Best water changing techniques for a nano?

[eshook]

I a 2+ year old 24 gallon NC and used a 5 gallon bucket for water changes. I change the water using large cups, because I never matched my WC parameters exactly to the tank to I changed water slowly to reduce shock.

I now have a 7 month old who is VERY busy and I cannot dedicate as much time to my tank as I used to. So sometimes my WC get skipped and my tank is slowly degrading from its former glory. I don't want this to continue so I am seeking advice from the larger community.

How do you change water for your nano!?

[Agu]

Siphon out a gallon and pour in a gallon. The replacement water may not be exact but it's usually close enough not to cause a problem. Minor variations aren't going to crash a tank ime.

SG shouldn't be hard to match and temp can be adjusted by microwaving a cup or two if it's too cold or by floating a frozen bottle of water if it's too hot.

[sunfishh]

I completely agree

[vangvace]

I blast all of my rocks with a turkey baster. Then I siphon out for gallons and replace. I also will stir the sand as well while siphoning.

[wuzup3]

I do a 5 gal change once a week. Siphon out 5 gal mostly from the overflow in the back to reduce the amount coming out of the main tank and then use a maxi-jet to pump back the new 5 gal. Takes about 3 minutes from start to finish. And like Agu said adjust temp if needed and as long as salinity is close your good.

[Lunchbucket]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15306659#post15306659 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wuzup3
I do a 5 gal change once a week. Siphon out 5 gal mostly from the overflow in the back to reduce the amount coming out of the main tank and then use a maxi-jet to pump back the new 5 gal. Takes about 3 minutes from start to finish. And like Agu said adjust temp if needed and as long as salinity is close your good.

I do the same on my 29gal. Just siphone out 5gal. Some out of the back or under the rocks w/ the detrituts is and then dump 5gal back in. I make sure my water is the same sg and temp.

Lunchbucket

[nate82]

Your tank is much hardier than you're giving it credit for

[SPStoney]

I mix my salt throw my heater in it for 10 minutes then scrape corraline off glass and add water. takes no time at all.

[macclellan]

I siphon out 33% into a bucket, then dump this 33% back in as fast/hard as I can creating a "storm," then I siphon out detritus-rich water a second time. Works way better than basting rocks first. I match SG but don't worry about temp since it is at most it is a 5 degree difference.

[sharky_sa]

I mix my salt 24 hours prior to water change, throw a heater and powerhead in to mix and airate the water nicely .... During WC, I blast my rocks to rid of ditritus and siphon any waste at bottom of tank, clean glass too .... I then pump the "newly" mixed water into tank .....

[Korrine]

Yea I hate wc too. i'm a 5' chick that has to drag the sw up from the basement. My tank is sitting 4" off the floor so the syphon is really slow. I've contemplated putting my maxijet 1200 in there for pumping out the water faster, but then won't be able to get any detritus spots.

[cody6766]

I keep a 5g bucket full of saltwater at all times. The bucket has a heater and a powerhead to keep it from stagnating and to keep it the same temp as the tank.

I have a little system rigged up to my return pump that lets me change water with next to no effort.
I kill the return and throw the ball valve on the return line to closed.
There's a T in the line with another hose and a ball valve before the valve on the return line. I open this ball valve, turn the pump back on, drain the sump and shut it down again. I refill the sump, return the ball valves to their original positions and fire the return pump. I get a 3g change with next to no effort.

[eshook]

It sounds like I have been worrying about SG and temperature swings a little too much.

Most people have said they do a ~5 gallon WC quickly (e.g. siphon and pump) even if parameters are not exact. I always try to match the parameters to a reasonable degree, but never exactly which had me concerned.

[eshook]

Agu - are you saying do 1 gallon at a time? Or just using 1 gallon as an example? I never thought about nuking some water to heat it up. I always fill a zip lock baggie with hot water from the tap, but its cumbersome. Great idea!

wuzup/lunchbucket - I will try this method next time. The tank is due for a WC and I have been putting it off since getting back from Chicago.

nate - I'm sure you're right, but I don't want to lose any creatures. Some have been with me for the life of the tank (2+ years now) so they would be missed if I lost them ...

