How to do saltwater change

[JKay]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this hobby and I know this is a dumb question but, I need some help with a saltwater change for a 55 gallon tank. My tank has been cycling with live rocks only for three weeks now and my nitrites are at 20 ppm. Do I just take out like ten gallons of saltwater then go to the fish store and buy ten gallons of saltwater and pour it in?

Thanks in advance!

Johnny

 

[Brew12]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this hobby and I know this is a dumb question but, I need some help with a saltwater change for a 55 gallon tank. My tank has been cycling with live rocks only for three weeks now and my nitrites are at 20 ppm. Do I just take out like ten gallons of saltwater then go to the fish store and buy ten gallons of saltwater and pour it in?

Thanks in advance!

Johnny

You will want to purchase your water in advance and pick up a small aquarium heater unless you keep your tank cool and house warm. You want to try to temperature match it to within a few degrees. Then yes, just pull out the old water and replace it with the new water.
In the long run most people prefer to own their own RODI unit and purchase the salt so they can mix the water themselves. More expensive at first but you save money in the long run.

 

[JKay]

Thank you so much Brew12 for responding. I didn't know about the heater thing and I'm all about saving money so I'll go purchase the RODI unit and heater right now. Again, thank you for the helpful tips.

 

[Maritimer]

Welcome to Reef2Reef, JKay!

You'll also want some kind of marine salt mix, and a refractometer (or at the very least, a hydrometer!) to help you match the salinity of your replacement water with the water already in your tank - and to keep the water in your tank stable at the levels you want it.

~Bruce

 

[Reefiness]

I would highly recommend against a hydrometer. They have been proven time and time again to give very inaccurate results. A refractometer is a must for anyone in the hobby. They can be found for as low as $30 and is likely the single most important piece of equipment for your tank besides the tank itself.

 

[Brew12]

I would highly recommend against a hydrometer. They have been proven time and time again to give very inaccurate results. A refractometer is a must for anyone in the hobby. They can be found for as low as $30 and is likely the single most important piece of equipment for your tank besides the tank itself.

I would recommend against a swing arm hydrometer like you find in most pet stores. A float type hydrometer works very well but they are much harder to find in the proper range.

 

[ahiggins]

maybe for a small (nano) tank, you could get away with buying LFS water but I can totally attest to getting an RODI unit. Look up RO buddie-I have the 50 gal/day one and its really inexpensive. I have to replace the DI cartridge once every 4-5 months and the entire system once a year. I just buy a new RO buddie rather than all the parts and pieces per year.

 

[Water Dog]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this hobby and I know this is a dumb question but, I need some help with a saltwater change for a 55 gallon tank. My tank has been cycling with live rocks only for three weeks now and my nitrites are at 20 ppm. Do I just take out like ten gallons of saltwater then go to the fish store and buy ten gallons of saltwater and pour it in?

Thanks in advance!

Johnny

Is your cycle completely over? What are you getting for an ammonia and nitrite reading? I would hold off on a water change until you are certain that your cycle is complete.

As a new hobbyist, I think it is a good idea to get into the habit of mixing your own salt water. It will cost you less than buying saltwater from an LFS and you have no way of knowing how well the LFS maintains their RODI system. As an alternative, until you buy your own RODI unit, you can buy gallons of distilled water from the grocery store for around a dollar per gallon (next best thing to RODI IMO). In addition to a heater and refractometer, get a small circulation pump for mixing salt water.

Also consider investing in an ATO (automatic top off) to compensate for evaporation. This will prevent salinity swings from happening as a result of evaporating water from your system.

 

[ahiggins]

Totally agree with the circulation pump. I have a koralia 450gph one I use in my 5 gal bucket best way to mix saltwater

 

[JKay]

Thank you all for responding to help me out. So far, I've purchased the Aquatic RO Buddie 4-stage, Aqueon Pro Heater 250W, Lee's protein skimmer, 2 cheap wave makers to stir the salt water, API reef master test kit, Instant Ocean reef crystal sea salt, Agriculture Solutions salinity refractometer, and some thermometers. I purchased all of these on Amazon so I'm just waiting for them to ship it.

