Practicalities of water changes

[colettem]

Can anyone give me advice on the best way to organise water changes. I have a 150g display tank which will have in it about 120lbs of live rock (arriving in two days). There is a sump that probably will hold about 30g. I have a 50gpd RO/DI unit which produces 25 litres (about 6 gallons) a day of purified water. I have been collecting this in 6 gallon buckets - I can't lift them but my husband can (luckily!)

Ideally I would like to do water changes of 10% a week to keep the water in good condition but this would need about 4 of my 6 gallon buckets. How do people manage the practicalities of aerating and warming such large volumes of water for doing such large water changes?

 

[jgoodrich71]

Get a rubbermaid trash can. Use that to store the water in. I use a 30 gallon, usually filled 3/4 the way.

 

[Mariner]

I have an 18g rubbermaid tub in the laundry room. I change about 11g of water a week (7 in my 75g and 4 in my 40g) The day before I do a water change, I pour 11 gallons of RO water in the tub, mix in the salt, and throw in a powerhead and a small heater (the size for a 10g aquarium). The next day, after siphoning water and detritus from my tanks, I use a 3 gallon bucket to transfer the freshly mixed saltwater to my aquariums. It's easy once you've established a system for doing it.
HTH,
Mariner

 

[colettem]

Thanks, so do you warm and aerate the water in the trash can then siphon it out into smaller containers to transport to the tank?
I don't think we have the rubbermaid brand in the UK - is it just a big black plastic trash can?

 

[colettem]

Thanks mariner - you answered my question just before I asked it! So I guess I really need a much bigger container to keep all the water in.

 

[Mariner]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6530881#post6530881 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by colettem
Thanks, so do you warm and aerate the water in the trash can then siphon it out into smaller containers to transport to the tank?
I don't think we have the rubbermaid brand in the UK - is it just a big black plastic trash can?

Right, they make all sorts of trash cans, storage bins, tubs, etc. here in the States. Aeration/circulation is important. Let your water mix for a few hours to a couple of days before using.
Mariner

 

[jgoodrich71]

One more thing to add...

I use a submersible pump with tubing. Just drop it in the trash can until the salt is disolved. Then when you are ready to add the water back, just pull the end of the tubing out and fill my sump. No need to lift buckets (learned the hard way that I make too big of a mess using buckets).

 

[JimR]

Make SURE the trash can you buy is heavy duty! We bought a 50gal can on wheels, with a neat lid that was attached to the handle ( swings back ). Took it outside and started to fill it up with water. It got about 3/4 full when all of a sudden the whole side burst! Scared the heck out of me, as I was standing right in front of the section that burst.

Moral of the story is dont buy cheap for your water storage container...LOL

 

[colettem]

Yeah I guess 50g of water must generate some pressure. I've heard that the containers you use must be food grade - do you think that is true or will any good quality plastic do the job?

 

[jgoodrich71]

None of my plastic containers have been food grade. I guess that would be a safer way to go if you are worried about it.

Don't buy any with wheels. I used to have one that you attach to another plastic piece that had 5 wheels on it that worked great until the salt started corroding the wheels. But the one's that have 2 wheels that you lean over, those can't take the weight.

 

[Gobie]

I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t think you will need to change that much that often. I change about 15 gallons of water every two to three months in a 180 gallon. If you wanted to do it more often doing a smaller change once a month would be fine. Changing more then that can get expensive especially if you are using an expensive salt. Just do your water testing as usual and buy a Rubbermade trash can for water storage, drill a hole in the top for a Kent float valve. Rubbermade trash cans are food contact safe.

The reason I say test your water as usual, is that you are going to put a bunch of live rock in soon and your water quality may decline. You may have to do more frequent water changes in the beginning until everything levels out.

 

[colettem]

Thanks, I think smaller changes might be the way to go for me. Irritatingly in all the books I've read there is never any advice about the practicalities of doing water changes. It was only this week when I finally got my RO/DI unit up and running and realised just how big the water volumes were that I need to change that I'd really thought about the problem.

 

[lossman]

Collettem, We have a 150g also. Our water changes take about 15 minutes (not including the times that I spray off the rocks and do other in tank maintenance). We have our rodi unit hooked up in the laundry room. We have a 32 gal brute container on a large plant dolly in the laundry room. We make up our water in advance. When it's time for a water change, we roll the bucket out into the kitchen (the tank is in the livingroom which is open to the kitchen). We have our tubing hooked to a pump. We put the pump in the tank and run the extra long tubing over to the kitchen sink and drain out what we need to. Then transfer the pump to the clean water bucket and add back the amount that we took out. Of course, we are lucky that we have the room setup that we do. It makes water changes very easy.

Even if you could not do the full 30 gallons at once, the pump with tubing will be invaluable for you or your husband so you do not have to lift those buckets.

 

[SeanySean]

Colettem, I do a 1% change a day if that helps, I too have a RO unit that only produces a low amonut 50 - 75 litres a day.

I aim for at least a 30% change a month by doing the 1% changes- boring, boring routine is the answer to my problem,

Find a total you want to change a month, 10% + and work on that

 

[Pandora]

I won't ever lug another bucket, with all the tanks I used to have (and still have 2 large ones up). Great utility in the Python No-Spill.

Only syphons water out of course, since I can't put faucet water in my SW tank. For storing the newly made SW, I have a 20gal rubbermaid with a heater and a pump in it. I run the RO unit line into it, and after I add the salt, I turn on the heater & powerhead to mix for about half an hour. Then I just turn off the pump temporarily, attach hosing to it towards the sump (which has already been drained by the python of an equal amount of water), and voila, I fill the tank without lifting a single bucket.

 

[dastratt]

colettem

I do have different advice related to the LR. If you are going to have to cure the LR in the tank I would recommend to make some big water changes if there is a lot of ammonia generated. You will know what I'm talking about if the rock stinks when you get it. Curing in large rubermaid containers may be easier. I'm not sure what you are getting or what you had planned. My advice is to do the planning so you can do a big water change if/when you need to. Murphys law still applies, I think!

 

[tonym10]

I do a 10 gallon/week water change. I have a 32g rubbermaid container that I fill every few weeks with ro/di water and salt. I keep a mag 5 in the container to mix it, I plug it in for about an hour to mix it. I have this container in my fish room next to my sump. I use a Litermeter dosing pump to do everything from there , all automatic. The LiterMeter is set to change 10g of water once per week.
My water changes are performed with the Litermeter over a 12 hour period , so by changing the water slowly it does not need to be heated or aerated.

 

[dtaranath]

I have read and read and read things on this site for the past year, and I find tonym10's automation the most fascinating. I checked out your thread and downloaded the instruction manual for the litermeter. I definitely have to get one of these things. It may very well be life-altering.

 

[tonym10]

Thanks dtaranath.
It is really helpfull right now . My Nitrates have risen to 40ppm over the last 6 months. So I just programed the LiterMeter to do 25 gallon / day water changes every other day for 2 weeks. All I have to do is mix the saltwater. I would hate doing that large of a water change that frequently manually.

 

[colettem]

Great input from everyone, thanks.
Unfortunately I've got no room for storage of large volumes of water near my tank (unless I store outside) so it looks like there will be some heaving about of buckets required. RO/DI unit is also remote from the tank. I might start with doing 6g a week which over the course of a month will give me at least 10% of my tank vol. My live rock is apparently fully cycled/cured but there might be some transportation die off. It arrives tomorrow so I wait with baited breath.
My only forseeable problem is going to be emergency large water changes - I'll maybe get a large trash can set up in the garage for emergencies.