fresh water tank

Question
Hi Jaymie,

Just a quick question about our 10 gal. tank we inherited from my daughter's school for the summer. The water is cloudy slightly and the water level looks lower than when we started.  Do I have to totally empty the tank and start all over to get the water cleaned up and how do I add more water?  I have a chemical that was in the box for the tank called AquaSafe, can I just add that do the tank with the fish in it or to the extra water I need to replace?  Thanks, feeling pretty dumb here :) Patsy

Answer
Pasty,

Since I don't know what kind of fish are in the tank I will talk about both cold water and tropical. Both are the same as far as water changes go. No, you do not empty the tank at all. Water evaporates all the time especially in the summer. To do a water change, you remove 25% of the water in the tank and then replace it with clean conditioned water. The AquaSafe is the conditioner you put in the new water. You have to use this because it will remove the chlorine and other chemicals that are in our water. All the stuff it remove will kill the fish if the conditioner is not used. You only add it to the new water, not the tank. The 25% water changes are done weekly. When adding the water, if the tank is tropical, make sure the new water is the same temperature as the tank water. 2 degrees off will cause the fish to stress and then get ill. If it is a cold water tank, you can just let the new water sit out until it is room temperature and then add it to the tank. You have to use the conditioner regardless of the type of tank it is. If you are just adding water to the tank, you still need to use the conditioner. Just follow the direction on the bottle. As for the cloudiness, does the tank have a filter? If so, take out some tank water and clean the filter with it then put it back in the tank. If you have questions about doing that just ask. If you have any other question, don't hesitate to ask. I know that have a new aquarium, especially one that isn't yours, can be a bit stressful