My tank has been cycling for three weeks now. I'm assuming, "cycling" just means letting the wave maker do its thing. I purchased cured live rock and have no clue why I would spend that kind of money for some rocks. The live rocks have been in the tank for two and a half weeks. My PH is at 8.0, Nitrate at 0 ppm, Nitrite at 20 ppm, and Ammonia at .3 ppm. For some reason, the guy at the fish store told me as soon as I put the live rocks in, I'll be ready for some fish which I think is odd because I've been reading online that the tank should cycle for at least a month. All I have right now is the tank, saltwater, Jebao PP-8 wave maker, heater with water temp at 78 degrees and this light I purchased on eBay that has four T5's, two MH's and six night time LED's. The reason why I chose this light is because I know for a fact that plants can grow with this type of light. I'll need your help on when to turn on and off the lights later on. I'll buy the Tunze 3155 ATO next. Below is the link to the light I purchased that I'll need some help with. The T5's are blue and I'm not sure why. Again, thank you so much to everyone and have a great night.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MH-48-Metal...a1403ca9a922fdf0846b0a&pid=100507&rk=1&rkt=1&

 

[Frop]

Thank you all for responding to help me out. So far, I've purchased the Aquatic RO Buddie 4-stage, Aqueon Pro Heater 250W, Lee's protein skimmer, 2 cheap wave makers to stir the salt water, API reef master test kit, Instant Ocean reef crystal sea salt, Agriculture Solutions salinity refractometer, and some thermometers. I purchased all of these on Amazon so I'm just waiting for them to ship it.

My tank has been cycling for three weeks now. I'm assuming, "cycling" just means letting the wave maker do its thing. I purchased cured live rock and have no clue why I would spend that kind of money for some rocks. The live rocks have been in the tank for two and a half weeks. My PH is at 8.0, Nitrate at 0 ppm, Nitrite at 20 ppm, and Ammonia at .3 ppm. For some reason, the guy at the fish store told me as soon as I put the live rocks in, I'll be ready for some fish which I think is odd because I've been reading online that the tank should cycle for at least a month. All I have right now is the tank, saltwater, Jebao PP-8 wave maker, heater with water temp at 78 degrees and this light I purchased on eBay that has four T5's, two MH's and six night time LED's. The reason why I chose this light is because I know for a fact that plants can grow with this type of light. I'll need your help on when to turn on and off the lights later on. I'll buy the Tunze 3155 ATO next. Below is the link to the light I purchased that I'll need some help with. The T5's are blue and I'm not sure why. Again, thank you so much to everyone and have a great night.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MH-48-Metal-Halide-T5-Aquarium-Light-716W-Coral-Reef-Marine-LED-2x-250W-Bulbs/111318726343?_trksid=p2045573.c100507.m3226&_trkparms=aid=555017&algo=PL.CASSINI&ao=1&asc=41375&meid=a7ca5cb397a1403ca9a922fdf0846b0a&pid=100507&rk=1&rkt=1&

Ya so the liverock would already have some beneficial bacteria inside of it. That's what you're aiming for during the cycle. The cycle isn't just a pump moving water around it's the swing of the parameters until they become stable.

 

[Water Dog]

Based on your numbers, ammonia (NH3) at 0.3, nitrite (NO2) at 20 and nitrate (NO3) at 0, your cycle is not yet complete. Do not do any water changes yet. Continue topping off with freshwater (distilled from the grocery store until your RODI comes in). The cycle will be complete when NH3 is at 0, NO2 is at 0 and NO3 has a readable number, usually 20 - 50 or higher. Once your nitrogen cycle is over, then do up to a 50% water change with properly mixed saltwater to try to bring the nitrate levels down. Only after the cycle is complete will you begin to slowly add a clean up crew (CUC) then fish, again very slowly, in order for the beneficial bacteria to slowly catch up to the added bioload.

While you wait for this to happpen, I suggest you begin to do some serious reading. This will be a long read but please read it through.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

We are all here to help, but you will need to establish a baseline understanding of what it takes to run a successful and healthy saltwater aquarium by doing your own research and reading. Good luck and welcome to R2R!

 

[Brew12]

My PH is at 8.0, Nitrate at 0 ppm, Nitrite at 20 ppm, and Ammonia at .3 ppm.

Are you sure you don't have your Nitrate and Nitrite numbers crossed?

 

[JKay]

Ok thanks! So continue to let it cycle distilled water. I will definitely read up on that link you gave me Water Dog. The fish store checked my water and wrote it down on the Thrive Analytics sheet for me.

Do I need to turn on the lights for the live rocks?

 

[Maritimer]

Thank you all for responding to help me out. So far, I've purchased the Aquatic RO Buddie 4-stage, Aqueon Pro Heater 250W, Lee's protein skimmer, 2 cheap wave makers to stir the salt water, API reef master test kit, Instant Ocean reef crystal sea salt, Agriculture Solutions salinity refractometer, and some thermometers. I purchased all of these on Amazon so I'm just waiting for them to ship it.