Korrine - I feel your pain. I'm not a very big guy and I lug 5 gallon buckets from the back of my basement to the middle of the house while trying not to splash too much :)

cody - I had a similar system when I had a sump, alas my stock 24 NC doesn't allow for such cool tricks. Maybe one day I will get a more comprehensive system with sump and bigger fish.

[Whitebread]

Gravity fed could be an option. My tank sets next to a tall bookshelf. I've got a three gal tote, flatter one, that I fill with premixed water. There's an IV line running to tank. Once the tote is full. Then drain three gal out of the display and discard. Then start IV line and walk away. Hour and half later it's done, with little effort or worry. I use the same the tote/IV line for top off as well. It's def ghetto, but seems to work.

[Agu]

Agu - are you saying do 1 gallon at a time? Or just using 1 gallon as an example? I never thought about nuking some water to heat it up. I always fill a zip lock baggie with hot water from the tap, but its cumbersome. Great idea!

In my 10 gallon tanks one gallon is more than 10% ;) . However smaller changes done consecutively are almost as efficient as one large waterchange with less work/lifting/risk.

"Aquarists often think that many small changes are not as efficient as one big change since some of the water in all subsequent changes was already replaced by earlier changes. This is a correct assertion, but it is often overstressed. After changing 10% three times, only 10% of the first 10% change was changed the second time (1% of the total). So the difference is small. We can mathematically calculate the efficiency of such changes as follows. If we use our 30% example, then one 30% change removes 30% of the impurities, assuming an equal distribution of the impurity within the water. If we do six 5% changes, then the reduction in impurities = 1-(0.95)6 = 26.5%. So it is less efficient (six 5% changes exactly equal 26.5% changed in one batch), but it is not radically less efficient. Going smaller still, the difference is even smaller. Doing 30 one percent changes removes 1-(0.99)30 = 26.0% of the impurities"

From Reefkeeping Magazine (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php)

[Korrine]

interesting. Thank Agu. Do you think 3g a week is enough on a 29g tank? nitrAtes are 10-20ppm currently. They used to be lower but then I got into a spell where I didn't change for month due to a family emergency.

What's your opinion?? Thanks :)

[Agu]

10% once a week works for me. Sometimes when I'm feeling reckless I'll even go ten days between waterchanges ;) .

On the other hand if a tank isn't looking it's best I'll blast the rockwork and substrate with a turkey baster and do back to back waterchanges. Then I'll put some carbon in the system for a few days. That really seems to fix most problems.

YMMV,

[Tremont]

I do a 4 g change every week in my 34 g and as long as the water doesn't feel hot, I just pump it in without checking the temperature and have never had any problems whatsoever. I also found that I can export a huge amount of gunk if put my turkey baster down into the last rear chamber and pump it (to stir up the sediment) as I drain all of the water out of the rear chambers...

-Tre

[Dave Harms]

I do a one gallon change twice a week on my 15 gallon tank. I just siphon out a gallon into an empty 1 gallon bottle and then pour in a gallon of new saltwater from the LFS. I LOVE how easy water changes are on my nano. :D

[supertech99]

I do a 20% change weekly, but i use "old" water from my larger tank, this keeps me up to date on my big tank wc's and keeps the nano parms stable in ca, ph, alk, sg. I keep my nano coldish for evap and (75-78) so that even if my wc water is room temp (70-73) its not too much of a shock. heater only stays on for a few minutes usually

[Korrine]

a tip. If you do use a pump/ph to syphon out water don't leave and think it's ok. I did that yesterday and dumped a couple gallons on the carpet when the hose left the bucket it was filling :(

You suppose it's not to bad to dump the water on the grass if it's been raining?

[Agu]

You suppose it's not to bad to dump the water on the grass if it's been raining?

It'll probably kill the grass. Even if it's raining the salt can damage the root system. Did it once by accident (thought it was the RO waste water) three days later there was a brown outline of the splash marks :o .

[Korrine]

my bad. :o Glad it's on the north side of the house then :) Only a small strip of grass as the house is really close to the lot line. Well it rained yesterday and then last night so I was hoping I could just lug the thing out there instead of taking it to the toilet. If my hubby asks about it, I'll just pretend I don't know anything at all :worried: :lmao:

[DSR]

I fill a five gallon bucket with RO/DI premixed water and set it right next to my tank. I dose the appropriate amount of calcium to raise the level (from the shop it is 320). I then put a powerhead in there for an hour or so to mix it up.

