Water change

[swerveious]

My 120 is cycled and I need to do as big of a water change as possible. I have enough rodi to do it all but it's like 60 degree water. Do I have to worry about killing my bacteria being that cold? I have an extra heater going in a 40 gallon drum but that's gonna take forever. The reason I say as much as possible is because I started with tap water that was treated. My dkh is like 15. Just worried about killing bacteria now that I'm finally cycled lol

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Why are you in a rush to do a water change? I would personally heat the water first, than I would do the water change!

 

[vetteguy53081]

My 120 is cycled and I need to do as big of a water change as possible. I have enough rodi to do it all but it's like 60 degree water. Do I have to worry about killing my bacteria being that cold? I have an extra heater going in a 40 gallon drum but that's gonna take forever. The reason I say as much as possible is because I started with tap water that was treated. My dkh is like 15. Just worried about killing bacteria now that I'm finally cycled lol

If tank is cycled, hold off until a couple of fish have produced waste and see if bacteria is doing its job keeping levels in safe range.
How are you testing water levels?

 

[swerveious]

Why are you in a rush to do a water change? I would personally heat the water first, than I would do the water change!

Dkh is way to high

 

[swerveious]

If tank is cycled, hold off until a couple of fish have produced waste and see if bacteria is doing its job.
How are you testing water levels?

I had a lfs test everything a week and a half ago maybe, tanks been running for 18 days I think. It's cycled, it's processing ammonia very fast.

 

[swerveious]

If tank is cycled, hold off until a couple of fish have produced waste and see if bacteria is doing its job keeping levels in safe range.
How are you testing water levels?

Everything I've read says 15 is way too high for fish, dkh won't come down on its own right? Has to be consumed or water changed?

 

[Üter]

Everything I've read says 15 is way too high for fish, dkh won't come down on its own right? Has to be consumed or water changed?

let the water heat up. why the rush if there's no fish yet? rushing things will mess it up and cause issues.

 

[Jesse Sunday]

Why are you in a rush to do a water change? I would personally heat the water first, than I would do the water change!

I'm with Gumbies... but I have a few questions.

Is there anything in your tank? (sand, rocks, coral, fish, etc.?)
How did you cycle?

@Randy Holmes-Farley is the expert... but IMHO, high alk can be handled with small water changes (10-20%) with lower-alkalinity salt mix (~8-9 dKH)... but if you need a faster drop, and depending on what's in the tank now, dose a small amount of diluted hydrochloric acid or muriatic acid.

Nothing good happens fast in reefing. :)

 

[Üter]

Everything I've read says 15 is way too high for fish, dkh won't come down on its own right? Has to be consumed or water changed?

I would also try and figure how why we are at 15 before you add fish.

 

[exnisstech]

I agree with ^this^ how and why is alk at 15dkh and is it actually that high it is it testing error?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If there are no corals then dkh of 15 won't matter. And if the salt mix is a high dkh mix (like coral pro), then changing the water won't help, the dkh will remain high. Don't worry about this right now. My concern is that you have no test kits, test kits are the bread and butter of the hobby, trusting the LFS - or anyone else - with your water quality is a big mistake, test the water your self, don't get API or test strips, get salifert or hanna. This is all my own opinion of course

 

[Michael71]

If you started with tap water the tds is going to be heavy and could possibly lead to nasty algae outbreaks. Not to mention, salt mixes dont do as well when blending with tap water. I would recommend getting a second heater, making a new batch of water that is at correct temp and made from rodi water and do the water change you bacteria colonies will be okay, but i would still cycle the tank again. It should do so very quick.

 

[swerveious]

I'm with Gumbies... but I have a few questions.

Is there anything in your tank? (sand, rocks, coral, fish, etc.?)
How did you cycle?

@Randy Holmes-Farley is the expert... but IMHO, high alk can be handled with small water changes (10-20%) with lower-alkalinity salt mix (~8-9 dKH)... but if you need a faster drop, and depending on what's in the tank now, dose a small amount of diluted hydrochloric acid or muriatic acid.

Nothing good happens fast in reefing. :)

Hey how's it going, there's sand, lot of rock, no living creatures yet. I cycled with fritz turbo 900 and dosed ammonia till it came down. Re dosed a couple times till it came back down. Another thing is I need to move the tank across the room about 20 feet. So before I drain and refill with same water I wanted to do a big water change at same time.

 

[swerveious]

If there are no corals then dkh of 15 won't matter. And if the salt mix is a high dkh mix (like coral pro), then changing the water won't help, the dkh will remain high. Don't worry about this right now. My concern is that you have no test kits, test kits are the bread and butter of the hobby, trusting the LFS - or anyone else - with your water quality is a big mistake, test the water your self, don't get API or test strips, get salifert or hanna. This is all my own opinion of course

Yeah no live stock, I tested parameters with my own api kits then brought to atore to confirm. I mean they have a huge butt machine that's all digital and give a print out. My api kits were close to the same. They told me 15 is too high for fish even.

 

[swerveious]

I agree with ^this^ how and why is alk at 15dkh and is it actually that high it is it testing error?

I started with tap water, I know, I know lol.

 

[exnisstech]

I started with tap water, I know, I know lol.

What is the dkh of your tap water? That seems high but I must admit I've never tested my tap water.

 

[Devaji]

I started with tap water, I know, I know lol.

now is a change to chare it out for RODI.
some people can get away with tap water but it very far a few...what is the TDS is the water?
you can look up the water report for your area to see what in it.

best practice just get a good RODI and test kits.

 

[swerveious]

I agree with ^this^ how and why is alk at 15dkh and is it actually that high it is it testing error?

I started with tap water, I know, I know lol. But I used tap water and couple years ago when I had it running and

now is a change to chare it out for RODI.
some people can get away with tap water but it very far a few...what is the TDS is the water?
you can look up the water report for your area to see what in it.

best practice just get a good RODI and test kits.

I have a 150 gallons of rodi ready to go, I was concerned I might kill of bacteria cause the water is so cold.

 

[BryanM]

What salt are you using?
Salinity?

RODI is king IMO, our water is the life blood of our reefs.

 

[exnisstech]

I started with tap water, I know, I know lol. But I used tap water and couple years ago when I had it running and

I have a 150 gallons of rodi ready to go, I was concerned I might kill of bacteria cause the water is so cold.

60 degrees shouldn't kill the bacteria. I store my live rock in the basement at 59 and have no trouble insta cycling tank with it.