How do you do a water change?

[Be102]

I want to improve my water changes and actually do them lol...

How do you do yours? Weighing or measuring salt?

heating or not heated water?

How do you get water from the tank to the disposal/outside?

Any tricks?

i have seen the pvc pipe things to drain water and whatnot..

I originally plumbed extra spots off my manifold... only downside is the manifold is underneath my tank therefor I don’t get enough water to get rid of!

 

[Old Fritz]

I just use a siphon and measure how much water I remove by using my five gallon buckets. I make all the saltwater the night before and I test it before I do the water change if it isn't the right level I add more salt or more freshwater. Water just gets dumped down the drain.

 

[Marco S]

I use a Neptube DOS and have one line going from my sump, (where the water drains from the tank) to a drain under the sink and the other line going from my water storage container to my sump, (the return section). It automatically runs overnight and changes out 2 gallons every night.

Before that I would use two 45 gallon Brute trash cans and fill one up with premixed and heated salt water to a point measured on the inside and then just used a Python hose to fill the empty trash can to the same spot. I have an old pump, (I think it's a 2,500 GPH one) with a 7' hose attached that I use to fill the tank back up when done. Both trash cans have wheels so I can easily wheel them outside for emptying and cleaning. The only real issue was getting the full can over the metal slot for my sliding glass door and I would always spill a bit, (even with the lid on) but it was the easiest way I found.

 

[AdamB]

At first ,I remove 15 or 20 gallons of water from tank into marked food grade 5 gallon bucket to know the exact amount of water I siphoned out. I then made 2 marks with marker on back corner of tank showing 15 or 20 gallon mark. I use a python hose and siphon to out water to one of the marks I made on tank to outside in gravel. I then pump from my mixing station with a 50 gallon RODI tank and a 40 gallon salt tank with heater inside. I then pump the heated mix saltwater from mixing station next room 30 feet away via hose . No mess and quick..
Whenever I have time I will mix a batch up and leave a small circulation pump in salt tank to prevent from spoiling so I have saltwater ready whenever.

 

[lapin]

I have my sump marked with the "full" level with the return pump and skimmer off.
I have a pump in the sumps return section with a long hose for just removing water to do a change. The hose is a vinyl section then pvc then back to vinyl. The last section is about 20 feet long. I can either pump water outside or down a drain or in most cases into 2 brute cans in the back of my truck. I use the water to keep the dust down on our gravel road.
I fill my mixing tank (65 gallons) with rodi then turn on the mixing pump, add salt and let it mix. If its cold I place a heater in the mixing barrel for an hour to make sure the water is not super cold and wont change the tank temp.
Turn off my skimmer (external skimmer holds about 6 gallons when full).
I pump out water from my sump with the return pump off. This way my ato never kicks in when I pump out water. I pump out about 60 gallons. Turn off that pump. With a turn of a valve, mixed water is pumped from my mixing barrel into the sump. When it reaches its full mark I turn the valve back so water is recirculated in the mixing barrel and not flowing into the sump. Turn the return pump back on. Turn the skimmer back on, drive my truck up to the road and dump the used water.

 

[biecacka]

I use a DOS for auto water changes. Makes it super simple.
however I was following the salt manufacturers recommendation and just adding what they suggested to get to the right salinity level. Turns out he last two batches have been very low. Around 26 actually. So now I am adding more salt to the barrel to slowly get to the desired numbers. I never really checked the salinity before and I wish I would have now.....my tanks salinity is low as well. Shame on me.

corey

 

[stanleo]

I have two identical 24 gallon totes. Monday morning I start the RO water and by 4 or so it's done and I have to go to work. When I get home from work and use a 2 cup measuring cup for the salt and it takes six of those roughly. I stir it up really well for 5-10 minutes and turn a pump and 100w heater on. I test the salinty after an hour and then let it sit over night. By morning it's up to temp and ready. I turn all pumps off including the sump return and the heater off. I lightly scrub a different rock each time and the back wall and both power heads. I siphon the sand lightly and get as much of the loose algae out as I can while filling up the second identical 24 gallon tote with dirty tank water. Then I fill the display back up, start the return pump, turn the heater and power heads on, clean the outside of the glass and I am done.

 

[Greatdane]

I just use a siphon and measure how much water I remove by using my five gallon buckets. I make all the saltwater the night before and I test it before I do the water change if it isn't the right level I add more salt or more freshwater. Water just gets dumped down the drain.

We use 5 gallon buckets as well one for fresh saltwater and one for old saltwater we test the salinity just to check what affect we would be doing upon the tank and we also siphon out the diatom algae at the same time of siphoning water then we put the bad water into the sink and wash the sand in saltwater put it back in we do this 2 gallons every day

 

[arturoo1977]

I normally do a weekly or bi week, 10 to 20 gal water change on my 110gal tank.
Two trash containers with marks every 5 gal.
I fill with RODI water to desired level, and then measure salt with a cup. A heater and powerhead do the job in one night.
Next day I siphon out same amount of water in the empty container and then use a cheap 800 gph pump to fill display again.
Old water goes to drain using same pump.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I fill a Brute with Rodi days before, and then dump salt in it, mix for an hour, check salinity with the old swing-arm to see how close I am, and add more salt or more Rodi depending on if/how much I am off.