Then I siphon out 5 gal into a different bucket. Cleaning the top layer of sand. I mostly pull from the overflow though. When I am done with the siphon I tank my chiller pump out of the overflow and drop it in the bucket and turn the pumps back on... it fills my tank back up with clean water in less than five minutes. Really it is a quick process.

[Korrine]

^ I need to perfect my process. 5 min for a wc would be awesome!

[nanojg]

I mix a 1 gallon batch of salt water (I dont heat it or take a power head to it, just shake it up a bit)

I dunk and empty gallon jug in the water, fill it up with old water, gradually lift the gallon jug out as I pour a fresh gallon in. I leave everything on when i do this.

Takes a minute or two start to finish. Filling the RO water is the longest part of the process.

[eshook]

Brainstorming idea: Has anyone used an overflow to manage (semi) automated waterchanges?

At the beginning of a WC place an "auto-start" overflow onto the display part of the NC which drains into an empty bucket. Then pump newly mixed water from a different bucket. If the overflow kept up with the pump then this would be an error-free way of automating the WC procedure, because the newly mixed water will cause the overflow to remove an equal amount of "dirty" water.

Has anyone tried something like this?

[gobygoddess]

I agree with vangvace. I siphon 2-5 gallons a week. I also stir the sand and blast all my rocks, this way you are removing all the waste that the filters did not. This process takes me a total of 15-20 mins. Trust me, as a preschool teacher I know its very hard to get things done while kids are running around, try doing it while he/she is sleeping. I get everything done while my students nap!!;)

[eshook]

vang & goby - I don't disturb the sandbed, but I do turkey baster blast my rocks at every WC. I feel it helps tremendously at getting the gunk out of the water. It does add time to the WC process though.

nano - I wish I could fit a 1 gallon bucket in my tank, but my corals / rockwork don't allow that. I use a 2qt cup essentially. Great idea though. I'll keep it in mind!

[qn5reef]

I mix 5 gallons every week and change 4 gallons every week and change 1 gallon mid week. I mix the new water in 5 gallon bucket with Maxi Jet Sureflow mod for 3 hours before the water change. I don't use the heater.

[Izzone001]

20% once a week works well for any tank is all it really takes.

[jonnybravo22]

this is how i do my water changes on my nano:
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2108.jpg

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_1624.jpg


1) first before anything i move my drain line (flexible nylon tubing) from the water change chamber and into the skimmer chamber (this is not necessary if i don't want to drain the entire chamber).

2) you'll notice in my pictures of the sump that there is a ball valve sticking out with a cap on the end. This is my return line. That valve is closed, so water normally just flows back up to the tank, the cap is just "added security". The ball valve is the outlet for my water change plumbing. I just pull off the cap and plug in this pipe.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2069.jpg

3) Then i open the valve and water pumps out from my sump into the bucket using the return pump.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2079.jpg

4) Then I open the ball valve connecting the water change chamber to the return chamber so that i pump out the dirtiest water and so that i know the exact amount I need to refill.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2080.jpg

I drain it to about here so that the return pump is still submerged:

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2088.jpg

5) When it reaches the water level I want, I simply close off the ball valve to the bucket, and water immediately begins to flow back into the tank, and overflowing into the sump so that the water level is constant over the pump - don't have to worry about dry running at all.

6) Then I just close the valve on the sump and fill up that chamber with freshly made water. Put the return line back in the water change chamber and i'm done. It was soooo cool and easy, no mess, no siphoning, no waiting. the whole thing took less than 10 minutes my first time trying it. I'm really pleased with the way that works. Subsequent WCs have taken less than 5 minutes for about 3 gallons.

[Avalon_Princess]

I have a bucket hidden under a table next to the tank with a powerhead, heater and 8l of fresh salt water. I just siphon 8l of water from the tank being sure to siphon all detritus (it's a BB) and then pour the new salt water in. Then I'll refill the bucket and set it all to mixing again so it's all good for the next water change in a weeks time. It takes no more then 10mins all up.

