Water change tips and tricks

[Reefer Brent]

Bathroom sink?

Too far unfortunately. I'm kinda lost as to how it works. Does the dirty tank water touch the faucet?

 

[TehBrainz]

Too far unfortunately. I'm kinda lost as to how it works. Does the dirty tank water touch the faucet?

No

The adapter screws onto the fauce and water is drawn in about a half inch lower than the faucet

 

[TehBrainz]

Technically, the old water (let's not be cruel and call it dirty lol) and tap water mix and do go into the sink so you may have some slight splashing in the sink basin, but not much that a quick spray with just tap water won't address

 

[aSaltyKlown]

Too far unfortunately. I'm kinda lost as to how it works. Does the dirty tank water touch the faucet?

Here is a good video on how it works. The valve that you can open/close it great as well. This way no running back to the sink and having more drain than needed. It’s also great when filling as well.

One thing I didn’t mention when I fill, the return pump is connected to a smart plug. With the reservoir being in the basement, I can now turn the pump on when I am at the tank.

 

[Damien Buckley]

Soo how fast can you do a water change and what tricks do you have to speed the process.

Also how often and how much.

I am trying to keep up with weekly 10% changes and tell myself going into it "I won't make this a 2 hour ordeal." Welllll I fail every time.

Working with a 40g cube so it shouldn't be t

For a small change I get a 20L bucket, siphon out, siphon the saltwater into the sump (bucket on a chair), and turn the pumps back on. 10 mins tops.

For a big refresh, which I do whenever I can be bothered to hit the beach to collect seawater-

I have a DIY bit of plumbing - 25mm, a union, a tap, and a threaded hose connector. I connect this to a 19mm hose and siphon about 50% out to the drain. I turn off the tap when I’ve pulled enough out. I have a hobby pump with the same connections- I connect to the other end of the hose, drop the pump in the IBC and refill the tank. Takes about a half hour.

The most time consuming pain is getting my pool pump primed at the beach to collect the water

 

[Damien Buckley]

Before moving to AWC's, I was able to do a 45g WC in about 45 minutes. This was strictly a WC though that did not include siphoning the sand.

Used a Python to drain the water and then a utility pump to move the water from the Brute can in the garage to the tank (used a smart plug so I could turn on/off the pump from the tank)

Smart plug is a great idea. Gonna steal that one.

 

[LPS Bum]

I do a biweekly 5 gal water change on my Reefer 625. I premix 5 gal of saltwater the day before and use a bucket vac to suck out 5 gal from the sump. Then add in the new saltwater. Takes about 5 min.

It's the scraping of the back glass, cleaning off the gyres, and replacing the carbon that takes up the other 30 min.

 

[reeferID]

AWCs is one of the things that brought me back into reefing. I’m lucky to be able to use a spare bedroom as my fish room. I have a 20 gallon Brute in the closet next to the tank-a small hole in the wall connects it to my sump. Another small hole connects to the laundry room next to the fish room. Waste water goes out the washing machine drain. I’m currently battling a bit of hair algae, so I’m doing 8 small WCs a day (3 gallons total).

Normally, I do 3 small changes per day.

 

[Reefer Brent]

I do a biweekly 5 gal water change on my Reefer 625. I premix 5 gal of saltwater the day before and use a bucket vac to suck out 5 gal from the sump. Then add in the new saltwater. Takes about 5 min.

It's the scraping of the back glass, cleaning off the gyres, and replacing the carbon that takes up the other 30 min.

Didn't even think of the bucket vac sitting in my garage!!

 

[Azraz]

My 10 gal water change is 2 power heads plugged into a power strip with on/off switch built in. Two five gallon buckets, one with freshly mixed salt water, one empty. 90 gallon tank with 35 gallon sump. One pump in incoming side of sump and other pump in new water bucket feeding outgoing end of sump. Flip switch to on and drain one end while new water pump to opposite end of sump. Both draining and refilling AT THE SAME TIME. No need to check volumes as what comes out goes in at once. Do this twice for 10 gallon change in about 20 minutes. Easy peazy.

 

[Joe.D]

I have a 90 gallon system and do a 10 gallon water change pretty much weekly - though sometimes I skip a week if all looks good and nutrients aren’t out of whack.

I should break it up and do other cleaning on another day, but I typically do it all at once - clean the seams, clean some tougher marks near gravel that flipper doesn’t get, scrape along the water line, brush off the overflow box algae, put some F-Aiptasia where needed, reglue a frag that turbo snail knocks over (or BTA moves too close), change filter socks and clean skimmer (I also do these 2 things one other time during the week). Then, cleaning the external glass and putting everything away. All of this this is typically 1.5 to 2 hrs.

