your water change method/process

[sk8ter20art]

still in the build phase of my first tank, got my RODI unit in and was setting up my filtered water setup. After setting up my 27 gal container i was thinking about my water changes. my tank will have about 100 gal water volume (75 DT and 25 sump) so a 20% water change would require 20 Gallons. I do have a bathroom about 10 feet away for disposing of the "old" water, but not much room in the house for storing a large trashcan dedicated to mixing my saltwater. was thinking of doing smaller 5 gal batches in buckets.

I have a few questions for you experienced reefers:

how do you do your water change? ( I know the water needs to be heated and agitated beforehand.)
Whats your step by step and equipment/tools?
How do you know how much water you have taken out of the tank?
4 small water changes (5 gal weekly) or 1 large change monthly (20gal)?

tank will be Fowler and moderatly stocked, protein skimmer, refugium with cheato, live rock (cycled from dry).

[b0bab0ey]

I would make room for a trash can or sterilite container or something. Doing weekly 5 gal WCs isn't going to make much of an impact and will just become a weekly annoyance.

I personally use a 29 gal sterilite container to do WCs on my 150. I try to WC 20 gals every 2 weeks. Sometimes I get lazy and let it go an extra week. I wait a full 48 hrs to let it mix thoroughly after I've got the SG right. I change out 5-4 gal buckets, and then use plastic tubing from the hardware store to send the fresh s/w to my tank from the sterilite container via an Aquaclear powerhead.

[b0bab0ey]

double post

[shonc182]

I have a Rubbermaid trash can that holds enough for a 25% change. Inside of that, there is a small heater (stuck to the side) and a small garden pond pump. From the pump I have enough tubinig to run to the tank with a U-shaped discharge on then end of the tube. Once I have filled the trash can full, I run the pump with the end of my tubing hanging over the edge of trash can - water is pumped out of the bottom and returned to the top. Add salt mix and let it all run for a day.

The next day, I turn off the return pump and drain the correct amount from my tank. I just do a simple siphon out my front door that is only a few feet away. To determine the correct amount to drain - I calculated the gallons per inch of my tank and made a mark (measuring down from the top) on the tank that corresponded to the amount of water held in my trash can. The exact location of the mark had to be adjusted a couple of times to get it exactly right - remember some water drains back to your sump when you kill the return pump. When filling, I just move the discharge tube from the can into the tank and let the pump refill the tank. Turn on the return pump and done.

There is no shortage of opinions on how many/much water changes to do. I do 25% every other week (or so).

[sail33]

Agreed. 5 gl per week won't help much. 15% to 20% every two or three weeks. Also consider and algae turf scrubber. Suggest you read the thread as design changes occured as reports came in.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1977420

[Pearson]

I don't have my ro/di hard plumbed so I have to connect it to my faucet. I have it going to a 34g brute that holds the water. I change about 15g every week or 2, depending on parameters. Add the salt, let it sit with the maxijet1200 for at least 12hrs, and check salinity. If everything's good make sure it's close in temp. I don't worry about a heater cause the water is usually close to my DT temp.

Put the tank on standby (my rkl turns off the return pump) and siphon/pump out the 15g from the sump/DT. Check my replacement water to make sure everything's still stable and then pump it into the sump/DT.

Turn everything back on. Water change is done. Check sg and parameters in 12-24hr to make sure everything is still good.

That's my process. It probably isn't perfect and i'm sure there's some things that should change in order to make it better/easier but it works for me. I've had the tank for 3-4 months so i'm not seasoned but I haven't had any issues with it so far.

[Mrscribbled]

Make it easy. The easier it is the more it gets done. I have a 100 gallon mixing tank with heater hard plumbed to my system. Iopen a valve and water from dt goes into floor drain then I open another valve and new water goes in. I can change 100 gallons in ten minutes without lifting a pail.

[sk8ter20art]

thanks everybody :bounce1: for your replies. a lot of posts on the forums just say water change, but don't detail there step by steps. guess i will need to figure out somewhere to store a large container for mixing my salt.

Too bad that i didn't know i would be building a salt water tank a year ago when i was remodeling my house that we had just bought. I re-did all the plumbing, electrical wiring and lots of drywall. Could have had a built in/plumbed in water change system. too close to bieng done with all the rooms to install that kind of thing now.

anybody with a different method is still welcome to reply.

