My biggest fear... Water changes

[Michael W.]

I am new to saltwater and I feel like it would be a great hobby to get into as long as I know what I'm doing. The biggest change for me is the water changes. Unlike freshwater I can't just put some regular old dechlorinated tap water into my tank. I need some insight on how best to do water changes. I am thinking of getting a 50 gallon NUVO lagoon tank if that helps. I don't have unlimited space so large jugs of premade water might not work for me. Any ideas and help?

 

[Michael Cronmiller]

You can usually buy your saltwater and your RODI water from your lfs .

 

[Michael Cronmiller]

Shoot sorry didn't catch the storage issue

 

[Katrina71]

I had the same fear. Buy salt/rodi water until you get comfortable with doing it yourself.

 

[Michael W.]

You can usually buy your saltwater and your RODI water from your lfs .

But on a 50 gallon tank, how often would I be heading to my lfs to get new water? There is a possibility that I could set up a RODI unit.

 

[Michael Cronmiller]

If you can set up and rodi and make your own saltwater then I would go that route

 

[Reef man 89]

But on a 50 gallon tank, how often would I be heading to my lfs to get new water? There is a possibility that I could set up a RODI unit.

Yes that's the first thing I bought actually before anything even the tank because I new that's is one of a must haves

 

[Michael W.]

Yes that's the first thing I bought actually before anything even the tank because I new that's is one of a must haves

Is a RODI unit costly? Would it pay off in the long run vs buying water every time I did water changes?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

A wc 2 x a month is 10 gal.

My speedy tip. have rodi in the bucket. Measure salt by weight in grams and add a powerhead. I like the maxi jets.
Take the MJ with a 1/2 clear hose (home depot) and take out old water into empty bucket. put the mj into the new water and refill

my 5g WC takes less than 10 min now minus mixing.

 

[Michael W.]

A wc 2 x a month is 10 gal.

My speedy tip. have rodi in the bucket. Measure salt by weight in grams and add a powerhead. I like the maxi jets.
Take the MJ with a 1/2 clear hose (home depot) and take out old water into empty bucket. put the mj into the new water and refill

my 5g WC takes less than 10 min now minus mixing.

You said to remove old water with a powerhead, is it now good to use a gravel vac? And what size is your tank?

 

[rockhead51]

Plan on 10% a week. So you could have one 5 gallon jug that you took to the LFS once a week to get refilled. I have 2 and a 2.5 gallon RODI jug. Not sure how far your LFS is, but I'm at mine at least once a week anyway.

 

[Michael Cronmiller]

Definitely don't be scared to dive into this hobby.... I did fresh water for 10+ yrs...and a year ago I started my my first salt...and I wonder what I waited for...same reasons thought it would be too much, but I've only found it to be way more rewarding

 

[rockhead51]

I considered making my own. It pays off in the long run, but what you don't save is space. Because you have to have the unit (plumbed to your water supply), storage for your RODI water, a mixing station (normally another large container), potentially storage for what you've mixed, and storage for your salt.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

is it now good to use a gravel vac?

you can yes but i would not with the power head. me I do like vacuumed sand. My 55g is 60 is gallons total water, and my 30g is 30g sump less .

but I've only found it to be way more rewarding

+10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

You see a lot more life in the tank.

my rodi was used and I put in new filters. so 140 is ttotal. it takes me 90 min to make 5 g. is use around 30 I guess with top off. 2 tanks.

 

[Michael Cronmiller]

+1 what rockhead said.... I'm at my lfs every weekend

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

+1 what rockhead said.... I'm at my lfs every weekend

I have saved a lot of money in this hobby by making my own water and not going to the lfs.

Water at LFS. $1.45
Impulse buy coral $42

 

[red13]

Spend the money on the ro/di and mix your own salt. Its hard to find a LFS that consistantly has 0 tds water. The ro/di and mixing containers wont takr much more space than the water jugs, and you will have control over what goes in your tank.

 

[Michael Cronmiller]

I have saved a lot of money in this hobby by making my own water and not going to the lfs.

Water at LFS. $1.45
Impulse buy coral $42

Ya lol that impulse thing gets me alot.... If I didn't have to work tomorrow I'd be a a frag swap spending

 

[Reef man 89]

You can get a 75gpd on BRS for like 150 I think and they are always on sale. My thing is I know for a fact I have 0 TDS no guess what my lfs TDS is. Also I am willing to be there are some lfs that just dump water in a bucket and call it RO water when actually it just regular tap water. My lfs offers premade saltwater but it's only with one kind of salt. You can't choose what kind of salt you want them to mix. If you add it all up gas to get to the lfs, your time, the s/w itself it will add up quick. Plus if you ever run in to a problem and need to do a w/c quick are you going to take the time to lug water back from the lfs. When by that time everything could be dead. IMO I wouldn't go with out one. But to each is own.

 

[Michael W.]

You can get a 75gpd on BRS for like 150 I think and they are always on sale. My thing is I know for a fact I have 0 TDS no guess what my lfs TDS is. Also I am willing to be there are some lfs that just dump water in a bucket and call it RO water when actually it just regular tap water. My lfs offers premade saltwater but it's only with one kind of salt. You can't choose what kind of salt you want them to mix. If you add it all up gas to get to the lfs, your time, the s/w itself it will add up quick. Plus if you ever run in to a problem and need to do a w/c quick are you going to take the time to lug water back from the lfs. When by that time everything could be dead. IMO I wouldn't go with out one. But to each is own.

What is TDS?