Water Change: What's the average time it takes you? Tips and tricks...

What is the average time to complete a water change in your reef aquarium? (exclude mixing the salt)

  • 30 min or less

    Votes: 465 45.6%
  • 1 hour or less

    Votes: 345 33.8%
  • 2 hours or less

    Votes: 133 13.0%
  • 3 hours or less

    Votes: 20 2.0%
  • 5 hours or less

    Votes: 11 1.1%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 46 4.5%

  • Total voters
    1,020

jsweir

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
May 2, 2020
Messages
361
Reaction score
156
Location
Lebanon, oh
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ultimate refill capability here - Just pump it directly in the sump at up to 10 gallons a minute
IMG_4231.JPG
 

Chlorinated

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 24, 2019
Messages
551
Reaction score
493
Location
Acton, MA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
About 10min. I mix my water for a few hours prior to my water change (5gallons). Then I use a siphon, pull 5g and manually pour the 5g of new water in. Change filter floss, change carbon in media bag....done.
 

Reef Box

Shoulder Deep in Saltwater.......Again
View Badges
Joined
Jul 7, 2017
Messages
828
Reaction score
568
Location
Paso Robles, CA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I plumbed a drain on my sump to the outside so I can drain 20-30 ish gal and refill from my water station within 5 min. Only time it takes longer is once and a while I like to vacuum my sand bed then it's about 20 min.
 
Last edited:

t5Nitro

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 9, 2011
Messages
1,751
Reaction score
1,332
Location
WI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
AWC :)

Takes however long to mix up a new batch of saltwater once a month!
 

Mike Kearns

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 4, 2019
Messages
252
Reaction score
370
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I use a python to remove the water from my tank to a nearby bathroom, then use a different python to pump new water from my mixing station. Super easy. Too bad I have 4 tanks so it still takes a while.
 

Kjames

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 14, 2019
Messages
165
Reaction score
171
Location
Athens, GA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
This is an interesting read. It almost sounds like a bragging rights exercise. :) Several hinted at this, but I am finding what some people call a water change, isn't a water change. It is just part of the water change. To be inclusive you need to include mixing time, getting water to the correct temp, moving water to the ATO if you have one, clean up, clean the glass because water dripped on it, wipe the floor . . . . I find my salinity varies periodically and I use my water change to lower or raise (by intentionally lowering water through evaporation and then refilling with salt water) For me it is an hour on my 75g. For sure if I had the convenience of a dedicated room, advanced plumbing that went through walls, floors . . . . .that would help, but there is still time there to clean out holding tanks, remix . . .

As for the sump question, I would like to pull from there, but sump is on the floor level in sump at peak is lower than bucket when full. :-(
Point taken. Here is my upkeep time analysis for auto/continuous water change using Neptune DOS and two 60 gallon storage tanks. The system is shared between two tanks and total consumption is about 3 gallons per day. I top up the storage tanks about twice a month and this is where the real time is spent.

10 minutes: manually transfer 40 gallons RODI water to saltwater storage tank with utility pump
1 minute: coil up pump hose/cord and put away
2 minutes: add 4 pre-measured containers of salt to storage tank
5 minutes: weigh and refill salt containers for next mixing event
2 minutes: clean up, wipe salt dust off work area

20 minutes total, two times per month, so 40 minutes per month. ATO supplied directly from RODI so no time spent there. RODI drum fills automatically with a float valve so no time spent on that. No cleaning up spills because the DOS moves all the water to and from the sump. I do not adjust temp in my storage bins - they stay at about 70F in the house and are being introduced into the system in such small quantities. TM Pro salt mixes clean at 70F which is one of the reasons I like it.

Also, one of my DOS pumps sucked up some goo recently and I spent an hour troubleshooting, clearing the blockage and recalibrating the pump. So divided by twelve months you have another 5 minutes per month for a total of 45 minutes dedicated to all of this per month.

There are additional detail steps happening with all this in between maint. events, like making sure the RODI float actually moves freely so the tank doesn't overflow, replacing RODI resin more frequently, inspecting ATO operation, and testing salinity, alk in the drum. Full disclosure: I don't test my saltwater mix every time I refill. But I should.
 
Back
Top