One water change or small water changes

VB313

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hey all ,
I am trying to decide what is a better option for my water changes and need your opinion currently I do what me and my girlfriend call the “bucket dance” every other Friday after work we grab the buckets drive 5 miles to our LFS for 5 gallons of SALTWATER and 1-2 gallons of RODI for $0.50 a gallon I can’t beat it since we live in a small 2nd floor apartment with no access to plumbing for my own RODI system so every other week I change 4-5 gallons of my water all at once
We are moving in June and I am currently designing a new stand to match our furniture in the new house and to get rid of that crap flimsy biocube stand my new stand will house my equipment,monitors, test kits,plumbing,electrical and controllers more neatly as well as a new RODI tank for a new ATO I’ve been really interested in the Auto aqua smart AWC I seen at a frag swap since it has a built in auto top off system with the automated water change all on one programmable controller I’m debating weather or not to throw the water change pump in a bucket every time I wana do a water change and hit a button or make a 5gal saltwater reservoir to go along with my RODI reservoir so the Auto water change system can change small amounts of salt water every day over the 2 weeks still planning on topping off my reservoirs every other week to keep with my schedule
is there any benefits or downfalls to doing it this way or should I stick to one shot water changes?

And will saltwater keep in a reservoir for 2weeks or should I keep a power head and heater in there?
 

cracker

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I 'think" small,steady water changes are best. As for storing I again think it depends on the brand of salt. here is a bump for more peeps to see.
We need to know how big the tank is.
 
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VB313

VB313

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I 'think" small,steady water changes are best. As for storing I again think it depends on the brand of salt. here is a bump for more peeps to see.
We need to know how big the tank is.
Thanks for fast response and the bump my tank is a 32 gal biocube
Any salt brands you recommend I believe my LFS uses instant ocean I will be making my own after we get settled into the house but haven’t decided on brands been researching the reef crystals actually
 

Hitman

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Regular IO can sit but RC IO has to many organics in it to sit. I wouldn’t recommend a heater as it has been known to cause IO to precipitate. Some use a powerhead others don’t with Reg IO. Personally I do not do water changes and haven’t for years, but every six months I clean my sump which requires I make and replace approximately 20 gallons of water and Ive made the water and forgot about it went on a 3 week business trip and the salt mix I made was just fine. I use Reg IO myself. I use a powerhead to mix it for about 4 hours then turn it off, the night before I’m going to pull 20 gallons out of my sump for cleaning I turn the heater on as well as the pump again. There are many many was of doing this but this just happens to be the way I found it works best for me.
 

hart24601

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I wouldn't heat or put a PH in the water to be used. That small of change doesn't impact the system noticeably. I personally would do the AWC and just use instant ocean as stated above. I am more likely to keep with W/C if it’s automated in some respect. Gotta think about the plan a year or two down the road!
 

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