This is embaracing but...water changes.

[Notsolostfish]

Okay, so its my first tank/sump setup. I have the marine x60.2 with 36 gallons display, and an 18 gallon sump. I dont know how to work on this tank. Like i added too much salt the first time and im currently sitting at 1.027.1.028. How do i remove water from my display and fill without overflowing the sump? I just want to remove water and replace with rodi. But i really have no idea how to do it? Can someone give me some instructions?. And i also want to reduce the water in my sump its too high to my liking. I know when u turn off the retjrn pump the water goes up. If someone kindly can save me this hard time im having and give me 1,2, 3 steps that would be awesome. Do i turn off return pump when removing eater from sump or doing water changes?

 

[blaxsun]

First, just remove a gallon of saltwater and then add back in a gallon of RODI water. Wait a few hours then re-test your salinity and revise the quantity as needed. Second, do you have a ATO (automatic top-up) system for RODI in your tank right now?

 

[dstockwell]

You need to do a power out test to determine if you will overflow or not. Adjust the return height plumbing in the tank or drill a small hole to avoid a flood.

 

[Notsolostfish]

First, just remove a gallon of saltwater and then add back in a gallon of RODI water. Wait a few hours then re-test your salinity and revise the quantity as needed. Second, do you have a ATO (automatic top-up) system for RODI in your tank right now?

Okay but do i have to turn off the return pump to remove the that gallon? And anything im removing from the display is it affecting the sump? And how do i go about reducine the water in my sump? And yes i do i had few hiccups with my tunze osmolator at the beginning like i had the tube inside the return pump chamber so it was syphoning water back to the return chamber. So i had to remove the water from the ato and add fresh rodi to fix it and cut the tube shorter.

 

[dstockwell]

Don’t turn off return pump until you know you will not flood.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Don’t turn off return pump until you know you will not flood.

So i remove the warer to reduce the salinity and replace with rodi while return pump is on? Kinda confused

 

[slythy]

So i remove the warer to reduce the salinity and replace with rodi while return pump is on? Kinda confused

Exactly. You should be able to take a gallon milk jug (clean) remove that, and put 1 gallon of ro/di right back in. Put it in a high flow area like a power head

 

[slythy]

Saltwater Dilution Calculator

Aquarium calculator; Estimate the amount of freshwater requried to reduce the salinity of saltwater to a desired level.

www.hamzasreef.com

All his calculators have been an awesome resource for me. You can use these to get an idea of how much you need to change out buy you need to be precise with your sump and display calculations

 

[Notsolostfish]

Saltwater Dilution Calculator

Aquarium calculator; Estimate the amount of freshwater requried to reduce the salinity of saltwater to a desired level.

www.hamzasreef.com

All his calculators have been an awesome resource for me. You can use these to get an idea of how much you need to change out buy you need to be precise with your sump and display calculations

I want to remove some water from my sump as well. How do i go about that? Same thing return pump running and remove water to the desired level?

 

[fish farmer]

So i remove the warer to reduce the salinity and replace with rodi while return pump is on? Kinda confused

You will have to turn pump off. Removing water will drop the level in your sump. Adjust the water in your sump by removing water from the system.

 

[slythy]

I want to remove some water from my sump as well. How do i go about that? Same thing return pump running and remove water to the desired level?

So if you just want to lower water from your sump you can take it from the display also. Just take some out of the display until you get the water level in your sump to where you want it.

 

[fish farmer]

If you are worried about overflowing the sump...you are standing right there...turn the pump back on before it floods or remove water from sump.

 

[Jedi1199]

First, turn off the power to the tank. Allow it to equalize between the sump and display. Take a sharpie marker and make a mark at the low water level, somewhere on the side where it will not be visible to anyone not looking for it.

This will tell you how much water to refill when you do your water changes.

In most tanks, the bottom of the weirs on the overflows is the lowest the water will drain. So you actually have a built-in low water mark.

Next, you need to know that if something clogs your drain, that the returns will not overflow the display. Do this by simply plugging the drain and allowing the sump to pump out as much as it can till the pumps run dry.

