Easy Ways to Change a Large Amount of Water in a Discus Tank

Vacuum Method

• The vacuum method is a great way to change a large amount of water, and also to clean debris and uneaten food underneath the gravel or substrate. You can purchase a vacuum hose from a local fish store at a relatively low price. Place the vacuum end of the hose into the tank and place your mouth on the other end of the hose. Use your mouth to suck water just over halfway through the tube so that the water will start flowing. You can use your thumb to regulate the amount of water that is getting sucked through the tube while you move the vacuum to various locations in the tank. When doing water changes, you typically will want to take out about 25 percent of the total water in the tank. Therefore, if you are using a five-gallon bucket, you will need to stop the water flow several times by pulling the hose out of the tank. Be sure to dig the vacuum as deep into the gravel as possible to assure that you are sucking out unwanted debris and food. Once the 25-percent mark is reached, proceed to fill the tank back up slowly with reverse osmosis water to keep it soft for the benefit of the discus fish. This is a great way to do water changes while cleaning the tank at the same time.

Bucket and Hose Method

• This method can tend to be a bit messy, so lay out some towels to protect your floors from getting wet. Similar to the vacuum method, place one end of the hose into the tank and leave the other end out of the tank in the bucket you want the water to flow into. You can complete this method the same way as the vacuum method by sucking to allow the water to start flowing. As the water is flowing, you can move the hose around inside the tank to try to suck up as much debris as possible. In order to stop the flow, just pull the hose out of the water. Fill your bucket up as many times as it takes to get 25 percent of the water out, dumping it and restarting as necessary. Finish by refilling the tank with the reverse osmosis water at a slow pace to maintain temperature.

Automatic Siphoning Method

• This is the easiest way to go about changing a large amount of your tank's water. Automatic siphoning systems are more expensive to buy than the other methods, but are far easier to use. With this way of changing water, the siphoning system hooks directly up to your faucet. With this in mind, your tank will need to be within reach of a nearby faucet long enough for the siphon's hose. Simply put, this method basically replaces your mouth with your faucet, and uses the suction created from your faucet's water flow in order to siphon the water out of your tank. The water from your tank will drain into the sink rather than a bucket in the other methods so you don't have to stop the flow to dump the bucket. Fill up the tank back to the original level with reverse osmosis water for your discus fish.

Gallon and Dumping Method

• This method is not highly recommended, as it takes the longest and does not allow you to clean underneath the gravel or substrate. Since you cannot actually clean the majority of the water contaminants with this method, it is not recommended for a discus tank. However, if it is impossible to use the other methods, this method will allow you to change the recommended 25 percent of the tank's water. Simply cut off the top of a gallon container and take out a gallon at a time, dumping it into a sink or toilet. Repeat as necessary until you get 25 percent of the water out of the tank. Once the water is out, proceed to fill the tank back up with reverse osmosis water as with the other methods.