Water changes

[JJIM]

Quick questions to all those with Nano's. I am wondering what methods all of you are using to change water, i.e. when adding the new water to tank. I ask this because such small changes in water parameters with corals "can" be detrimental. Let’s hear your methods please, as I eventually will be adding corals down the line. Thanks!

[Kataro]

I match the new water Specific Gravity / PH / Temp with the tank's. Pump out Old water... and pump new water in. Avoid spraying any corals with the new water.

Oh and let the salt mix for 12-24 hours.. I prefer 24

[JJIM]

Pumping, any other methods if you don't have the pump? Can you simply dump the water (10%) in the DT, or better yet back chamber or sump from a bucket that has been mixed up for a couple hours, or have some had adverse effects doing this? When doing this avoiding direct flow of the water on to the corals of course =)

[SolidDetail808]

I do 1.5 gallons every week on my 12 gallon. I don't have a sump so I siphon old water and just use a cup to lightly dump new water in. Takes about 5 minutes tops.

[murphreef]

with my 25g tank i mix up about 3 -4 gallons of new salt water to match the SG temp as long as its within 3-4 degrees i dont care and the corals dont seem to mind either...

i simply take out the water and dump in the new

i mix my salt at least 24 hours sometimes i leave it mixing for days as i only do water changes like every 3-4 weeks

[JNicho]

I've found a cheap powerhead that you can fit a piece of tubing in or over the outlet works wonders...siphon out the old water then refill with the new water using the pump...I've done the "just pour it in" method, but in smaller tanks it tends to stir things up a bit too much.

+ 1 on matching temp/SG and also letting the water mix at least overnight.

[Flipper62]

For my office BioCube, I like to do a 2 to 3 % water change every few days. Its easier to do then a 20% every 2 weeks.

I just take a few glasses of water out and then add a few glasses of new water back in.

This really keeps the nitrates down...and keeps the trace elements in the salt at the level needed.

[brandon429]

I have always done full 100% changes for years and years with no ill effects. corals do not care at all, they adapt easily. fish may be another story but there is no reason it would hurt them if you matched parameters correctly and left em a few inches to swim while it drains. all I know is if Im going to be taking out water why leave in 80% of contaminants...its easy to blast clean smaller tanks the larger nanos can be a challenge im just saying if you want to do giant water changes it doesn't hurt.

a few times a year I take my pico reef, set it in the sink and pour ten gallons through it letting the overflow clean every nook and cranny in the tank. So there are ways to exceed even the 100% mark, say 1000%, and the corals still don't care id say thats a good test for 100% water changes...
B

[5380]

I switch my osmolator top off pump to the SW mixing tank vacuum any junk off the bottom (basically bare bottom). The top off pump kicks in and starts refilling (after a few minutes the particulate is off the bottom and I use a line from a eheim hobby pump to fill the tank until the top off reads level.