Hassle free water changes

[brianhama]

I recently installed a 160 gallon aquarium into the wall of my home. Or actually I build a fake wall around the aquarium which was next to the real exterior wall for the house. I was tired of performing onerous and messy water changes so I came up with a system to make them easier. I’ve been using it for the past 6 months and it’s been amazing so I thought I would share it.

Outside of my home, near the wall where the tank is installed, I built a 5 foot platform and placed a closed trash barrel on top of it. I have my RO/DI fill into the barrel. The barrel has a valve at the bottom which feeds a flexible tube which enters my home via the exterior wall and exits into my sump below the tank.

I have a second valve about 1/3 of the way down the side of my tank. This valve feeds a flexible tube which exits my exterior wall into a garden.

Water changes are now as easy as opening one faucet, closing it, opening the second faucet, and closing it. It’s been a game changer.

I currently add the salt directly to my sump while doing the water changes. I know that these forums say to mix the salt 12-24 hours ahead of time, but I haven’t noticed any ill effects whatsoever. I also don’t preheat the new water. It could be that I’m able to get away with this because of the size of my tank though. It’s also a fish only tank.

 

[tzabor10]

As long as it works for you. Beautiful tank. The salt mixing in sump seems exotic. Thanks for sharing