Water changes- What is your method?

[52728299]

A lot will depend on water volume, type of live stock, need to reduce or replenish nutrients, maintenance schedules and to correct readings from water testing

Ew it looks so much worse with white lights. I never turn them on on this tank. Also took some microscope photos of it..

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ew it looks so much worse with white lights. I never turn them on on this tank. Also took some microscope photos of it..

This is green hair algae. Pull off as much as you can by hand and reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting and add some snails such as :
Astrea
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin

8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Ive seen one of those but they are really expensive and I cant really afford one right now.

Amazon for 25.00 is what I use. I don't need a big pump and do 25 gallon changes if that helps

 

[Lebowski_]

Amazon for 25.00 is what I use. I don't need a big pump and do 25 gallon changes if that helps

Yes all you need to do is check the little chart pumps usually have that show pressure at each height and make sure it is strong enough for your set up.

 

[52728299]

This is green hair algae. Pull off as much as you can by hand and reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting and add some snails such as :
Astrea
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin

8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

Cool I'm working on it. I spend waaay more time trying to clean this small tank than I do my 100dt. Ever since I set up this Lil tank it's been a disaster with algae. I never had to deal with gha in my big tank. It's messing terrible.

Cuc is prolly like 5 snails and 8 hermits as of right now. I can add more tho..

 

[vetteguy53081]

Cool I'm working on it. I spend waaay more time trying to clean this small tank than I do my 100dt. Ever since I set up this Lil tank it's been a disaster with algae. I never had to deal with gha in my big tank. It's messing terrible.

Cuc is prolly like 5 snails and 8 hermits as of right now. I can add more tho..

High phosphate, tank near window, organics, over feeding are typical contributors

 

[52728299]

High phosphate, tank near window, organics, over feeding are typical contributors

Hey thanks for looking at the algae problem. I'll keep trying, my po4 is low, my no3 is low, it's by a door and not a window, I do not run white lights on the tank, and I put maybe like 20 pellets of food in there a day. Some days I completely forget to feed it. I do run a canister filter should I take that offline? I also have a little 5w uv running on it..

Guess I'll keep cleaning it like 3 times a week, add a diverse amount of bacteria, add more cuc and hope after another year it gets better lol. I appreciate your responses tho ty

 

[SDReefer77]

Ocean water, manually. I live 20 mins from the Scripps Aquarium in San Diego and they have a free tap, makes things convenient.

It's an Evo 13 so I only need around 10 gallons a month, and like Kongar I think water changes for a nano are the best/easiest way to manage nutrients since we typically aren't running protein skimmers or additional filtration on systems this size. No real need to dose with the frequent water changes and the water volume is so small it ends up being really hassle free imho.

I do 1 gallon twice a week, Thursday and Sunday. Local water typically tests around 1.026 and 7.8-8.0 Ph, so I measure off a gallon in a pitcher and add about a cup of RO and a pinch of Ph buffer to bring it to 1.025/8.1. Recheck parameters, siphon a gallon from the filter box if I'm not vacuuming detritus, then slow pour the new water back in the filter. Takes like 3-5 mins.

 

[Kongar]

No real need to dose with the frequent water changes and the water volume is so small it ends up being really hassle free imho.

I do however dose just a little bit. I've got enough sps growing in mine where I'll see alk swings over the course of 2 weeks. But I keep it simple here - 10ml per day of all for reef through a single cheap dosing pump. This seems to hold things steady, so water changes are almost 100% for nutrient removal and the things I don't know about that are building/depleting.

 

[Stephen8169301]

Heat mat 5 gal bucket with a powerhead the night before gets temp to 77 I do about 3 gallons every Friday

 

[bakbay]

From my perspective, each tank is different with its own “personality”. Both my tanks are similar in water parameters but SPS grows much faster in my 150g vs 60g, possibly due to maturity? The 150g is 2.5yrs old and the 60g is 6mos old. It’s also possible that the pH is much higher on the 150g. Prior to the 150g upgrade, my previous 60g cube ran for 6+ years w/o a WC.

I believe in system stability and supplement trace elements via a calcium reactor. Yes, I tinker with CO2 scrubber to boost pH (for faster growth) but what worked for me has been a low maintenance system with stable Alk, N+P are non-zero, good flow, and strong light. It’s too messy and time consuming for me to do WCs. Ok, I admit it: I’m lazy so I try to automate everything!

 

[MBruun]

I make WC perhaps every month, or longer, in my RS750 (700 liter / 180G) from the sump.

1. Prepare 90 liter in a bin in the shower (+10 meter from the tank)
2. Shutdown return pump etc.
3. Empty the sump with a pump and a long hose in the toilet
4. Empty the hose, and put the pump in the fresh saltwater bin and pump SW to the sump.
5. Turn everything on
6. Clean up (or get killed by my wife...)