[cherubfish pair]

Just wanted to say to you guys, instead of blasting detritus with a turkey baster, use it to suck up detritus.

[roneil]

Mr show off. just kidding. i like your overall setup with the sump and skimmer. one day i would like to get something like that.


now for the water change on my JBJ 24, i siphon out 5 gallons, first i drain from the back chamber an then from the main tank. i then clean my mechanical filter and then add the filter back and then add new water. takes around 20 mins.

this is how i do my water changes on my nano:
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2108.jpg

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_1624.jpg


1) first before anything i move my drain line (flexible nylon tubing) from the water change chamber and into the skimmer chamber (this is not necessary if i don't want to drain the entire chamber).

2) you'll notice in my pictures of the sump that there is a ball valve sticking out with a cap on the end. This is my return line. That valve is closed, so water normally just flows back up to the tank, the cap is just "added security". The ball valve is the outlet for my water change plumbing. I just pull off the cap and plug in this pipe.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2069.jpg

3) Then i open the valve and water pumps out from my sump into the bucket using the return pump.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2079.jpg

4) Then I open the ball valve connecting the water change chamber to the return chamber so that i pump out the dirtiest water and so that i know the exact amount I need to refill.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2080.jpg

I drain it to about here so that the return pump is still submerged:

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/jonny_bravo22/100_2088.jpg

5) When it reaches the water level I want, I simply close off the ball valve to the bucket, and water immediately begins to flow back into the tank, and overflowing into the sump so that the water level is constant over the pump - don't have to worry about dry running at all.

6) Then I just close the valve on the sump and fill up that chamber with freshly made water. Put the return line back in the water change chamber and i'm done. It was soooo cool and easy, no mess, no siphoning, no waiting. the whole thing took less than 10 minutes my first time trying it. I'm really pleased with the way that works. Subsequent WCs have taken less than 5 minutes for about 3 gallons.

[kv2wr1]

I have an old 29 gallon aquarium that I mix in my salt and ro/di water in with a powerhead and a heater. I will usually mix it up a day or 2 before I need to use it.

Right now I just have a nano so I only use a few gallons a week. The water lasts a long time and it's good to have some ready to go mixed and heated saltwater for emergencies.

I do the same as others as far as water changes. I usually do them every Saturday morning about an hour or 2 after I have fed the fish.

I siphon out a few gallons and then pour in a few gallons of the pre-mixed & heated saltwater. I blast the rock and tank with a turkey baster to stir up the detritus to be siphoned out.

[Western_reefer]

I have a 28 gallon Nano-Cube and I do 7 gallon water changes every week. Siphon out 7 gallons then lift the new 7 gallon jug and pour it in. Takes me about 5 min. :)

[twelvejewelz]

i have only a 10 gallon nano. so i buy premixed natures ocean nutri-seawater. it comes in a 4.4 gallon jug for about 16$ here. i do a 1 gallon water change once or twice a week usually . it lasts me about a month . i have a 4 foot hose and a 1 gallon plastic milk container. i scrape the glass, stir up the sand, siphon out water to fill the 1 gallon container then fill it up with the saltwater and dump it in the tank . literally takes 3 minutes to do . to sterilize the milk container i put in boiling water the first time i used it just in case . now its good to go . i dont mind spending the money on the premixed water as it saves me time and im lazy :-P lol , but you can get a nice size container and premix it and leave a power head in it so its always circulating. its perfectly fine for you to then take it and put it in the tank at room temperature In my experience.

[Nano sapiens]

I do a 1g WC weekly. I use a 5g bucket to store my pre-mixed saltwater and manually stir it every few days to keep it oxygenated. I place a pre-set heater into my 1g WC container and in about 1/2 hr. its matched to the tank temp.

I siphon 1g of detritus/water with a small gravel-vac from the rear chambers of my 'fuge and then the 1/2" layer of gravel in the tank. Then just dump in the 1g of new water and its all done.

[pache11]

I fill my magnum 350 with new salt water, put in nano. Turn on untill everything is stirred well and is sucked into polishing filter, disconnect, throw out water in magnum, and change an additional 1-2 gal in my jbj12.