[Bill Little]

Try using an 8″ plastic picnic plate. Place it as far down in the tank as you can without disturbing the plants. Pour the water into the tank so that it hits the plate. It’s not perfect but will limit replacing all your live plants after a water change. As an alternative, I also use a small water pump that you can use in an outside pond. The smallest pump moves about 1.5 gallons per minute (low volume). I place the pump in a 5 gallon bucket filled with the clean treated water. The pump has about 6′ of clear plastic hose attached. Drain the old water and pump in the new from the bucket. In some cases I even use the picnic plate where there delicate plants are concerned.