My tank has been cycling for three weeks now. I'm assuming, "cycling" just means letting the wave maker do its thing. I purchased cured live rock and have no clue why I would spend that kind of money for some rocks. The live rocks have been in the tank for two and a half weeks. My PH is at 8.0, Nitrate at 0 ppm, Nitrite at 20 ppm, and Ammonia at .3 ppm. For some reason, the guy at the fish store told me as soon as I put the live rocks in, I'll be ready for some fish which I think is odd because I've been reading online that the tank should cycle for at least a month. All I have right now is the tank, saltwater, Jebao PP-8 wave maker, heater with water temp at 78 degrees and this light I purchased on eBay that has four T5's, two MH's and six night time LED's. The reason why I chose this light is because I know for a fact that plants can grow with this type of light. I'll need your help on when to turn on and off the lights later on. I'll buy the Tunze 3155 ATO next. Below is the link to the light I purchased that I'll need some help with. The T5's are blue and I'm not sure why. Again, thank you so much to everyone and have a great night.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MH-48-Metal-Halide-T5-Aquarium-Light-716W-Coral-Reef-Marine-LED-2x-250W-Bulbs/111318726343?_trksid=p2045573.c100507.m3226&_trkparms=aid=555017&algo=PL.CASSINI&ao=1&asc=41375&meid=a7ca5cb397a1403ca9a922fdf0846b0a&pid=100507&rk=1&rkt=1&

Cool! Sounds like you're on your way . . . but not quite ready for fish, no matter what the guy at the LFS says. Any ammonia at all is toxic. Kind of like breathing urine - the highest concentration I'd want is "zero"! You'll want the ammonia to drop to zero, and to see a rise and fall in nitrite as well, then a steadier rise in nitrate. (You can test it by adding some _pure_ ammonia - no "surfactants" added - to your tank, and using your test kits to watch how quickly it processes down to nitrate.)

Your T-5 lights are blue because that's the spectrum your corals are adapted to, coming from deeper water than most freshwater plants do. That light looks like it ought to do the job for you! (Just remember that halides and T-5 bulbs will need to be changed out on a pretty regular basis.) You don't need a lot of lights just yet - if you turn them on now, you may start to grow algae. While algae will help you process nitrogen compounds, the kinds you'd be growing aren't really very nice to look at.

~Bruce

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would highly recommend against a hydrometer. They have been proven time and time again to give very inaccurate results. A refractometer is a must for anyone in the hobby. They can be found for as low as $30 and is likely the single most important piece of equipment for your tank besides the tank itself.

Let's not overgeneralize too much.

A good refractomer can be fine, but isn't a "must" since conductivity can be as good or better of a way to measure salinity.

Also, quality floating glass hydrometers are typically very good, and perhaps better than refractometers.

 

[FindNem0]

As you will find out people in this hobby always know better than the next guy. There are many options you have for checking salinity. Be sure you use calibration solution or fresh RO water before using your refractometer to make sure you refractometer is calibrated. Hydrometers are another good way to check. You have controllers to monitor. I personally lost an entire reef 8 months ago because my two little boys took my refractometer apart and my wife put it back together without telling me. I happen to be changing salts that weekend. And next thing you know I'm changing 40 gallons and my salinity is now 1.006 when I thought it was 1.025. I just found this all out last week when I cycled a new tank and bought a new refractometer and compared the two. My old one was off by 19 ppt. IMO Salinity in my eyes will make or break your tank. It has to stay consistent. I did a 10% water change every two weeks. On my 30 gallon nano I did 5 gallons once a week. You have to stay consistent in whatever you do in this hobby if you want to grow a reef and keep a happy tank. I attached a picture of the tank that crashed. I made mistakes. But I learned. I would hate to see someone else make a $2000 booboo

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I personally lost an entire reef 8 months ago because my two little boys took my refractometer apart and my wife put it back together without telling me. o

omg, sorry to hear that, but it is a funny story.

 

[Water Dog]

Ok thanks! So continue to let it cycle distilled water. I will definitely read up on that link you gave me Water Dog. The fish store checked my water and wrote it down on the Thrive Analytics sheet for me.

Do I need to turn on the lights for the live rocks?

Keep the lights off. No need to promote nuisance algae right now while you're still cycling. Also remember, just to be sure, use DISTILLED for now until your RODI unit comes in, that is not the same as spring water.

 

[JKay]

That's a nice tank FindNemO! My lights are now off and will continue to stay off until it's ready to be turned on. I've decided to do a bare bottom tank and with my lights on all this time, all of a sudden there's all kinds of brown algae on the bottom. None on the sides because I've been cleaning the sides just for the hell of it every other day with the Flipper. Should I clean the bottom or will the brown algae change to a nicer color? Not even sure how to clean it without taking the rocks out.