partial water change

[clowngal]

Hey folks!

My boyfriend set up a salt water tank with 2 clownfish, 2 shrimp and some crabs... all cycled and working well. And then we broke up (don't worry, I'm fine!). So I need to take care of the tank now and I'm wondering how to do a partial water change! I think I might have to go buy a book on how to do all this stuff... making sure the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite etc levels are ok. My ex researched a lot before setting it all up and it's working well, but needs some TLC!

Any advice would be great!

 

[Darth Wader]

I would do a weekly 10-15% water change. What you should do is fill up a bucket with ro-di (purified) water. Add salt to the water until you get the desired salinity (1.024-1.026) depending on what salinity you have been at. I usually let the new salt water sit for a day. Then syphon the same amount out of the tank that your going to add and then add the new salt water.

 

[Jandree22]

Great book for beginners... The Conscientious Marine Aquarist

Look around for a used copy to save some $$$ or better yet, check out your library to read it for free. IMO this book isn't really a reference point, more of a read once and done sort of thing. But excellent none-the-less.

Good luck!

 

[Darth Wader]

And for allot of the other stuff you can search the forums right here on RC and find out allot of information. Books will help out as well. Any other questions you have fire away and myself and many others will help you out.
What size of tank is it? Does it have a sump (small tank under the main display that holds equipment)?

 

[clowngal]

Hey Darth and Jandree, thanks for the replies!

Here's a description of my tank:
20 Gallon Tank (6 months old) with stock fluorescent light
AC 110 Refugium
30 lbs Live Rock (fiji)
Aragonite sand (1")
2XAC50 Powerheads
100W Tronic Heater
2 True Perculas (6 months old)
Peppermint Shrimp (6 months old)
Cleaner Shrimp
Various Hermit Crabs

I'm not sure if that answers your question? I have uploaded a photo of the tank, but that was from a while ago and the tank looks more slimy now... I need to get it cleaned up!

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196667fishies.jpg

 

[Tswifty]

Here's your pic

Just place

around the link.

 

[clowngal]

I'll start doing that 10-15% water change. First I'll have to figure out how to measure the levels and make sure everything is balanced. How often do you check the levels in your tanks?

 

[Tswifty]

I try to test weekly. Mainly because my tank is still fairly new, and I want to make sure I know what is going on with my water quality.

Get yourself a little notebook, or make an excel spreadsheet so you can track everything. I track everything on this spreadsheet:

 

[Tswifty]

Here's everything I use to test: