First Water Change

The first water change after adding several fish to the tank is always scary. Last night I changed about ten gallons of water, which is about the most I can do at one time. I should really be doing about fifteen gallons at a time, but I’ll have to find another bucket. Still, even with changing only ten gallons, I worried that I’d kill the fish or disrupt the biological filter. All of the fish have survived at least the first twelve hours, which is when temperature and PH differences can cause the fish to be stressed or die. The next day or so I’ll keep a good eye on the biological filter to make sure that any chlorine didn’t kill off the good bacteria that break down the ammonia and nitrites. I conditioned the water before adding it, but this is my first time dealing with chlorinated water, so I don’t have a good feel for it. My old water was well water that was very acidic. I brought the PH up with baking soda, which worked quite well. My tap water in Frederick is great for fish, other than the chlorine and chloramines, which should be removed by the Stress Coat + that I add to the water before putting it in the tank.