Water Changes

[OverThinker]

As for MY nitrate problem in my freshwater tank, I think it is due to the fact I had a powerhead AND a filter working and it's only a 10 gallon. The bacteria that kills nitrates doesn't like oxygen rich water. I did almost a 50% water change last night and today the nitrates were still high so I unplugged the extra powerhead, added a nitrate remover pebble bag, and will do another small 1 gallon WC just to lessen the cloudiness from the pebble bag.

I just need to worry about my 75g now, because of all the hard-to-reach dead spots. Even if I get another powerhead to fix these spots, I need to clean them up first, and THAT'S what I am afraid of doing. Talk about cloudy water!!!

[One Dumm Hikk]

What is "still high" nitrates? What reading? And what kind of test did you use to get the reading? You can do a 90% water change on a FW tank and as long as the temperature is the same, you won't do any real harm to anything in the tank. I have done a 99% water change on a 90 gallon tank that had a sump under it. As the water got down too low for the fish to be able to swim anymore in the DT, they got netted and put into the sump. After I got the water in the DT down to the gravel, I refilled the DT, treated the tap water, let it run for an hour, put the fish back in and then drained the sump water out. The only water that remained in the tank was what was in the 3" gravel bed. Freshwater fish are a lot more tolerant and forgiving than saltwater critters are.

[yheartsp]

Originally Posted by One Dumm Hikk

What is "still high" nitrates? What reading? And what kind of test did you use to get the reading? You can do a 90% water change on a FW tank and as long as the temperature is the same, you won't do any real harm to anything in the tank. I have done a 99% water change on a 90 gallon tank that had a sump under it. As the water got down too low for the fish to be able to swim anymore in the DT, they got netted and put into the sump. After I got the water in the DT down to the gravel, I refilled the DT, treated the tap water, let it run for an hour, put the fish back in and then drained the sump water out. The only water that remained in the tank was what was in the 3" gravel bed. Freshwater fish are a lot more tolerant and forgiving than saltwater critters are.

Guys i have a question here

let's say i do 20 percent water change, would it be 20 percent of the total tank volume , or net water volume ( minus liverock sand etc )

[Peredhil]

Originally Posted by yheartsp

Guys i have a question here

let's say i do 20 percent water change, would it be 20 percent of the total tank volume , or net water volume ( minus liverock sand etc )

without rereading this thread....


IMO, you are splitting hairs. Close enough to not care...


but having said that, IMO, it would be net water volume.

[mocarski]

I am the only person I've ever heard of do water changes this way and I have no objective proof that this is better than the traditional way. Throwing it out here for discussion.

If our goal as reefkeepers (especially in an SPS dominated tank like mine) is water parameter stability, it seems counterintuitive to me to pull a bunch of water out and then dump a bunch of new saltwater in. I understand that there are benefits in maximizing your salt mix dollar because more of the new saltwater stays in the system.

I do water changes in a way that acclimates my tank to the new water. In my opinion, it provides for less swings in the water params (both those you can test and those that you cannot) and a healthier system. (again I have no proof of this, but it works for me lol).

I mix up my water in a mixing tank on a shelf above my sump. When the water is ready, I remove as much DT system water as I can without having to turn off any pumps. In my system, I'm running a 55g sump and the return area that I baffled off allows me to remove approx 5 gallons of water before my return pump starts sucking air. After the water is removed, I use airline tubing to slowly add the new saltwater to my sump. I run the airline tubing fully open. When the water in my sump gets back up to my high-water mark, I remove more tank water until all of the water in the mixing tank has been moved into the sump.

Like everything else, there are pluses and minuses to this. It takes me about 2 hours to do a 20 gallon water change (using two airline tubes cuts that in half) and I have to keep an eye on my sump level to make sure the water level doesn't get too high. I am also removing a small percentage of new water as it intermingles with the old water. Those are certainly negatives but it seems like this is the way to go if slow things are better for our tanks.

I wouldn't do this procedure if I were doing an emergency water change to deal with a problem in my tank, but for standard water changes, I think it helps my system.

If I'm nuts for doing it this way, feel free to convince me. I'm not set in stone on it, but for now it makes sense for me to do it this way.

[waterexpert]

water change to be carried out is depends upon the volume of a tank!

[Powerman]

Originally Posted by mocarski

I am the only person I've ever heard of do water changes this way and I have no objective proof that this is better than the traditional way. Throwing it out here for discussion.

If our goal as reefkeepers (especially in an SPS dominated tank like mine) is water parameter stability, it seems counterintuitive to me to pull a bunch of water out and then dump a bunch of new saltwater in. I understand that there are benefits in maximizing your salt mix dollar because more of the new saltwater stays in the system.

I do water changes in a way that acclimates my tank to the new water. In my opinion, it provides for less swings in the water params (both those you can test and those that you cannot) and a healthier system. (again I have no proof of this, but it works for me lol).

I mix up my water in a mixing tank on a shelf above my sump. When the water is ready, I remove as much DT system water as I can without having to turn off any pumps. In my system, I'm running a 55g sump and the return area that I baffled off allows me to remove approx 5 gallons of water before my return pump starts sucking air. After the water is removed, I use airline tubing to slowly add the new saltwater to my sump. I run the airline tubing fully open. When the water in my sump gets back up to my high-water mark, I remove more tank water until all of the water in the mixing tank has been moved into the sump.

Like everything else, there are pluses and minuses to this. It takes me about 2 hours to do a 20 gallon water change (using two airline tubes cuts that in half) and I have to keep an eye on my sump level to make sure the water level doesn't get too high. I am also removing a small percentage of new water as it intermingles with the old water. Those are certainly negatives but it seems like this is the way to go if slow things are better for our tanks.

I wouldn't do this procedure if I were doing an emergency water change to deal with a problem in my tank, but for standard water changes, I think it helps my system.

If I'm nuts for doing it this way, feel free to convince me. I'm not set in stone on it, but for now it makes sense for me to do it this way.

Never thought about it slow, but the only thing I see is you removing "new SW". To do water changes, th eold water is full of bad stuff say, and depleted of godd. The new being opposite. When you add 5g in you have changed the concentrations of both. Going to 20g makes it worse. So basically you are not changing 20g of NEW, because you are removing some percentage of that with the old. And you are not taking out 20g of old.

I suppose doing a 20g slowly lik ethis is cool. We all do things we think matter. I say do it if it makes you happy. Like you, I have no evidence that it is good or bad. Only the concentration thing I mentioned.

[mocarski]

I am certainly removing a portion of the new water by doing it this way. That is definitely a negative. But I do this every week and for the amount I have invested in my tank the little extra that I spend on salt doesn't overly concern me.

I have to say that I do water changes more to add in trace elements and other necessary stuff than to remove things. My setup is such that my nitrates and phosphates are always zero. i actually had to increase feedings to add nutrients into the system to get the corals to look better. This is occurring more and more with the new systems OT there but I think it is still pretty rare. I know some people who are running zeovit and starving some corals because their nutrients are too low. It's funny but who would have believed that would ever happen 10 years ago

[waterexpert]

Simply tip upside down then unscrew housing anti clock wise, remove old filter of your choice then replace with new filter screw filter housing back on clock wise turn back around place it on the sink and flush for 7 minutes then your done.