ely

hello - how do you guys get your new water to temp before doing a partial water change?

do you have to let water sit for a day first? then how do you get it to 76?

if i add prime to the water before putting it in the tank, can i just use 76 degree tap water straight from the tap?

my glofish are suffering from ammonia poisoning, and i'm trying to figure out how to best do water changes everyday.

thank you!
-ely

Narcicius

you can definitely use 76 degree tap water with Prime, just make it like a degree hotter and add Prime and by the time the temp drops one degree the prime would have set in, Hope you save your fish, post any progress on the ammonia levels.

Narcicius

If the ammonia is really high you could just add a little prime derectly to the tank, it can lower all the toxin levels in the tank.

susitna-flower

Ely, I just use tap water adjusted to the correct temperature. You can add prime to the tank as you add the water, the filter/ power head will mix it with the tank water, and it should be just fine.

High ammonia is ultimately worse on your fish so don't stress over getting the temperature and prime in "just right". Very close is OK. Just do the water changes......

ely

thanks guys. how often should i do the water changes with the prime to lower the ammonia levels? and should i also add bioboost?

LuvaBetta

I'm not a whole lot more than a newbie myself, but the ammonia has to come down as close to zero as you can get it. I lost my first, precious betta that way. I would change some of the water every day, probably 25% at least. Be aware though, that with Prime or Amquel+ your ammonia tests will still show ammonia, it's just been locked up by the chemicals in the water treatments.

Bioboost probably is useless; it may contain bacteria but it won't be the ones you need. The only way you can buy that is a product sold by MarineLand called Bio Spira. It has to be refrigerated or the bacteria will die, which is why products like Bioboost and Cycle aren't what you need.

Until your cycle is established, along with the Prime it would help if you'd add some VitaChem and Fish Protector to ease your fish through the frequent water changes and the presence of ammonia.

That's what's so cool about this forum - we're all here because we've learned something the hard way!

Tavel

You can actually just use your hand to compare the temperature. I've measured my own accuracy at +/- 2F...which is certainly close enough. The temperature doesn't have to be as close as people make it seem.

If you don't believe me...here's some fun with math:

Take the weighted average of the temperatures to find the new water temperature. (for a 20% water change, using a 2 degree difference)

.8(76) + .2(78) = 76.4

which is a temperature deviation of only .5%. The new water would have to be about 5 degrees off to change the final temperature by ONE degree. haha.