I just eyeball the level of water in the brute by using the “lips” and grooves inside the brute to know how much water I made, and siphon out about that much into another Brute, and then I use a powerhead/old return pump with some flexible hose and drop it in the new water and pump it all back into the tank.

15-20 minute job, no heating etc. No complicating things

 

[sawdonkey]

I use a 45 gallon brute to make fresh water and I do it the night before. I put the brute right in front of my tank and make the water there by dragging the rodi line from my laundry room. I throw on about 3/4 of a bag of salt mix and then test and I’m usually pretty close. I mix with a mag pump for a minimum of 3-4 hours. When doing the water change, I remove 45 gallons by syphoning my gravel into five gallon buckets and dump them in the toilet. Then I just use the mixing pump and a hose to refill the tank.

 

[King Turkey]

I make my wife do it.. just kidding. I do a 5g water change once a week. set rodi on put a timer on for 50 min by that time its full. use kitchen scale and weight out 735 grams of red sea reef salt pro to make 35ppt. I throw in a power head a heater and watch a movie. use Milwaukee refractometer to double check for 35ppt. I siphon out 5g then add 5g of the new mix.

 

[WVNed]

I change 80 gallons at a time now. I am not sure how helpful it would be to tell you how I do that.
but last year I was doing this.
I get the water to at least 70 degrees before I put the salt in. I get it to 78 before I put it into the tank. I have a heater to make new water. I always considered it a spare if the one in the tank crapped out so it is the same as the ones in the tank. I put a pump in the bucket to stir it. For most of the time I have done this that has been a Maxijet 1200 pump with a piece of vinyl tube and a hook I made from plumbing fitting from Home Depot on it. I have always used kitchen measuring cups to do this. After a while it becomes second nature. SO many cups plus 1 or something depending on the tank.
I siphon the water from the tank into an identical bucket to the same depth I filled the one I made the new water in.
The buckets used to be 5 gallon ones, then 20 gallon trashcans and then 40 gallon trashcans with wheels. Works the same way.
I have had a cheap utility pump with a garden hose for a long time and used that to pump the old water into where I wanted to get rid of it once I couldn't pick it up and dump it anymore.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mjl714]

I make saltwater twice a month, and change a gallon (with a one gallon pitcher) 4 times a week (5% of my 75 gal). No heat.

 

[Bruce60]

I change just under 20 gallons at a time using one of the 20 gallon Brute containers on wheels.

My tank is an island in the middle of the room, about 10' from the kitchen sink and about 20' from the laundry room where the RO/DI unit is located. I measure salt with measuring cups. I aim for just under 35ppt, measure with a refractometer after mixing, and then add salt to bring up to 35ppt. I tend to heat the water in the winter when the house is colder but not in the summer. I pump water from the sump to the drain in the kitchen sink, and then pump the fresh saltwater into the sump.

In a previous home with a fish room I had a plumbed water change system similar to those described. It is nice to have if you have the space and inclination; however, if you can make new water and dispose of the old water on the same level as the tank, using a method such as I described above is simple and easy.

 

[Sabina]

I want to improve my water changes and actually do them lol...

How do you do yours? Weighing or measuring salt?

heating or not heated water?

How do you get water from the tank to the disposal/outside?

Any tricks?

i have seen the pvc pipe things to drain water and whatnot..

I originally plumbed extra spots off my manifold... only downside is the manifold is underneath my tank therefor I don’t get enough water to get rid of!

I made a video on it.



I think it depends on you aquarium size and space; buckets, hose and pump, or auto water.

hope this helps.

 

[RichReef]

Having a basement sump makes it easy for me. I plumbed a Brute can into the system making it part of the system.

I make water in another Brute can. Use a refractometer to bring up the salt level gradually but it seems like 17 level scoops gets me right there. I pay no attention to temperature. Both Brute cans have wheels. So when it's water change time I just swap them out.

I use 1/4 rodi line as a siphon from the DT and overflow the Brute can into the sump so nothing shocks the system. I also use the Brute can for any additives or chemicals. So everything happens slow. with a valve on the rodi siphon line I can make it as slow as I like.

I have a pump and plumbing to empty the old water. Wipe out the Brute, rinse and repeat.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I have a 40 Gallon Brute next to the tank. It is camouflaged like a covered end table. I mix ASW in it and circulate it constantly. I siphon 10-15 gallons out of the display weekly and pump new water in to replace it. Takes 10 minutes. Each 40 gallons lasts 3-4 weeks.

 

[themcnertney]

Water Change Wednesday.

On Tuesday night I mix my salt with RODI in a 30 gallon Brute trashcan with a heater, and circ pump. On Water Change Wednesday, I turn off everything on my tank. I siphon water into my sump pump in the basement. I have a line on my display tank so I know exactly what 30 gallons is. Once I hit the mark, I pull the siphon. I have a return pump I drop in my mixed saltwater. The water is pumped to my sump. I have a min and max line on the sump. Once the water gets to the max line, I kill my return pump. It typically is right on the money and water from the trash can will start pumping air so I know its done. Then II start my tank back up. Take about 30 minutes.

And that's Water Change Wednesday.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I have had a cheap utility pump with a garden hose for a long time and used that to pump the old water into where I wanted to get rid of it once I couldn't pick it up and dump it anymore.

What type of utility pump are you using?