cjwalker28

I have a 55 gal freshwater tank with 8 fish currently. I had to take out a couple of fish and lost a bit of water doing it. How do I add water without hurting my fish?

Isabella

What fish exactly do you have in your 55 g. tank? How long have you had this tank? In fact, you should be doing regular water changes, best 25-30% of water weekly (or every 2 weeks - depending on how many fish and how large fish you have). If you have a test for nitrate, that should give you some idea how many and how large water changes you need. Nitrate should be 0 at best - it can be higher, though it's not good when it's higher than 40. Anyhow, it should be kept as low as possible, and that is accomplished through water changes as needed (water changes remove nitrate from the water, which at high concentrations can be toxic to fish). You do know about the cycle, right?

Now, to answer your question: the safest way to add water to your tank is to use water that has similar or the same temperature that your tank water has, as well as the same (or very similar) pH that your tank water has - all of this in order to avoid temp. and pH shocks to fish during water changes. If the water you use is coming from a municipal source and is chlorinated, you must dechlorinate that water before you add it to your tank. Chlorine can kill fish.

cjwalker28

I have 5 zebrafish, 2 full grown swordtails, and juvinile bolivian ram and angelfish. I've had the tank running for about 2 weeks.

Isabella

Are you familiar with the cycle? I think not because you have added all of your fish to your tank at once, and right after you have set the tank up. I don't want to scare you but your fish may get very sick or die because your tank is not cycled yet (it takes about a month to cycle a tank). Please read about cycling a tank: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm ... once you've understood this, you'll know why you need water changes and a test kit. You'll also know why it is not safe to add fish to your tank as soon as you've set up that tank. Here are many more useful articles for beginners: http://www.fishlore.com/Beginners.htm ... please read as much as you can. I hope that helps you.

P.S. How large is your tank?