This is a failsafe step, just in case for whatever reason your drains become clogged to the point where the returns fill faster than the drains drain.

 

[Notsolostfish]

So if you just want to lower water from your sump you can take it from the display also. Just take some out of the display until you get the water level in your sump to where you want it.

Alright let me get this straight. So first i keep the return pump on. Remove water from display. Till i get the disired level in the sump?

 

[Jedi1199]

Alright let me get this straight. So first i keep the return pump on. Remove water from display. Till i get the disired level in the sump?

No. First you need to determine the low and high water levels in your system. How low will it drain, and how much can it fill? This is actually a step that you should have done while setting up the tank at the beginning. Not a big issue to do now, something you need to know.

The advice about leaving the return pumps on while removing and refilling is a matter of preference. No reason to turn them off if you are only doing a gallon or so. If you will drain enough to cause the returns to run dry, I would turn them off.

The purpose of this is to correct your salinity. A gallon or so at a time should be fine to do while the system is running. A full 15-20% water change, turn them off.

 

[Notsolostfish]

No. First you need to determine the low and high water levels in your system. How low will it drain, and how much can it fill? This is actually a step that you should have done while setting up the tank at the beginning. Not a big issue to do now, something you need to know.

The advice about leaving the return pumps on while removing and refilling is a matter of preference. No reason to turn them off if you are only doing a gallon or so. If you will drain enough to cause the returns to run dry, I would turn them off.

The purpose of this is to correct your salinity. A gallon or so at a time should be fine to do while the system is running. A full 15-20% water change, turn them off.

I already determined that in case of an emergency my pump sump wont flood. I still want to remove water though for my skimmer height. I dont need that height water level.

 

[Jedi1199]

I already determined that in case of an emergency my pump sump wont flood. I still want to remove water though for my skimmer height. I dont need that height water level.

Ok. So now that you know your high and low levels. Setting the skimmer height is simple. If you can't adjust by simply draining a bit of water, you can also set the skimmer on a platform of some kind. I actually need to do this myself. My sump is filled right, but the skimmer sits too deep. I am going to put a platform of some kind under it to raise it to the right level.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Ok. So now that you know your high and low levels. Setting the skimmer height is simple. If you can't adjust by simply draining a bit of water, you can also set the skimmer on a platform of some kind. I actually need to do this myself. My sump is filled right, but the skimmer sits too deep. I am going to put a platform of some kind under it to raise it to the right level.

Thats the thing i can adjust it exactly where i want it by taking water out.. so what should i do? Take water from display? While pump is off

 

[Notsolostfish]

Ok. So now that you know your high and low levels. Setting the skimmer height is simple. If you can't adjust by simply draining a bit of water, you can also set the skimmer on a platform of some kind. I actually need to do this myself. My sump is filled right, but the skimmer sits too deep. I am going to put a platform of some kind under it to raise it to the right level.

Wait so basically if i want to remove water to get rid of high salinity and i want to remove water from sump also. I have to go lower than usual on the display to achieve that?

 

[Jedi1199]

Wait so basically if i want to remove water to get rid of high salinity and i want to remove water from sump also. I have to go lower than usual on the display to achieve that?

No. The sump will only hold water as far as the baffles allow. The display should remain the same. The display should only start dropping if your sump has baffles that allow it to do so.

Let me try to explain here...

Your sump has a series of baffles. Basically barriers where water can either go through over or below. Water will only go over the lowest level baffle if there is more water than the baffle can contain. Make sense? Pour 1 1/4 cup of water into a cup that hold 1 cup... what happens? Water overflows and makes a mess right? Same thing here. If the lowest baffle is set to hold water level at 10 inch depth and you add enough water for 11 inches, it spills over. This is usually what goes to the return pump section of the sump and is pumped back into the display.

The display tank, will only fall as low as the bottom of the weirs in the overflow. Again, water will not climb uphill to drain into the weirs. In order for the water to reach that point, you must have the pumps pushing water from the sump into the display so that you create that overflow. This is how the whole system works.. you are actually constantly overfilling the display so that it can drain to the sump, pass through the filters and baffles and then be returned to the display.