Water changes. . . . What is your method?

[tharbin]

I do 2 gallons per change twice a week on my 100 gallon (about 82 gallons water so roughly 5%/week).

 

[Hishman]

For those of you who have auto-water changes could you elaborate on how you accomplish those?

My challenge is needing to turn off the return pumps as there is very little water available for the return chamber. Dosing pumps would be too slow.

 

[vetteguy53081]

For those of you who have auto-water changes could you elaborate on how you accomplish those?

My challenge is needing to turn off the return pumps as there is very little water available for the return chamber. Dosing pumps would be too slow.

Also, interesting to hear what brand, ease of both hook up and Maintenance.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

For those of you who have auto-water changes could you elaborate on how you accomplish those?

My challenge is needing to turn off the return pumps as there is very little water available for the return chamber. Dosing pumps would be too slow.

I use two BRS 50 mL per minute dosers on a single timer. Tank water level does not change.

 

[mmorrison55]

Im lucky in that my display shares a wall with a small bedroom/office that I converted into a fish room.i added a slop sink and have my rodi setup next to my sump. When needed, I drop a sicce zero pump in my sump and sometimes I just drain the pump section for a quick 12 gallon water change or drain my sump entirely when I want to do a thorough clean of my sump to remove all built up detritus that is missed by my filter roller and skimmer.

If I toss the water, it end up being a 30% water change. Sometimes I will just polish the sump water through fine micron sock into a brute container and then pump the polished water back into the sump and then top off.

Ive thought about setting up an automatic water change, but so far not done one. All of the above options take from 5 - 20 minutes depending on how deep I want to go.

So Im lucky i have options.

 

[Reefer Matt]

40% wc per tank (5 of them) once per month. 160 gallons of water changed for 400 gallons of tank water. I match alkalinity, temp, and salinity before changing it.

 

[56longroof]

I use two BRS 50 mL per minute dosers on a single timer. Tank water level does not change.

Im assuming one doser takes water out and the other in?

 

[X-37B]

40% wc per tank (5 of them) once per month. 160 gallons of water changed for 400 gallons of tank water. I match alkalinity, temp, and salinity before changing it.

Won't hurt but I am curious as to how you came up with 40%?
I never saw a difference between 10% a week and 5% a month in my systems.
Do you notice any visual.chamge after the 40% WC?
The only time a saw a difference is on my old 120 which I did no WC for 18 months.
I did a 5% change just because, and the tank just looked better. I had no issues running zero for 18 months.
I just use WC's to remove the things we can't test for.

 

[CBonito]

I make up 2, 5 gallon buckets with IO reef crystals, check it with my refractometer, let it mix a while and go for it.
I add a 5 gallon bucket at a time, let it mix with the tank for a while, and I pull the same amount of water out.
Then I do the second.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Won't hurt but I am curious as to how you came up with 40%?
I never saw a difference between 10% a week and 5% a month in my systems.
Do you notice any visual.chamge after the 40% WC?
The only time a saw a difference is on my old 120 which I did no WC for 18 months.
I did a 5% change just because, and the tank just looked better. I had no issues running zero for 18 months.
I just use WC's to remove the things we can't test for.

Good question! To remove nitrate. My nitrate always goes up, phosphate always goes down.

 

[X-37B]

Good question! To remove nitrate. My nitrate always goes up, phosphate always goes down.

Have you thought of running a sulfer reactor to control no3?
I run one and I can keep no3 at any number I want.
Something to consider if you want to reduce that 40% WC.

 

[mmorrison55]

Have you thought of running a sulfer reactor to control no3?
I run one and I can keep no3 at any number I want.
Something to consider if you want to reduce that 40% WC.

How does that work to be able to keep your NO3 at any level you want? I’ve never looked at a surfer reactor before, but that statement yiu made is intriguing.

 

[X-37B]

How does that work to be able to keep your NO3 at any level you want? I’ve never looked at a surfer reactor before, but that statement yiu made is intriguing.

You can dial in your number by controlling the effluent speed using a kamoer pump.
Research the no3 reactor method.
The reactor puts out zero no3.
An example from my ext 170.
No3 was 40+.
Started the reactor and it takes around 60 days to start putting out zero no3.
Once its zero you increase the throughput of the effluent slowly while you monitor no3.
Once no3 was 5 I let it run and monitired no3. If no3 goes up you increase throughput. If no3 goes down you slow it down.
Very simple to run, imo.
These are results a couple days ago.
Lol, you can see in the log no3 was 7 so I sped it up now 4.5. Simple?

 

[mmorrison55]

Thanks for the explanation. Something I will look into as my tank matures.

 

[exnisstech]

Shut down return, ATO, skimmer and heat. I use a maxi jet 1200 to pump 28g from the sump into a brute and roll it over to the door for disposal later. Occasionally I'll syphon some detritus out of the DT. Pump 28g fresh saltwater up from a brute in the basement. Turn everything back on then use the hose that was used to fill to drain the old water out under the back deck. This is my weekly routine on my 330g with 285g total volume. I don't really follow a set schedule on my other tanks.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

As we all know, one of the requirements for owning a reef aquarium is the need for maintenance including water changes, at least for most of us.
Some of us simply siphon the water while many also utilize automatic water change units and some simply replenish lost water from Evaporation.

How often do you perform water changes and by what means?
What is your frequency of water changes?

I do a 2-3 gallon water change every other day and my reasoning is to keep phos and nitrate in check while maintaining traces and elements. It was a method used by a few aquarist friends in the industry and I've seen a huge difference with both fish and coral health

10G a day on AWC for a 525g system.

 

[carri10]

1.44% change per day, in 6 x 3L amounts running from a GHL maxi doser feed from a 300L salt tank and emptying straight to waste water drain.

Idea to have automated as possible and as stable as possible.

 

[FishTruck]

I change about 6 - 7 gallons per day in a very large system (about 20% per month) with an AWC system. My goal is to remove any unmeasurable toxins that might accumulate and maintain trace elements. I don't think it has much effect on nutrients in my system.

I am cheating. I have a peristaltic pump that dumps a certain amount down the sewar. My ATO adds water, and a brine pump brings the salinity back up. This way I don't have to make saltwater and the salinity is corrected minute by minute. I also dump a fair amount changing filter socks and with other activities.

 

[FishLvR]

I have a minibar on the otherside of the room. I hook the python up to that sink to siphon. I do 20% weekly on my 90. I have a tiny little sharpie mark on the back of the tank for water level. When it's all siphoned out I take the python end into the laundry room and hook it up to my salt water bucket that has a Sicce sump pump and pump the water back in the tank. Then when done the python gets rolled up and hung on the wall. Easy as pie.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I use a DOS QD. I like @Randy Holmes-Farley approach best to be honest as it saves a ton of cash. And with some basic math you can dial in your amounts using the OCS command on an Apex.