Water change - sump water?

[mattevo]

Anyone ever use the sump water for their water change? Seems like it would be less disturbing to the fish and you can pump back in the exact water level you need again (bit of a guess when filling up display and then kickstarting the return pump again). I have a Waterbox 110 (79 display, 31 sump). So relatively huge sump for that size tank. Could easily grab 20-25 gal from sump. Downsides?

 

[CHSUB]

Yes it is fine…however, I don’t believe just changing water is the best option. I try to remove detritus primarily with WC.

 

[exnisstech]

I do mine from the sump on my 330g. I use an old mighty jet 1200 on a hose and pump it into a brute. Then pump it up from the basement brute with a pond pump. Every once in a while I'll vacuum some detritus and change it from the tank but not often. I'm bare bottom and most detritus ends up under the rocks where I can't get to it. My smaller bare bottom I have the flow so detritus all collects in a corner so it's easy to vacuum but I can't get my flow there in the big tank.
I will say my tank I change from the sump does run what many consider high nutrients. I can't say not cleaning the tank is a contributing factor but it might be worth to keeping an eye on it levels if you aren't comfortable with that.

 

[Freenow54]

Anyone ever use the sump water for their water change? Seems like it would be less disturbing to the fish and you can pump back in the exact water level you need again (bit of a guess when filling up display and then kickstarting the return pump again). I have a Waterbox 110 (79 display, 31 sump). So relatively huge sump for that size tank. Could easily grab 20-25 gal from sump. Downsides?

Absolutely that is the whole point to me , and probably the intent. Not a guess the main display should not be effected if you don't drain the return compartment past where it will siphon

 

[commod0re]

I siphon detritus into the filter socks from the display and then do my actual water change in the sump

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My automatic water change system removes water from my sump.

 

[Waters]

I do weekly AWCs but I also do manual water changes strictly so I can clean and remove any detritus. When I clean the sump, I do the same thing there.

 

[zbrusko]

My sump is in my basement. I have a valve so my return either goes to the tank or to a drain. Its glorious.

 

[Boehmtown]

I just have a pump that puts new salt water in the return chamber , while I pull old salt water from the middle of the sump , takes a few minutes for a 30 gallon water change. And the tank never stops running

 

[Freenow54]

My sump is in my basement. I have a valve so my return either goes to the tank or to a drain. Its glorious.

What chambers can you empty? I would love to do that but three of my chambers don't connect. If you have a magical method please share I guess if you made your own you could install sliding doors . Wish I thought of that on my DIY sump . I currently use a separate pump with a garden hose to the drain .

 

[zbrusko]

I do it all from the return chamber. I have a 2nd valve that allows for a syphon from my return line. So I turn off the pumps, drain from that chamber, then turn the valve & syphon from the return nozzles back into the return chamber of the sump, then drain from the chamber again. I do that a few times. I could also lower the divider on my last chamber, but that is a pain in the butt. It would allow me to take a little more water out, though. Based on where my return nozzles are, I’d say I can do about 15% with this method.