It does not require a lot of work, and I get the sump cleaned up

 

[PhishMonger84]

I also would like to say I do regular water changes but in reality that stopped happening 4 months ago... I did do one last week which was the first one in 4 months...

I do a 5 gallon water change with siphon that 90% of the time gets salt water in my mouth.

Fill the drain hose with water and make sure there is no air in the hose, then cover the side you will submerge with your thumb and lower the other side into a bucket. you shouldn't have to prime a hose by sucking on it. you just need to create a vacuum/syphon

 

[X-37B]

10% a month across 3 systems.
275 gal ro/di holding tank. 20g brute to make salt water.
Adjust to SG of 1.026, temp 80, and lower alk to 7 then mix over night.

 

[Jedi Knghit]

Manually change 10% every week in the DT, with old water being used to change 50% of the water in an 8 gal invert qt/frag tank in the basement.

I did get tired of carrying 5 gal buckets up the stairs, so I installed two RO booster pumps and ran RO lines to the display to move fresh saltwater to the display and RO to the ATO reservoir. I have considered adding a pump to move old saltwater to the drain, but seems excessive since I reuse it in my QT any way.

 

[Bruttall]

I just re-plumbed everything in my fish room, routed the fill line from the black tub I use as a reservoir (60gallon) behind the tank, organized all my cords etc. You can see the DT Drain next to the brute can I use for a RO/DI reservoir, ATO pump is inside. I open 2 ball valves and in about 10 minutes 60 gallons of new water is added, The new water goes into the Emergency Drain on my sump since it was unused because I run a dual drain system, at the same time, water is draining out of the DT. I shut down my skimmer and my ATO during this operation and I mostly remember to turn them back on after wards...mostly! The ball valve for the fill line is behind that brute can.

I do a 60gallon water change every weekend on a 300g DT with AF300 Gen 4 sump, total system water volume is like 330 gallons. So I am just under the 20% mark.

And with my new RO/DI 5 stage system with a really nice Auto Shut Off triggered by back pressure from the Float Valve closing, I can turn on the water when I go to bed, and I have 60 gallons ready when I wake up to add Salt to and heat up to 80 degrees F. That 2 probe TDS meter is pretty slick as well, I am about 17ppm going into the last filter and 0 coming out. My other AquaticLife RO Buddy 5 stage got me to 12ppm at best, I can't complain. It got me started and did a great job for what I spent on it.

 

[Koty]

About 100g, lots of heavily fed fish, some simple Zoas, few softies ( 3 types of GSP and two sp of Sarcophyon), one small gorgonian, many CBB-resistant LPS, and few small LPS, one RBTA. Many fish (about 20ish). All export methods are ON (Chaeto+Aiptasia) refuge, GFO, Heavy carbon dosing: TM ElimiNP/Reef Actif, KZ Spongpower, skimmer, UV 25W 24/7. No WC for about 1.5 years. Only add salt directly to the sump to replenish and adjust the salinity to 1.0264. Dosing AF +123 + TM A & K elements... Do not believe in ICP, as most trace elements are not measured accurately. Check KH, PO4, NO3, Ca, MG, and K; pH is stable at 8.2.
IMHO, folks that do not do WC like me should show their tank not to appear anecdotal:

 

[GatorGreg]

In my 22g w/ 10g sump I change 4 gallons twice a week. Tuesdays and Fridays. It’s a crude process but it works. 5g buckets with a circ pump and heater. Match temp, salinity and alk. Scrape any algae off glass. Drain old water from system and use a pump to add the new water back in. Change filter floss, check all equipment, clean up salt residue and clean skimmer cup.

Before I clean up I test all parameters.

I actually enjoy the process.

 

[fish farmer]

I do around 10-15 percent every other week...maybe every third week, which is around 3 to 4 gallons. Heated IO water usually mixed a couple days before.

I manually remove water with various siphoning devices, sometimes a stainless steel straw for removing mushrooms, sometimes a gravel vac for sand bed cleaning.

 

[Jasonak]

When Im on it 60 gallons every two weeks and 90 gallons every other time.That can vary by weeks. if im slacking.
I have 3 30 gallon trash cans with plastic floats hooked into my ro/di line. I have pumps and heaters for them all also to keep water warm and circulating . Have a power head with a hose attached that I drop into them and pump into the sump. I have tape on the side of my tank when im draining, one for 60 gallons and another marked for 90 gallons. I use the python system that attaches to your sink to drain it. Get it started with that then stop it and put it in my tub to continue draining. takes about hour to hour and half to do it all im guessing.
my tank is 300 with 90 sump.

I just started dosing recently so this will prob not be my routine anymore,we will see.