Automatic water changes questions and cleaning the sand bed

[jfahim]

Good afternoon all,

I am currently getting back into the reefing scene and have a Red Sea Reefer 425 on the way. I will start a new thread on that once I get it going...besides that

I binged watched all BRS videos and want to set up my tank fairly simple and ULM. A few questions for you guys

1. My storage containers for RO/DI and saltwater are pretty far from the tank. About 50 feet horizontal and one floor down. The tank is on a tile floor and the only way I would be able to run the tubing would be from the tank...outside the house....then back inside. I'm in NYC and it gets pretty cold...does anyone have experience running their lines outside the house and have issues with freezing? If not I will just be doing weekly water changes with running tubing through the house when needed.

2. With these automatic water changes, do you guys vacuum the sand? I just purchased a 100' python system I was going to use to clean the tank and also same tube to fill the tank back up?

3. When you guys make a new batch of saltwater in these reservoirs how do you know how much salt to add to get the right salinity? Is it a constant add and test system?

Thanks

Please let me know what you guys have encountered.

 

[ScottieB]

Welcome to R@R! Sounds like your doing all the right stuff so far.

1. I'm in Kansas and couldn't imagine running the RO line outide. If theres anyway to get in on the same floor, run it through the wall, or get the container closer to the tank you will avoid those small RO lines from freezing, cracking and leaking.

2. You can vacuum the sand occasionally... monthly maybe? I am certainly no expert but it's prob a good idea to get that detritus out from the sand bed on a somewhat regular basis, the python is a good way to do that. I suppose you could run a pump from the mixed saltwater holding tank to the python tubing and use it to fill the tank back up. You will need some sort of plastic hose adapter but since the python is designed to connect to a faucet.

3. The salt is usually standard amount or weight per gallon to achieve a certain salinity (will be indicated on the box or bag). Say 1/2 cup per gallon, or get a small postal scale and use weight. Once you figure the volume of your reservoir you can figure how much salt you need for each fill. For me, I keep the math simple and use a 55 gallon drum, fill it up almost all the way and use a 50 gallon bag of IO.

Hope that helps!