006)

You may want to go low-light low-tech planted. Some even go so far as to never change the water, only doing top offs. Plants use up the available nitrogenous wastes. The key to success is low bioload. This may not be what you're after in an office, but it's what I'd do if I had to lug a bucket 50'!


----------