[italquam]

Do you have any pictures of that setup hard plumbed to your tank? Sounds very interesting

[Palting]

100 gallon system probably only requires 10 gallons (10%) water change a week at most routinely. I did 20 gallons a week on my 200 gallon system for about 3 years, and I've just recently cut that back to 20 gallons every 2 weeks.

If you still can, it will be a huge advantage to put an in wall drain close to the tank for easy drainage when you do water changes. When it told this to my contractor, he had no clue what I wanted. I finally just told him that I was going to place a clothes washer and needed a drain. A light bulb went off in his head LOL!!!

If space is an issue, you do not need a large area for the mixing bin. You can fill up the mixing bin only with each water change and put it away in between. You do need a large area for the RODI storage bin.

Here's what I do. RODI fills up a 55 gallon Brute garbage can that is setup atop a stand/cabinet. I turn off the return pump and drain the reef tank to the wall drain, down to a sticker on the tank that marks exactly 20 gallons below full. I open the tap in the Brute, and fill up a 22 gallon Rubbermaid bin sitting below it, up to a line that marks exactly 20 gallons. Add 7 trowelful of salt that will make exactly 1.026 SG. I turn on a 1400 gph pump with a flexible hose that's in the bin to mix and aerate for a few hours. Once everything is mixed, I take out the hose and direct the output to the sump and turn the return pump on. VOILA! Water change done. Easy as pie.

[Susan Lohrer]

You guys have some good ideas.

With my 65g display (10 percent water change per week) and two smaller quarantine tanks (frequent large water changes), I've been lugging way too many 5g buckets of water up the stairs and then adding the water to the DT by either dipping it in with a 1g bucket (dripping water all over the floor) or heaving a 5g bucket up to shoulder height. I don't recommend either method. And doing that for a big tank would be so much more work.

When I get my sump built, I'm going to do the big-container-on-a-stand thing for sure. I'll still be carrying water up a flight of stairs, but getting it into the tank will be far easier. Thanks for that tip, Palting. :)

[italquam]

What type of stand have you guys built? I would love to see some pictures of one and what type of material were used, thanks

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

I just premix salt in a five gallon bucket and heat / stir and when it's ready i siphon out five and replenish five, that easy! with filtered ro hope this helps!

[worm5406]

This is an old thread brought back to life... (not too old...)

Also.. measure your tank height... divide your gallons by tank height... you will have a good estimation within about a half gallon.

[Dotterer]

This is an old thread brought back to life... (not too old...)

Also.. measure your tank height... divide your gallons by tank height... you will have a good estimation within about a half gallon.

Great idea. But what about the sump?

[jamesbaur13]

I use rubbermaid 37g totes.

I use 2 totes to make 1 container. The outer tote is screwed into a moving dolly via drywall screws and fender washers. This makes for a very stable, easy to roll water reservoir (I have a pretty thick carpeting that this needs to be rolled across, there's no chance of tipping this over because it dug into the rug or a caster failing... they are rated for 1000lbs).

I filled the tote up with 20g of water and marked it. I then held my float at the surface of the water and estimated at what height in the tote the float valve would close.

I then installed the float valve at that height.

This is my RODI water container.

I then took my container I would use for SW mix and I compared it to the 20g mark I made for my RODI, I marked the SW mix container in the same spot.

Lastly, I took the container I would drain the old water into... I placed a mark at the 20g height as well.

It's simple, just follow the marks.

[devimik]

I have a 32 gallon Rubbermaid Brute for my RODI water, then a 20 gallon Brute on a Rubbermaid dolly that I use to mix saltwater. I have a 90g tank, so I change 10 gallons weekly. I mix the salt, heat the water and mix with a pump the night before, then roll the mixed saltwater out to the tank, siphon out two 5 gallon buckets from my sump and replace with the new water using a pump with some tubing attached. Pretty easy.

[worm5406]

Great idea. But what about the sump?

Same thing

[BretCreager]

You don't have to change water from your sump, just use that volume when you figure out total and take it all from the dt

[bnumair]

I have a few questions for you experienced reefers:

how do you do your water change?
Whats your step by step and equipment/tools?
How do you know how much water you have taken out of the tank?


very easy by click on 1 button. lol.
i have a genesis renew storm system. i set it to do 3 gal per day. i have 50gal saltmix bin that i have to make sure its at right salinity. if it runs low genesis stops water changes preventing ur pumps to run dry. also fills the ro/di bin when low automatically. its made y life very easy.