Water Changes

[LornaS]

Okay who here is tired of lugging heavy buckets doing your water changes.....

This is what I have been doing now as I am not able to set up a system like Lee's.

one 5 gallon just with fresh ro/di water, mixed with my preferable salt mix to 1.026 or 35ppt. (currently using Tropic Marin Bioactif but just got a bucket of Red Sea Coral Pro0

one emply 5 gallon jug. set up tom aqualifter from the display tank into empty jug

draw top off from 5 gallon mixed salt water. ATO uses tom aqualifter also. As sump level drops gradually the ato replaces the water with water from the saltwater jug. Then go and get a beverage of choice and watch tv for an hour or so. Once the 5 gallon empty jug is full of water from the display I then stop and empty it and return the topoff back to ro/di water. Water change done!

I do this twice a week and once a month I do a 15gallon drag the buckets out change where I siphon and clean rocks etc. This has been great and keeps me in line with water changes. If you are doing something different that is somewhat automated let's hear about it.

 

[DiverJohn]

I like this idea. In time i will have to get all the equipment and give this a try.

 

[kevantheman35]

That's a great idea, knowing me I would get to doing something and forget overflowing my jug lol. I've overflowed my Ro a couple times forgetting about it since I don't have a float.

 

[LornaS]

well you need to watch the water draining from the dt. I unplugged the aqualifter the other night but forgot that it would continue to siphon and put about 2 gallons of water on my living room rug.....Live and learn.....haven't made that mistake again. I figure it takes about 2 hours to pump out 5 gallons. Now I set an alarm. Or maybe I should try pumping from the other section of the sump and set up the lifter on the apex with an off and on switch. Regardless, any time I can do a water change while watching tv or doing other things is a good water change.

John, you can easily do this with just a siphon from the main dt a 1/4 airline siphons almost the same volume as a topoff pump adds it back so no extra pump needed, just a couple jugs or buckets and an airline.....

 

[DiverJohn]

Actually Lorna, I was thinking you could do this with a JBJ ATO with the float switches set one in the bucket you are filling to kill the pump when it fills up and the other in the new water to kill the power if the bucket runs low. Would just need a splitter for the power outlet to run 2 pumps off the same power supply. I might give this a try over the weekend since I will have some spare time. That way the system will cut off the power and there shouldn't be a flooding problem. I will probably pull the water from the return section of my sump and add the new stuff back into the return section. This should void the siphon effect once the pumps are done.

 

[HoaglandDiver]

FYI, if you were to run both the drain and new water at same time (provided aqualifter pumps (or whatever pump you use) pumps around same amount), you could have one come from the drain side of sump and other go to return side of sump.. Per much research on line, if you were to perform a 30% change, you would only lose 4% (you would change 26%) as opposed to the full 30 if you pulled it all 1st and added new after... I can get you links to that info if you need it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Here's my automated system:

New salt water is mixed in 2 x 44 gallon Brute cans (plumbed together). I use the new salt water for automated water changes using a dual head Reef Filler pump on a timer so it changes about 1% daily spread over many 15 minute periods of the day. I mix the salt water for about 24 h then turn off the powerhead (unless I forget ) and let it sit unstirred for weeks. I never heat the new salt water, except in emergency need of a lot of water. The old water is sent down a basement sink drain.

So the water changes take me about 5-10 minutes a month.

 

[HoaglandDiver]

Thanks for your input randy... I am curr doing about 1%/day over one 45 min period.. After reading your post, I will break that up into several 15 min periods. good idea.

 

[LornaS]

if only I had room to store made up water........maybe if I can run the hoses through the ceiling as discussed on Sunday. Once I have that set up I would seriously consider your method Randy/Lee. Meanwhile, as I have a small tank (70g) changing out 5g every other day is better than doing one large change every other month when I remember. This keeps me on task somewhat.

Question, if pulling water from the return section and pumping in new water into the same section of the sump wouldn't that reduce the amount of old water being removed? Just thinking that water in the return is disproportionately higher in new water as the change continues? Not sure if I am saying this right. Now I am pulling water from the display at the opposite side of the return with the ato running into the return section of the sump. This way I think I am pulling a higher degree of old water out. Probably miniscule difference in the long run of things.

 

[HoaglandDiver]

I pull water from the drain side (filter sock area) of my sump and put water in at the return side of my sump .. so new water has to go through DT before it could be pulled out by "pulled" water... my research shows that if you did 30% change a month (broken up into little bits every day) via this method, you end up changing 26% instead of 30%... research also showed me that it's better to do 26% (a little each day) than 1, 2, or 3 large 30% changes a month. (p.s. most of my research is from Randy's articles)

 

[MattL22]

I love the idea of automating wc and think for a system with very low fish load it's great but I'm finding I really need to get into tank blow all detritus off rocks siphon it out from sand and behind rocks etc but I feed 25 fish 4-5 times a day

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Question, if pulling water from the return section and pumping in new water into the same section of the sump wouldn't that reduce the amount of old water being removed? Just thinking that water in the return is disproportionately higher in new water as the change continues? Not sure if I am saying this right. Now I am pulling water from the display at the opposite side of the return with the ato running into the return section of the sump. This way I think I am pulling a higher degree of old water out. Probably miniscule difference in the long run of things.

As HoaglandDiver noted, the effect is small.

30 x 1% changes with perfect mixing in the tank is equivalent to about 26% changed all at once in the normal out then in fashion.

I show that here:

Water Changes in Reef Aquaria by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

You can actually do better than that 26%. I add the water to my sump downstream of where I take it out, and in my system, I doubt much new water gets back around to be removed before the timer shuts off for that 15 minute period since I have several extended sumps and refugia.

 

[LornaS]

Thanks Randy that is a valid point about adding new water downstream. That is where I am adding my new water and taking it from just by the overflow in the display tank......as noted though the difference is probably fractional.

I opted for this as a way to encourage more frequent regular water changes rather than the hit or miss that i had been doing previously. Some how something always cropped up more important than spending a few hours doing a water change. This is turning out to be a great benefit and I am already seeing positive results.

Now I just have to get the name of that persaltic pump you are using Lee as I think I need to figure out a way to run the tubing through my ceiling out to my garage.

Does water made up in large quantities in a salt resevoir lose any important elements by sitting? I presume you have a power head in there to provide agitation, but does the water chemistry change at all?

 

[woodzy128]

What about cleaning detritus (blowing off rocks, cleaning skimmer, reactor, pump)? I have a detritus trap in my sump so I have to siphon it out. I would think if I was doing awc the other equipment would not get cleaned as regular as it does.

 

[LornaS]

I do 2-3 small changes a week with a large 20% change once a month when I blow off rocks, stir top layer of sand, clean equipment etc. These small automated changes are supplemental.

When siphoning your sump are you not worried about removing pods? just asking as I have a lot of detritus etc in my sump and have thought of using a shop vac to remove all the gunk and clean it out but don't want to lose my pod population. If I were to remove the live rock rubble in my drain section into a bucket with water and vac out the rest this could help save some of the pods. I have a low population in my dt thanks to a melanarus wrasse that is constantly on the hunt.