Water Changes for My 55 Gal

A hobbyist asked me following question about how I did water changes for my 55 gal.

"I am just trying to figure out how you remove 80% of the water in a 55 gallon tank and then replace it with tap water. I can let gallon jugs of tap water set 24 hours to remove the clorine or add water conditioner but how in the world do you do it on a tank the size of 55 gallons. That must be a chore."

I use well water, which doesn't have chlorine or chloramine. I add water using a garden hose hooked up to the kitchen faucet via a hose adapter. Since zinc is a problem in my well water I add water conditioner (Tetra's AquaSafe) during the process of filling the tank.

I honestly don't see why you need to store water in jugs beforehand. I think that you could remove 80% of water, and add new water directly. I would add a full dose of water conditioner while you are adding the new water. The neutralizing reaction of the water conditioner is probably instantaneous-- depending on water mixing. Therefore, I always add the water conditioner right next to where I'm adding the new water. The relatively low levels of chlorine and/or chloramine in city drinking water aren't that potent and shouldn't be that hard to neutralize with an aquarium water conditioner.

My water conditioner (Tetra AquaSafe) says it protects agains chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. It works well against zinc. I don't know why it wouldn't protect the fish against chlorine and chloramine as you're filling the tank.