Water Changes

R

RIJohn

Reefing newb
Hello everyone just a quick question.

How Do You do your water Changes?

Reason I ask is that I dont think my way is very effecient, I have 5 five gallon buckets with proper mix of salt to water at 1.025. The problem I am having is that right now I am only able to heat one bucket at a time and it is taking forever.

So how do you do yours, I was considering getting a larger heater then what I have and second mag pump like a 2 or something. Using a hose from my water change bin 27gallons, to my tank.
 
I bought 3 totes from walmart for 4 bucks each. They hold around 30 gallons each. I just let my water get up to room temp then mix in the salt in one of the totes. Drain out the old by syphoning from the DT into another tote. then pump the new water into the sump with an extra powerhead. if your only doing 10% water change the temp being off 5 degrees shouldn't hurt anything. If you keep your house at 60 though you may want to warm it up some.

I have in the future plans for a drain directly outside so I can pump water from the tank right outside just by opening a valve. Also plans for a mixing tank that I can premix saltwater in then just drain it into the sump when Im doing water changes.
 
have you considered using warm water and letting it cool to your tank temp? You should be able to get it pretty close if you have the ability to use hot and cold faucets.

Assuming you have an RO/DI unit.
 
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I bought 3 totes from walmart for 4 bucks each. They hold around 30 gallons each. I just let my water get up to room temp then mix in the salt in one of the totes. Drain out the old by syphoning from the DT into another tote. then pump the new water into the sump with an extra powerhead. if your only doing 10% water change the temp being off 5 degrees shouldn't hurt anything. If you keep your house at 60 though you may want to warm it up some.

I have in the future plans for a drain directly outside so I can pump water from the tank right outside just by opening a valve. Also plans for a mixing tank that I can premix saltwater in then just drain it into the sump when Im doing water changes.
Click to expand...

Thanks

All my buckets are room temp but I plan on doing 25% today first change of my live rock. Maybe I will do 10% then wait for the tank temps to balance and do the rest.
 
I'm working on my automatic water change system. Should have it complete tomorrow if all goes as planned. Keep an eye on my build thread. ;)
 
I have a 20 gallon tote. I mix my salt in that. It has a heater and pump in it. I use buckets to haul from the where the totes are to the tank. I have another tote beside it that has RO water in it. I use that to top off. It's not heated.
 
My 125 is new, so I've only done one, and I'm about to do one tonight; in my 45g I did changes only once every couple of months -- it was fowlr, and had a fuge, so it's not like I needed to watch my alk and calc anyway.

The night before, I will prep my rodi in an 18g tub, add salt, put in a powerhead and a heater and just let it run all night. By the next day, the salt is all dissolved, and the water the same temp as the tank. Then, I drain the amount from the main tank, siphoning any detritus and gunk from the sand/rocks as needed, and add my mixed saltwater in the sump so it can just be pumped in.
 
wontonflip said:
The night before, I will prep my rodi in an 18g tub, add salt, put in a powerhead and a heater and just let it run all night. By the next day, the salt is all dissolved, and the water the same temp as the tank. Then, I drain the amount from the main tank, siphoning any detritus and gunk from the sand/rocks as needed, and add my mixed saltwater in the sump so it can just be pumped in.
Click to expand...

+1 wonton

That is exactly how I do mine. I read here to let your water mix over night.
 
BTW, for now I was filling a 32g Brute trash can in my garage directly from my RO/DI unit and then tossing in some salt (at least at least a day before) with a pump and heater. Then I would unroll about 75 ft of tubing to reach the tank. First throw the pump in the tank and pump the water outside, then reverse it with the pump in the Brute and pump the new water to the tank.

But this was getting old fast, hence the automated water change system. ;)

It was easier with my 46g because i used a 10g trash can mounted to some wheels that I could roll through the house and i didn't need all that tubing.
 
Alright thanks for all the ideas. Right now I am waiting for my RO system to come in. So I have been buying RO water from LFS at .25gallon. So my plan tomorrow is to buy a small pump to pump the water from my water change bin 27gallons into my tank, with heater and koralia in it.

I have plenty of tubing my job Beverage Tech. makes me carry four to five hundred feet of 1/4in, 3/8in and 1/2in all the time. So I will just take about ten feet of that off to make the transition from my tote to my tank. I figured the night before I will put the tote next to tank and fill it with water, add the salt, and heat up for the next day.

Dennis you have an awesome tank by the way, great read.
 
My tip would be to get a piece of wood, and attach some heavy duty casters to the wood. Then sit the tote on top. You can make the water elsewhere, and then roll it to your tank when it's time to do the change. :)
 
I love tubing :) Tubing obsession to me is like computer parts obsession to him. My hubby asked why I bought more airline tubing a couple of weeks ago, when I still have tubing lying around......showed him, though, because we ended up using the tubing for my ATO setup LOL
 
I love tubing :smile: Tubing obsession to me is like computer parts obsession to him. My hubby asked why I bought more airline tubing a couple of weeks ago, when I still have tubing lying around......showed him, though, because we ended up using the tubing for my ATO setup LOL
Click to expand...

I cant really say the same thing about tubing. I see all day long for 10 to 12 hrs. Have to trace leaks through ceilings, basements. walls and coolers. Good job but trying to find a pin hole leak in over two hundred feet of tubing is not that fun. Yet everyone has there thing...
 
here is mine it is a 64gal trash can that i use to mix the water and i cut a hole in the bottom so that i can just set my bucket there and fill it up then tank it to the tank

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daugherty said:
here is mine it is a 64gal trash can that i use to mix the water and i cut a hole in the bottom so that i can just set my bucket there and fill it up then tank it to the tank
Click to expand...

Now wouldn't it be so nice to just open that valve into the tank instead of carrying the buckets?
 
I got a 32 gallon brute sitting right beside my tank.Its got 2 Rio 1700 pumps in it.One for mixing 24/7 and the other to pump the new water into my sump.
I just drop my siphon tube out the bedroom window and siphon out what I want.The I drop the hose in my sump and plug the pump in to re-fill the tank.
 

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