Making water changes easier! What are some tips and tricks?

[Bill Hochmuth]

I have a vat in the basement where I mix salt water; it has an airline which circulates the water and a heater. A vinyl hose hooks to the back of the tank and goes to a drain in the basement. A stainless steel pump sits in the vat and pumps the s/w up and into the tank. If I wasn't so old it'd take less than the 15 minutes it takes now. Approximately 15 - 20 gallons per change in my WB 70.2

 

[Gabe]

Are the copper fittings an issue here?

 

[reefd00d]

I buy my water from my LFS, so I have it in the white 5g hedpak jugs. I used to lift a jug on my shoulder, and create a siphon down to the tank with a pumpable gravel cleaner thing. That was killing my back.
I bought a Cobalt Ext Inline Pump and shaved off the legs with a dremel. Now it fits down in the hedpak jugs opening. I just put the inline pump in the jug and pump it up to the tank. Easy as pie now!

 

[Peng1606]

Have a 200 gallon slim and tall water tank designed for drinking water that sits in garage for keeping a supply of RO from a 200gpd RO system. That is plumbed through wall into 55 gallon water tank in fish room which is next to garage.
So the 55 is then plumbed to sump where I have a top up chamber for evaporation. When I want to do a 100 gallons water change in my system (total 750 gallons), I just siphon 100 gallons out into one of the drainage holes in floor of fish room (have 4 to deal with any souls etc) and then mix fresh saltwater using the 55 gallon tank and fill back up.
Takes me about 2 hours total mainly waiting for water to siphon out (need bigger tubing lol) and the to pump back into tank, mix another tankful of fresh saltwater and pump again once it clears up in 55 gallon tank. So I watch TV while it’s pumping out and back in or do other tank checks/cleaning etc.

 

[BobT]

Do 5 gal in one tank and 10 in another every Saturday. Have pump and hose I can use from basement where brute filled with saltwater is, but find that the 5 gallon water cooler jugs work just as well and I don't have to drain the hose out. I do use the pump for bigger water changes. I siphon out into 5 gallon buckets using python gravel cleaner, and dump buckets into toilet. Pour new saltwater into 5 gallon bucket with pump and hose attached and pump into tank. Takes me 30 minutes total for two tanks including cleaning out skimmer and replacing sump floss and putting everything back into basement.

 

[jaihutcherson]

I use two 40 gallon brute trash cans. One is straight RODI water that I can pump to the one next to it for mixing salt. I then have a 1050 ph pump on that hooked up to a water faucit. I hook a hose up and I extended the power and control cables so I can control it’s at either my 150 reef, 230 predator or my 90 quarantine. For dumping water from tank I use another 1050 pump with a hose bib attached where I can run a hose out side. Pretty simple for me.

 

[MichaelV]

Water changes can be brutal and that's one reason some people rarely do them or don't do them at all. Like anything else in life, the easier things get done more often than the harder things and the same holds true to reefing!

I remember the "bucket brigade" days of water changes where there were many buckets and I was the only brigade!

Let's help others out today and maybe learn something new!

What are some tips and tricks you have learned to make changing out your aquarium water easier?

image via @MonsterReef

My rodi and mixing station is in my basement. I have to pack my water up stairs so what I’ve done was save gallon water jugs. I have milk crates that hold four gallons. I change out 8 gallons a week. This works out great. I have caps on the gallons so limits the chance of spills. It’s not to heavy to pack up the stairs. I marked off 4 gallons on a five gallon bucket to remove the guess work.

 

[ScottB]

The best thing I ever did was plumb a 1" line from my basement mixing station to my upstairs DT/sump.

Open a valve and the return pump removes 40G to my basement sewer line. Then switch two valves in the basement and fire up the pond pump to refill the display.

That saves me from carrying 16 buckets every two weeks. (Eight out, eight in.)

 

[Key Largo]

I do a 25 gal water change on my 135 every two weeks. It takes approx 5 hours to fill a 35 gallon pail with 25gal. of ro/di water. The water change itself takes 12 minutes. Tips? first I use Red Sea Salt, which dissolves almost instantly, and is ready to use in 15 minutes, so, I don't have to make it days ahead. Fill, mix and change in the same day. Second, I attached a magnet to a float valve for the filling bucket and have it set at the 25 gal mark. Third, The first time I did a 25 gal change, I shut off all pumps and power-heads and accurately marked the tank itself with tape to indicate the 25gal level. (have the same at the 10 gal interval). After that first time, now that the tank is marked, I can drain the old water directly into my slop sink, so I do not have to empty the water into a container and then into a drain. Four, (this might be most important) at the end of my 10ft section of hose I attached a home-made PVC elbow that extents low enough into the tank and also over the edge of my slop sink so that it cannot accidentally slip off the tank or the edge of the sink. Five, the other end of the hose is attached to a Mag 7, but the choice of pump is up to you. I added a shut off switch between the plug and outlet, so that I can flip a switch to shut off pump, rather that pull the plug out of the wall. The process is as follows: shut off return pumps and power heads (to get an accurate water level without turbulence).
Hang the Mag 7 with the hose into the tank and flip the switch. No need to start any siphon as the pump does the work. The other end with the elbow hangs over the slop sink. Just watch the water go down in the tank until it reaches the 25 gallon mark on the tank. When mark is reached, shut off switch and quickly remove pump from tank (otherwise it will continue to siphon.) Now take the Mag & and place it directly into the pail containing the newly mixed salt water, put the elbow end over the edge of the tank and flip the switch. 6 minutes for the water to drain, 6 minutes for the tank to fill. Use whatever method you like to mix the salt (pump or manual mixing). The only other step might be a heater for the new water while it is filling (usually only needed in winter) so that there is not such a disparity in temperature when refilling. But I have found that it usually wont drop the temp more that a degree or two anyway. the tank heater quickly takes care of that. Yes the proximity of my sink greatly helps the process as I only need 10ft of hose.

