Silly question - How do big tank owners do water changes?

[WinnipegDragon]

Now, I don't have a monster tank or anything, but with a 120g and a 60g sump, I'm looking at wanting to change 20g or more of water weekly.

My original plan (and still my plan) was to built a T to a valve and hose barb off my return, and hook on a length of spaflex to my sink. No big deal to take the water out, and I'll pump fresh SW back in with a Mag 5 using the same length of spaflex.

However, the actual amount of water that will be in the sump chamber housing my return is smaller than I thought it would be. It's only going to hold about 10g of water. If I stop the return to the tank, it might overflow another gallon or two, but not enough to make up even a 10% change.

I'm actually debating turning off the skimmer, and installing a couple of bulkheads in the bubble traps between the skimmer compartment and the return area, so that I could tap the additional water in the skimmer area, but I'm not sure how to accomplish this. I could also scoop water from the skimmer are with a jug or something.

What's the easiest way to pull out 20g of water if you only have 10g in the return area?

Here's a pic of my sump for reference:

Left side is the skimmer area, return in the middle, refugium to the right.

 

[rbursek]

Syphon out of the main tank.

 

[WinnipegDragon]

The sink is about 30' away, and that's a lot of buckets...

 

[scuzy]

siphon with a garden hose your sump should be designed to hold all your water when power is out otherwise it's not really good for anything.

 

[WinnipegDragon]

The sump will hold all the water in the pipes if the power goes out, it's getting it to the return section that's tricky...

Of course I could siphon from the display into the sump as the return is pumping water into the sink. That should work and I have no idea why I didn't think of it before...

 

[jdieck]

Well what I do may not help you anyhow, my sump is connected directly to a drain and my 55 gal mixing tank hoses directly to the sump via a mag 12. 55 gal water change in under 5 minutes

In any case I think that a T off your return pump (You may need two valves) with a hose will do for the water removal. TO get 20 gal out you can empty the first 10 then sphon another 10 to the return area from the main tank.

For filling it back you might need to have the mix tank close, you can run the RO/DI water as far as you want with a 1/4" polytubing.

 

[WinnipegDragon]

I already have the Mag 5 to pump water back from the mixing tank, so that part is easy enough. I'll be using an outlet connection with a remote fob so I can turn the pump off from the tank even though the mixing container is 30' away (right by the sink).

Yeah, siphoning from display to sump will do the trick.

 

[tank o tang]

If you drain your water from your drain line and fill with mag5 to sump at the same time you should be able to keep water level close to same. If you have to throw a ball valve on the end of your mag5 line to match the flow of draining water better.

 

[Quinster]

nice sump/refugium!

:thumbsup:

 

[WinnipegDragon]

Thanks Quinn! Quinn built the sump, I am very happy with the work!

I screwed up in my drawings and I made the return too small

As far as balancing the Mag with my return, the return will outmatch the Mag, so I would be fiddling with valves trying to keep everything going at roughly the same speed. I'll just syphon as the return is pumping out and then pump back in. It will be quick and easy.

 

[sjames]

im going to do automatic water changes via a litermeter3 and water exchange module. That seems like the most hassle free way to do them. The only minor drawback is your x% water change turns out to be a few % less when using this method.

 

[discocarp]

I siphon out of the tank with 50' of python hose. Then I pump it back into the tank from a 55g brute trashcan from the porch of mixed up saltwater with the same hose.

If I need a bigger change I use additional trashcans, which is a pain but I do it rarely.

 

[monty]

I have a 180g and a 55g sump. until recently, i did a 50g water change/month. I have a 50 drum thats propped up on a stand with a drain on the bottom that i use to just siphon the water into my sump with the attached hose....to get the water out, instead of the buket brigade, i have a mark on my sump and main tank where the water level is for different key gallon amounts, Then, i use one of those connections that you hook one end up to your sink and the other end of a 25' hose in my tank. The faucet adapter starts a siphon right into my sink drain, and i pull the plug when it gets to my 50g mark...

however, no i just do weekly or bi weekly changes in smaller amounts..i actually find it easier and just takes a few mintues