What's Your Water Change Process?

[907_Reefer]

Yeah I considered that, but it’s in the water for a really short period of time and this one is advertised for aquarium usage, whether or not that means much I don’t know.

I wonder if there are any material differences, they look slightly different as well. Would be interested if it lists the plastic specs on yours!

They are handy, if I can find one in HDPE it will change my life..

 

[Spare time]

What water changes?

 

[Joe.D]

I have a 90 gallon system and do 10 gallons per week. I have a Python, but find it easier and less mess to use the large extension from the Python and just syphon into a 5 gallon bucket twice, not wasting water that way either.

Then I use the small pump I use to mix salt water and fill that 5 gallon bucket twice and pump into tank.

Part of my weekly routine is to scrape a little bubble algae to keep it at bay after dealing with a pretty large outbreak earlier this year. That takes 15-20 min, most of that time spent looking for it more so than scraping.

Total time including cleaning glass, skimmer and socks hour and 15 to hour and 30.

I‘ve had my tank up since late May 2022 and have lost several fish to jumping while I had the lid off to clean. I’ve since bought some plexiglass and cut a piece that will cover about half the tank so I can work in the other half of the tank. I also cut a piece of foam core to go over the back of the tank with cut outs for the light arms and leans against the wall - if they jump that way, they’ll hit the wall and slide back in.

This system has worked flawlessly unti I went into the tank a couple of weeks ago. Figured I’d only be in there a few min to retrieve and reglue a frag that had fallen and didn’t pull out my covers. Well, after not seeing my Diamond Goby for a day and noticed my sand getting dirty, I looked behind the tank and there he was all dried up. Lesson learned.

I will say, with a Diamond Goby, you won’t need to stir your sand - they do it for you. Cool fish and has a personality. Now if i can get that Whitetail Bristletooth Tang to stop harassing them - that’d be great. Leaves the other fish alone, but not the Goby. Now I need to get another Diamond Goby.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I mix up 40g of WC water at a time (4x WC for me) in a Brute. It takes me about 4-5 days to mix correctly and adjust parameters. My final values are +/-:

Calcium 400
Alkalinity 7.5
Magnesium 1500
Salinity 1.0259
pH 8.2

I mix to a slight low salinity (tank runs 1.0264) because my tank tends to creep a little due to dosing. I also mix my Mag high so that I never need to dose the tank. It keeps my tank Mag around 1425.

1. Drop a heater with temp monitor in the brute the night before to match tank temp.
2. Use a turkey baster to blast all my rocks firs thing in the morning (my tank is BB).
3. Wait 1-2 hours.
4. Suction out detritus from sump.
6. Turn off return pump, skimmer, ATO, dosers & heaters (1 click in Apex Fusion).
7. Suction out detritus from bottom of display tank until I reach 10g total (2 buckets).
8. Pour back in 10g from brute.
9. Turn on return pump, skimmer, ATO, dosers & heaters (1 click in Apex Fusion).
10. Spray out buckets & drain hose.
11. Easy peasy, no mess.
12. Test salinity that evening and adjust if necessary.
13. Test all parameters the next day.

 

[OlafsReef]

Best thing I ever made was a water mixing station with a looooong hose and wifi switches on the pumps. Highly recommend it.

 

[bvanfish]

For your nanos do you vacuum the sand? I’ve heard you have to on a small system because so much crap gets caught in it

 

[Paul B]

I back my Jeep up to an ocean, get out and fill buckets that I dump into a vat in the back. Then go for a swim and maybe collect some clams for lunch.






If it's to cold for swimming, I throw a bilge pump into the ocean and buy or collect crabs for dinner.





I back into my driveway and siphon the water into a vat where I may have to filter it to remove bikini tops, hypodermic needles or Oldsmobile parts. I heat it and dump it in.

 

[rhitee93]

I back into my driveway and siphon the water into a vat where I may have to filter it to remove bikini tops, hypodermic needles or Oldsmobile parts. I heat it and dump it in.

Interesting. I'm in Indiana, and there are plenty of hypodermic needles, Olds parts, and even bikini tops lying around, but no seawater. Guess I'm closer to the coast than I thought

Here is a question I never see answered WRT water changes. How do you measure the water you are taking out and putting in? I just go by the lines on my buckets, but I know I can only repeat that +/- a pint or two. It bugs me that I'm going to be causing long term drift. I'm guessing it isn't that important, but I'm an engineer, and obsess about things like this

 

[doubleshot00]

Wow that's a lot just for a WC. Unless its monthly?

I always have 50 gal of Salt mixed and all I test is salinity.

If I'm doing a big WC like 10-20 gal all I do extra is blow off rocks and siphon the sand. Then after I fill back up (after it clears up a bit) I change the socks. All I turn off is the return and uv pumps. Wavemakers stay on.

But most of what i do is automated now. I do daily AWC's but if i feel there is a problem i change 15 gal.

 

[Stevorino]

I back my Jeep up to an ocean, get out and fill buckets that I dump into a vat in the back. Then go for a swim and maybe collect some clams for lunch.






If it's to cold for swimming, I throw a bilge pump into the ocean and buy or collect crabs for dinner.





I back into my driveway and siphon the water into a vat where I may have to filter it to remove bikini tops, hypodermic needles or Oldsmobile parts. I heat it and dump it in.

dang, life goals right there!

