The most stress free way to do a water change!

[JaspersANGEL]

Hi guys!
I know this topic has been covered so many time's but I'm still worried, my small baby Tex recently get's incredibly stressed during water changes ( pale and a big black stress bar running through him) and he looks really fragile (as he could drop dead any minute).

So how can I make water changes as stress free as possible for him?

Thankx

[ashleyy]

This is what I do.

I have a 3 gallon tank, so I fill 2, one gallon jugs with tap water and let them sit for at least 24 hours.

I make sure I have everything ready before beginning the water change so he isn't in his holding cup too long.

I wait for him to swim to the top and I scoop him out of the tank with a cup and put on the lid (it is actually a small tuppe-ware container that I poked holes in the lid of) I used to scoop him out with a net but that was way too stressful for him.

When I had gravel(I keep my tank bare bottom now) I dumped it in a metal strainer and rinsed it lightly and then rinsed his plants lightly too. I place everything back in and start pouring in the new water.

After I pour in 2 gallons of water that I had sitting, I then use a 1 liter measuring cup and add hot water from my tap to fill my tank and raise the temperature of the water to what it was before I emptied it. You will have to play with this to know how much warm water is needed to match the temperature.

I add water conditioner and then pour him back into the tank.

While he is in his holding tank he turns pale and gets agitated but as soon as I put him back in he acts like nothing happened :]

Hope this helps

[Oldfishlady]

Great technique Ashleyy...just want to add that after a while they usually will get used to the water changes and look forward to the fresh clean dechlorinated water as well as the interaction with you...

[FishyFriend1]

If your tank is big enough try a gravel siphon