 

[corey904]

Water changes can be brutal and that's one reason some people rarely do them or don't do them at all. Like anything else in life, the easier things get done more often than the harder things and the same holds true to reefing!

I remember the "bucket brigade" days of water changes where there were many buckets and I was the only brigade!

Let's help others out today and maybe learn something new!

What are some tips and tricks you have learned to make changing out your aquarium water easier?

image via @MonsterReef

I use an aquamai awc which does the whole process for me the only bad thing about it is that my sand won’t get vacuumed but that can simply be done once a month or so. A good thing about the awc is that it does a small amount per day I have mine doing about 1 gal per day which barely changes water parameters while doing a 30% can have a dramatic change on alk and cal and other trace elements

 

[sagedrake690]

My goal is to get perfect balance. To never have to open the lid/if I do just to feed/occasional maintenance check. Salt is expensive too and I'm poor. I need that water to never get thrown away. That means clean it. Carbon carbon carbon and more carbon. Loose carbon wadded in fake spider webbing stuffed in the filter cart slots because **** buying 10$ filters every month! Carbon removes toxins and gram negative bacteria. Plants!!!! You need plants! Let some algae grow under your control like hair tufts and bryposys patches. Sponges polish water but you need coarse and fine sandy substrate and soil. The soil will act as kind of a buffer and absorb some of the nutrients for the plants too. Surface agitation for protein buildup from food waste etc. lots of porous rock. Lava rock is great for this. Get it all over the tank floor and it will help collect debris and break down faster into nitrate for plants because it has tons of surface area for bacteria to do their job. Microfauna are important too. Believe it or not, over night you will be surprised at what a cloud of pods can do to leftover food and they will turn on the plants if not fed properly.
I know this isn't salt but I am still getting my upgrade for my salt tank done and this tank has been up for a while now, about a half year (5mo). I only ever add water to a certain line and refill when it evaporates down to another. I have never fed them or done a water change. they both always look pregnant with swollen stomachs. also somehow I guess during my water/plant collection at the lake ( used wild water for quick cycle) I guess I got a few baby minnows that I just noticed lol. They're a bit more grown up now but still so tiny and really hard to see. I also have a pleco that may start needing food from outside soon. He still looks fat so he's good. also had a snail lay eggs lol. The water is slight yellow due to tannins but if you notice it is CRYSTAL clear! Tannins are great antibacterial/antifungal/antimicrobial compounds that occur naturally in plants and released into the water as leaves and vegetation rots. This is how fish get boosted immune systems as well, they are basically living in "tea" lol the bubbles are his nest ( I destroyed it by accident trying to change my filter material ='( and now I gotta wait for him to get comfy and make a new one. )

 

[KorD]

Got the best setup I could have planned for.
make water in a brute container next to the tank over night. (RODI hose reaches 30 feet to the tank)

next morning I siphon how much water I want out right out the open window by the tank.
the area the water goes is right under a deck where nothing grows.
close window and put new water in tank.
No more carrying buckets! (Besides the brute container to the garage)

 

[ttorrone3]

Currently I have a 20 gallon brute trash can with a pump that stores RODI water, and then I move it over to a 5 gallon bucket the day before bring it up to temp, mix in salt and have it all prepped for a Monday afternoon water change. Super easy.

 

[TN_Huskymama]

I have never found water changes to be hard. I just have my Lowes buckets setup in a row for the "throw away water" and then my premixed salt water lined up ready to go. I think the worst part now, since i raised the height of my tank (new stand) is the lifting of the pre-mixed water. 5 gallons is heavy!!! lol

 

[sagedrake690]

Save your throw away water to put into a bio-tank! Plants, live rock and substrate are really all you need. You put the nasty water in there and let grow whatever grows. This sucks everything out and filters it back to pristine levels! If it sucks out too many nutrients, just dose like normal! It saves in salt!

 

[Miketay89]

I took over the coat closet next to the aquarium and turned it into a water closet. I plumbed a drain into the floor for water changes and overflows. I have line plumbed from the sump through the wall. On the line that runs from my return pump, I open the valve and it pumps water from the sump to the drain. Open another valve and saltwater gravity feeds from the top water container in the closet into the sump.

 

[dlockert]

Many of you will totally 100% cringe when you see this... We use a powerful portable submersible pump and a long hose to pump the water out into the bathtub so it goes down the drain. Then, I mix the new water up in the tub on the fly with the water running continuously and just adding salt periodically and stirring it up. I use the pump and the garden hose to pump it back into the tank. I've been doing this for a couple of years and have a very good feel for how much to add to the bathtub water and when. I will say that we primarily did fowlr tanks that way but reef tanks too sometimes.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

LOL

 

[725196]

My water changes are fairly quick. The only thing I want now is a cart/wagon with the huge beach wagon wheels on it. I don’t want to risk scratching the floors.

Anyway here is a video I did recently of doing a water change.

Mr. Reef Safe does a Water Change

 

[kilnakorr]

I have my mixing station on the 1. floor directly above the tank, with a hose straight to the sump. I just turn a valve and gravity does the rest