 

[doubleshot00]

I back my Jeep up to an ocean, get out and fill buckets that I dump into a vat in the back. Then go for a swim and maybe collect some clams for lunch.






If it's to cold for swimming, I throw a bilge pump into the ocean and buy or collect crabs for dinner.





I back into my driveway and siphon the water into a vat where I may have to filter it to remove bikini tops, hypodermic needles or Oldsmobile parts. I heat it and dump it in.

That's wild. Is this in Long Island?

I live a few miles from the ocean (actually on the water yesterday) and no one around here collects water from the ocean.

 

[Paul B]

Here is a question I never see answered WRT water changes. How do you measure the water you are taking out and putting in? I just go by the lines on my buckets, but I know I can only repeat that +/- a pint or two

I have this 40 gallon vat from Home Depot. I also have a 20 gallon garbage pail.
I fill the 40 gallon vat with NSW that I collect, clean and warm. It is on a dolly in front of the tank.

I siphon out or my tank 20 gallons into the garbage pail and another 20 gallons into my 2 10 gallon pails.

I have a very fast sump pump that I put in the 40 gallon vat and pump the clean water into my tank.

Then I use that pump to pump the old water into my sink. If I removed to much water, I just add some back that I took out.

The entire process takes about 6 minutes.
(Thats a diatom filter not the pump I use for water changes.)

 

[Mr. Roboto]

"8. Remove return pump and clean with vinegar, scrubbing with toothbrush. Run it in used tank water bucket to be sure it's rinsed out."

Be careful of doing this every time. I would almost break it down to once maybe twice a year. If you are doing this every time you might see the deterioration of your pump.

 

[Dburr1014]

I just did a water change and I'm realizing I need to refine my process so that I am more efficient at it, so I'm looking to hear how other people do their routine water changes so I can try new things out. Things like, what equipment do you use that makes it easier? What order do you do things in?

For now...this is my process, so please feel free to point to anything that I could tweak...

1. Mix up salt mix with RO/DI the night before with a pump and heater set to tank temp.
2. Test tank and mixed saltwater salinitiy and adjust if necessary in the morning.
3. Grab towels. Lots of towels.
4. Turn off pumps and lights...basically turn everything off.
5. Stir sand with a bamboo stick. Clean rocks and glass/plastic back as needed with a toothbrush. Pick off hair algae.
6. Siphon 5g of tank water out into empty bucket.
7. Swap filter pad/floss
8. Remove return pump and clean with vinegar, scrubbing with toothbrush. Run it in used tank water bucket to be sure it's rinsed out.
9. Replace return pump, close lid, and plug everything back in.
10. Clean outside of tank and glass.
11. Clean up the big mess I just made and pour out used tank water.
12. Test salinity. In 12-24 hours, I do my weekly tank parameter tests.

Thoughts/ideas?

That's a lot of work for 5 gallons

 

[Dburr1014]

1.4lbs per 5 gallons is exactly 1.026sg. all the time, every time.

I let it all run, but I add fresh salt to my overflow with a small pump to save on backbreaking. Well, I did before I got an AWC.

You can combine this into the same step if you get one of those siphon hoses with the tube attached, It'll draw the stuff out of the sand if you stir it close while siphoning.

Citric acid. Vinegar eats seals and swells magnets. Regular canning supply citric acid works great.

All the rest of this is pretty standard. Great routine!

Ditto to what he said^^^^

 

[00W]

I always have water mixed just in case.
I do it old school. Bucket by bucket.
I make sure on the weekend I have 15 ready and mix in 5 gallon buckets night before.
I don't heat it.
Siphon into buckets pour back in every Monday.
Clean pumps ever other month, skimmer twice a week full skimmer clean once a month. Test weekly.
I don't really have much going on. No automation, nothing fancy to check, monitor or clean so it usually only takes me 30 minutes unless I'm not paying attention and siphon onto the floor.
After that I move upstairs and do the freshwater tanks.

 

[Rp8]

I make the water the night before. Mix it the day of until the water is clear. Turn off everything, blow off rocks, vacuum sand occasionally, replace socks, clean skimmer, take out 20 gal, roll the dolly in with the water, pump the 20 gal in with the sicce 1.0 pump, turn everything back on clean up. Takes an hour max

 

[Rp8]

I back my Jeep up to an ocean, get out and fill buckets that I dump into a vat in the back. Then go for a swim and maybe collect some clams for lunch.






If it's to cold for swimming, I throw a bilge pump into the ocean and buy or collect crabs for dinner.





I back into my driveway and siphon the water into a vat where I may have to filter it to remove bikini tops, hypodermic needles or Oldsmobile parts. I heat it and dump it in.

Love it!!

 

[7of9]

That's a lot of work for 5 gallons

Since I don't run a skimmer or sump and don't dose, weekly water changes are my way of exporting nutrients and dosing back elements. Since it's a nano tank, that means just 5 gallons.

 

[7of9]

I back my Jeep up to an ocean, get out and fill buckets that I dump into a vat in the back. Then go for a swim and maybe collect some clams for lunch.






If it's to cold for swimming, I throw a bilge pump into the ocean and buy or collect crabs for dinner.





I back into my driveway and siphon the water into a vat where I may have to filter it to remove bikini tops, hypodermic needles or Oldsmobile parts. I heat it and dump it in.

If Lake Michigan ever gets salty, I'll be set.