Water change techniques?

[astiesi]

I just performed my first water change post-cycle as I prepare to add my cleanup crew. In doing this I thought it may be interesting to ask if anybody has any interesting techniques for performing water changes, especially on a nano.

I used a 5 gallon bucket and air tube to drain 20% (~3g) of water, a second 5 gallon bucket with mixed saltwater with 1/2" vacuum tube to refill....I put this bucket on top of the 1st one to get it up high enough to maintain the siphon. This worked out ok but I am considering using a small pump to pump the water back into the tank.

This is the best I could come up with and I'm curioius if anybody has thought up easier, more creative setups for doing this.

[CATALYST]

I have two buckets, one for new water and one for old. I got a mj1200 pump and some tubing from lowe's. I put the new water in the bucket up on a chair and the old bucket on the floor. I pump the water from the display in the the bucket on the floor and then pump the new water into the back compartments to fill it back up. I use the old water to clean the filters and the carbon and what not. Then I use the pump in the dirty water to get it into the kitchen sink and not have the lift the bucket. I change the whole 5 gal at a time.

[msbdiving]

I pretty much change mine the same way. I use a pump to try and speed things up. I am hoping one day I can stress the anemone enough to have it split.

[BigAl07]

I have 3 tanks here in the same area so I mix up enough for all (3) at once.

I just a Mag9 for pumping action. Here's how it goes..

I use the pump inside the sump of the 90 (29gals) to pull that water either into a drain or out the window (depends on weather outside).

Then I siphon 3 gallons (by gravity feed) out of my 10g into a bucket.

Next I gravity siphon 1 1/2 gallons out of the 6g into a bucket.

Next I drop the Mag9 into the New water can and proceed to filling each tank with 24hr mixed salt water.

the actual water change process for all 35+/- gallons takes about 10 - 20 minutes excluding any scraping and cleaning.

Hope this helps some. Keep it simple and you're more likely to keep at it

[sambrinar]

Hmmm I never thought of using my pump to put the water back. I have 2 buckets, 12 gal tank, both buckets are marked at 2, and 3 gals so I know how much water I have mixed and how much to take out.

I siphon out the old in the empty bucket to the appropriate line, take out the tubing and pour the clean water back into the tank via the filter in the back of the tank so I don't disturb the coral/fish.

I will have to try the pump idea. but I will still have to dump the last bit in. then I let the clean bucket dry out, rinse and start over again the following week

this is an interesting thread.

[funkpolice]

I do basically the same thing. I have one bucket with new mixed water in it, it sits for a week with a heater and power head. I have another bucket that my skimmer overflow goes into. I siphon out 5 gal into the skimmer bucket, then dump this water out. Then I pour in the new water, kind of like a really slow surge tank, and immediately fill up the bucket with ro/di water for the next week. approx.15 min total, so it's easy to keep with the routine.
bill

[astiesi]

Exactly the information I was looking for.

I'm just looking to get quicker at my water changes, which I figure a pump would help me do. Tonight's took me almost an hour for one 14g tank, but at the same time it was my first and I kept realizing I left things I needed out in the shed. A pump and a bit more organization and I'll get it down to 15 minutes.

Another related question, when doing a massive water change (50%) it would seem that some corals high on the rocks would become exposed to air. Is this a problem, are there certain types of coral you would want to keep below the water line at all times? Just got me thinking as I was working on the tank tonight.

[funkpolice]

I think if you use a larger diameter tube to siphon out water, it would go quicker. I use a 1/2 inch tube, and it only takes about 5 min to fill a 5 gal bucket without any pumps.
bill

[sambrinar]

Originally Posted by funkpolice

I think if you use a larger diameter tube to siphon out water, it would go quicker. I use a 1/2 inch tube, and it only takes about 5 min to fill a 5 gal bucket without any pumps.
bill

ditto, also you might want to be careful with a 50% water change, if your new water is not the same sg, it could shock fish/coral in the tank with a fast sg swing. i am pretty new to this as well 5 months and counting. there was someone who did a 50% wc and killed some of his livestock and I believe it was a bigger tank. Just an fyi

[CATALYST]

Mine get to hang out of the water for a couple minutes every week and they are fine.

[Emg]

I use a 1/2inch line to syphon out my 50 into a 5 gallon IO bucket. I also make use of my computer chairs ! I sit the bucket on the chair so that I can wheel it over to the kitchen sink, then use a pitcher to empty most of the bucket before I dump the rest into the sink.

I have a 5 gallon full of fresh change water on my other computer chair....just wheel it over to the tank and use the pitcher to put most of the water into the tank, then dump the rest carefully into the tank.

I always check the SG in the display and add top off if needed.....before I put in the new water.....making sure that they both read 1.025 before making the change.

I don't use a skimmer so I also blow off the rocks with one of the powerheads while doing a water change....putting filter pads in the HOB refugiums as I do that. This system has been working out very well for me since I started in sw back in Oct 06.

[plahka]

I'm really low tech. I use a 2qt pail to scoop out water and dump it into a 5g pail on the floor. Dump the pail and refill it to the same level with makeup water and slowly pour it in.

[plahka]

As for corals out of water I don't know about all corals but there are a lot of places where corals are out of water for hours at a time during low tides.

[PEMfish]

I mix my water in one bucket, then siphon from the DT in to another one. I then dump the new water into the sump.