As for cleaning pumps - I do that every other month.

Actual water change time, 15-20 min. I have a mixing station with 2 - 30 gallon Brutes. The saltwater Brute has lines that I marked with a sharpie at 5, 10 and 15 gallons. I fill and empty 5 gallon bucket with dirty water twice, I then wheel the Brute over and pump 10 gallons in.

I like the idea of weighing the salt. Anyone know how much Tropic Marin Pro to weigh out to make 10 gallons?

For what it’s worth, I used a Python when I first started my tank 2 years ago. I eventually decided I was more accurate with what goes in and out using the bucket method vs lines on my tank. I also felt I was wasting even more water that way on top of the waste water from making RODI water (I capture some of that to water plants, nut most goes down the drain). Anyone wanna buy a lightly used Python?

 

[Falcar]

This thing has made water changes much easier for me.. I do have a basement sump tho, so this may not apply to you:

 

[LPS Bum]

Didn't even think of the bucket vac sitting in my garage!!

Yeah it's great. It actually sucks out the water too fast (as in I can only do 1 section of my sump per bucket), but that's not such a bad problem to have. I got a Craftsman one from Amazon for less than $50 during a sale.

 

[Roatan Reef]

Salt water full strength like this isn’t good for any plant you have near there. Bad for the environment. I would put it into the drain instead.

Ummmmm...as a Floridian, who's Growing Palm Trees.....you are correct, except for coconut palms ....they absolutely love saltwater, even better used saltwater from your tank with all the nutrients in it. I always dump my used 5 gallons at a time directly on to my coconut palm and it loves it!

My coconut palm has grown twice as fast as the person I got mine from , who was the Original grower, his and mine are not even close any more.

Some plants at least in Florida actually love and need Saltwater!

 

[Reefer Brent]

I have a 90 gallon system and do a 10 gallon water change pretty much weekly - though sometimes I skip a week if all looks good and nutrients aren’t out of whack.

I should break it up and do other cleaning on another day, but I typically do it all at once - clean the seams, clean some tougher marks near gravel that flipper doesn’t get, scrape along the water line, brush off the overflow box algae, put some F-Aiptasia where needed, reglue a frag that turbo snail knocks over (or BTA moves too close), change filter socks and clean skimmer (I also do these 2 things one other time during the week). Then, cleaning the external glass and putting everything away. All of this this is typically 1.5 to 2 hrs.

All of this type of stuff is what gets me. Plus I'm clumsy lol. I will definitely be using some of these techniques and spending more $$$ on some better pumps and vessels. Also telling myself it doesn't need to look perfecter(TM) every time I pump some water out.

 

[Roatan Reef]

For my 40GB and the Nephews 13.5 Evo Tank, we do weekly water changes, mostly for his tank, since it was just set up in December, whatever is left I add to my tank with a minimum change/exchange, as my tank is 2.2 years old.

I have an Aquatic Life 4 Stage Rodi we use. Once the 5 gallon jug is half full, I add Reef Crystals salt, then add a cheap wave maker, let it run, fill up, then continue to let wavemaker run, add a heater if it's cold enough...then bring inside, I always check the temp before adding.

 

[OrionN]

Ummmmm...as a Floridian, who's Growing Palm Trees.....you are correct, except for coconut palms ....they absolutely love saltwater, even better used saltwater from your tank with all the nutrients in it. I always dump my used 5 gallons at a time directly on to my coconut palm and it loves it!

My coconut palm has grown twice as fast as the person I got mine from , who was the Original grower, his and mine are not even close any more.

Some plants at least in Florida actually love and need Saltwater!

No fair, Coconut palm grow right on the beach. They drop their nuts into ocean water to be carry away to distance land. I sprouted coconuts collected from the Texas coast, probably arrive from coconut in Florida, according to the current pattern of the Gulf of Mexico. Inland plants are another matter.

 

[doubleshot00]

I dont go by percentages just volume in buckets. Like 1-5gallons. Like in my WB20 i change 5 gallons every two weeks. Can do that WC in about 15 min.

In my IM15 i do about 3-4 gal every two weeks. That WC takes about 10 min.

My 90 i do daily WC at 1.5 gal a day.

Once a month i do 5-10 gal to siphon the sand and or just clean up the tank a bit. Takes about 30 min.

One thing i did on my 90 was mark on the side of the glass with a sharpie when i take out each 5 gal. So if i use a sump pump and suck it out into the sink i know where to stop. I have 4 small sharpie marks on the side so i can see 5, 10, 15, or 20 gal.

 

[Reefer Brent]

Rainy RODI prep day. I need a mixing station!

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Rainy RODI prep day. I need a mixing station!

yeah we got a good amount today in pinellas