suggestions on Water changes?

[hoxbar]

I've found water changes to be very messy. Is there an easier way. I've got a 90 gal. tank with high nitrates around 160 but I've currently got it down to around 40. I've been changing 20 gallons of water about every 1-2 weeks. I'd do it more often, but the tank is in my office and I've got to get real work done. This is how I've been doing water changes.
I do step 1-4 the day before
1. Get 4 five gallon buckets and fill them with water.
2. add buffer to get the PH up to 8.2
3. Add Salt to water and mix, until I get 1.026 sg
4. Allow water to come to room temperature
5. siphon 20 gallons of water out of my tank, one 5 gallon bucket at a time.
6. pour in 4 five gallon buckets of water.

This is a real mess there is got to be an easier way. I get the tiled floor all wet and salty. It's a really messy job and it looks really bad to have clients coming into my office when I'm doing this. HELP:eek1:

[J.russell]

I use a pump to pump water out of the tank into the front yard. Then pump the new water back into the tank.

[ronin_man]

+1
im sure you could come up with some kind of plumbing to make a pump work :)

[NirvanaFan]

I use an extra maxi-jet 1200 I've got laying around. I think it's 1/2" tubing that fits about perfectly over the end.

[andrew jacoby]

I have a 90g tank too. Here is what I do.

I have two 32 gallon rubbermaid trash cans with a line marked in each can identifying the 25 gallon mark.

1. Make new water to go into tank. Put into can "A" up to the 25g marker
2. Siphon water out of tank into can "B" to the 25g marker
3. Use a pump to put new water into tank from can "A". I have one that does 400gph so it goes very fast.
4. Dispose of water in can "B"

I have about a 20 foot line of hose I use to siphon water out and that I also attach to my pump to put it back in. Takes about 10-15 minutes to do the change. I let my new water sit overnight though to get to temperature and mix properly.

Hope this helps.

[IslandCrow]

First, there are a couple problems with your salt mixing. First, don't buffer your water. You absolutely do not need to get it to any particular PH. Fresh water has a low PH, that's all there is to it. All you're doing is throwing your alkalinity out of balance. Second, you really want to give your salt water more time to mix thoroughly and chemically stabilize. You'll get different views, but most people like to give it at least 12 hours.

As for the water changes themselves, it would be helpful to know a little bit more about the area where you have your tank. You say you have it in your office. Do you have a way you can run some tubing from the tank to someplace outside where you could just use a pump to drain the water? If you have a sump, that would be a convenient place to put said pump. I leave a Maxijet in my sump that I just hook some flexible tubing to when it's water change time. My water comes from a 44g Brute trash can in the garage. Inside is a Mag 5 water pump that's connected to flexible tubing. Also inside is a Maxijet 1200 and a heater I use to mix and heat my saltwater. I don't suppose you have a conveniently located storage closet where you could store something like that? Otherwise, I'm afraid I can't think of any way to make the job easier than it is now. I also have an office tank, but it's only a 12g, so I don't have the same issues.

[vyerous]

Like pretty much everyone else said, just get a large trashcan and mix before you go home. It is important to have a powerhead in your mixing receptacle because there is no way you are going to sit there and stir with you a huge spoon for hours on end, it would take you forever to get it to mix properly. If you are going to use a trashcan I recommend getting a cheap power head like a rio1200 or whatever maxijet you want, have one to stir at the bottom and have one pointing at the surface. Since you seem to be concerned with PH having a powerhead pointed at the surface will help regulate your PH (especially overnight) and aerate the water so its a breath of fresh air for the fish =D

Also if you are going to do this method make sure you throw a large heater in the mixing bin, its imperative you don't dump cold water into the tank, especially at a 15%+ water change. On top of that by making the water the same temperature as your display tank your salt will properly dissolve and be consistent with what it will be used in.

Go to home depot and find tubing (usually 1/2" for the rio and mj) and use it to pump water into your tank. Its a little tricky when you get to the bottom of the bucket but just be ready to unplug the powerhead, I like it on a power strip so I reduce the possibility of dripping water into the sockets (mine is mounted on the wall). Good luck, you're doing more work than you have to.