Water change tips and tricks

[Sophie"s mom]

Soo how fast can you do a water change and what tricks do you have to speed the process.

Also how often and how much.

I am trying to keep up with weekly 10% changes and tell myself going into it "I won't make this a 2 hour ordeal." Welllll I fail every time.

Working with a 40g cube so it shouldn't be to difficult

I have a 90 gallon and do 20 gallon water changes every other week, takes about 30 minutes, I cheat with the water coming out by using a long enough hose to put it out my window, so one shot, and I am putting water back in.

 

[OrionN]

I have a 90 gallon and do 20 gallon water changes every other week, takes about 30 minutes, I cheat with the water coming out by using a long enough hose to put it out my window, so one shot, and I am putting water back in.

Salt water full strength like this isn’t good for any plant you have near there. Bad for the environment. I would put it into the drain instead.

 

[Reefer Brent]

In my 360 gal or so system, I pump 25 gal into the sink. Then I pump water from my 50 gal QT system to the main tank and use a 1 gal container to scoop water from my mix container to my QT system as the water in the sump there lower. Take me about 15 mins.
Do this once a week. Water in my QT is extremely high quality. When I actually QT for disease I just not doing serial water changes like this.

I have no source of extremely high quality water. I have to work on that, but I assume the beneficial bacteria in your QT is the reason for this?

 

[Reefer Brent]

I have a 90 gallon and do 20 gallon water changes every other week, takes about 30 minutes, I cheat with the water coming out by using a long enough hose to put it out my window, so one shot, and I am putting water back in.

Do you have a mark on your tank for when 20g has come out?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Do you have a mark on your tank for when 20g has come out?

lol yes, I actually have 3, 15 g, 20 g, and 25 g

 

[BOYERZ]

Salt water full strength like this isn’t good for any plant you have near there. Bad for the environment. I would put it into the drain instead.

Not me bud! I have septic and dump into the field, same spot every time.

Grass still grows.

 

[OrionN]

Not me bud! I have septic and dump into the field, same spot every time.

Grass still grows.

You are between a rock and a hard plate. Most plant won't tolerate the high salt in the soil. Marsh type plants are exception, they evolved to grow in salt water. The salt will greatly upset your septic system. You likely tolerate decrease diversity or bare grass a lot better than a not working septic system. However, other people with normal sewer should not dump full strength salt water into the yard IMO (as a gardener)

 

[Reefer Brent]

lol yes, I actually have 3, 15 g, 20 g, and 25 g

I should have done that when I started the tank.

 

[OrionN]

I should have done that when I started the tank.

You still can. Just measure and mark.

 

[TehBrainz]

You still can. Just measure and mark.

5 gallon buckets at a time!

That's what I did in my 210. I marked 20 and 45 for and put a small sharpie line on the tank

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

use bigger pumps, and larger siphon tubes or pump water out of the tank.

mix the water in 5 gal buckets 5g+ 2.5cups+/- of salt with a mixing pump using salt manufacturers mixing recommendations.

use a large pump to refill tank.

not every waterchange needs to be a "cleaning" you can literally just change water

good luck, you will streamline the process with time don't worry

 

[BOYERZ]

You are between a rock and a hard plate. Most plant won't tolerate the high salt in the soil. Marsh type plants are exception, they evolved to grow in salt water. The salt will greatly upset your septic system. You likely tolerate decrease diversity or bare grass a lot better than a not working septic system. However, other people with normal sewer should not sump full strength salt water into the yard IMO (as a gardener)

We love it here though (Colorado).

Can't figure out why the grass doesn't die. It's native field grass, buffalo grass, patch grass, idk.

It might be from the sand we are on, all of it sand sand sand.

My wife has a green thumb as well, love all the fresh veggies in the summer.

Yes! If you have a city sewer dump it down the toilet.

Septic do not!

I do however empty the skimmer cup (small) 6 to 8oz. Every 3 to 4 days down the toilet. Septic has been a non issue since the tank was set up 14 months.

 

[CK00020]

I am on the other side of the septic debate. I have two tanks and change water bi monthly, so maybe dump 35gal max a month. That is nothing compared to how much water goes through a normal septic daily, it’s so diluted once it hits the septic tank that it really poses no threat. Water conditioners dump far more water more often, I would be more worried about that wastewater than the little bit from the tank. I am a septic system installer so I have some experience with the subject. Sorry if I derailed the thread

 

[OrionN]

There is a golf course in Corpus Christi. The owner was cheap. He used brackish water to water his golf course. After a few years, all the grass died. They have to sell the course for development.

 

[aSaltyKlown]

A Python no spill & fill was a game changer. I first siphoned into a bucket, well buckets to so I could draw a line on the tank marking 10% and 20%. Once that is done the next water change is easy, hook up to a sink and drain. For the refill, I do have a 20g brute, but it is in the basement. For that, I got the 25' extention for the Python and a $65 sump pump off Amazon that can do a 25' head height. A WC takes me about 15-20.

 

[Reefer Brent]

A Python no spill & fill was a game changer. I first siphoned into a bucket, well buckets to so I could draw a line on the tank marking 10% and 20%. Once that is done the next water change is easy, hook up to a sink and drain. For the refill, I do have a 20g brute, but it is in the basement. For that, I got the 25' extention for the Python and a $65 sump pump off Amazon that can do a 25' head height. A WC takes me about 15-20.

I have our kitchen sink near by but not super hot on dumping tank water in it. Guess if I spray and clean it after it wouldn't be a big deal.

 

[BOYERZ]

I have our kitchen sink near by but not super hot on dumping tank water in it. Guess if I spray and clean it after it wouldn't be a big deal.

Bathroom sink?

 

[TehBrainz]

Bathroom sink?

The python hooks up to the sink to power the siphon. Water then goes down the drain

 

[BOYERZ]

The python hooks up to the sink to power the siphon. Water then goes down the drain

Yeah, hook it up to the bathroom sink.

 

[TehBrainz]

Yeah, hook it up to the bathroom sink.

Bahaha I'm dense. I read your question as a "how does it work?" And not as a suggestion for using the bathroom sink. Doh!