Standard bulk water change vs continuous

E

EnderG60

Plumbing Engineer
So I am debating setting up a continuous water change system for my tank (300g tank 480g system FYI)

I have been on the fence about this for a few reasons. Mainly that I like the idea of exporting a large chunk of "œbad stuff" at once when doing regular 25-30% water changes. BUT in doing this I end up having to return my skimmer and display drain (beans silent overflow system) after turning off the main pump.

With continuous (I would be doing between 2 and 5 gallons a day) you get more stability, but less "œbad stuff" exporting.

So what are your thoughts?
 
Well I'm just starting a tank but I believe contiguous will actually export more bad stuff.

Let's say something bad happens in the tank(corals get into chemical warfare or a cucumber dies).
You don't always realize that something wrong goes on. So you do have a period of time of something going bad, you realizing it, identifying it and water change to remove it.
During that time if there is a contiguous water change system it will be diluting any unwanted substances in the water. If you still need a water change it won't be that large.

Not really sure though, since I'm just getting my hands wet...
 
a9reef said:
In the article they use 30% water changes per month as the upper limit. I was told by a friend that 20% water changes are ideal. What do you guys think?
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I dont know. Sometimes I do 2 gallons a day, sometimes 1 a day. If I miss a couple of days, I do a bigger one.
 
the continuous change would add lots of stability as long as it is done right. Yes it should export more "bad stuff" but there will be less targeted removal of detritus from the tank floor. If you have enough flow, you will keep that from happening as well and all should be good.
 
KafudaFish said:
Have you read the first thread here on wet skimmate WC?
Click to expand...

I like the idea, but the only way I would even consider doing that is if I had a conductivity probe to monitor the salinity.

And since I dont think its worth it to upgrade controllers just for that, na :)
 
One thing to keep in mind ... while it is true that you will not get the large export of nutrients all at once, you are less likely to get a large build up as well since you are continually exporting.

I have had my continuous water change system up and running for about 4 months now and I love it. One thing I wanted to do when I designed my system was to make it as low maintenance as possible and this really fits the bill.

It takes a little bit of work to get things calibrated at the beginning, but you get a feel for it after a few weeks.

I just check my salinity levels every few days to make sure everything is in order. Another advantage is that you don't have to worry about matching the temperature when doing a water change.
 
I a running continuous changes with a litermeter. I love it. I'll still occasionally siphon when I need to and replace that water, but it is more a targeted removal of detritus than a big traditional water change. Mostly I just leave it alone. I make up a box of salt at a time in a big 160g container (which my wife calls my "cloning chamber" lol). I usually change about 2.5g/day but I will bump that up once in awhile if I want to do bigger changes.
 
I am looking for something lots cheaper than a liter meter. Has anyone seen any threads that do it inexpensively? I have not found any yet, but I have some ideas.
 
how big is your system? Are you doing the 2.5g all at once each day?

Im still gathering parts, but I was debating doing it all at once or 1g twice a day, or .5g 4 times a day...
 
schatzi said:
would you mind sharing how you're doing this?
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I am using a reef filler 30 gpd dual head pump, which is a good bit less than a litermeter. I have it set up so I change approximately 10% per week. I have a closet that sits directly behind my display. This closet houses a rubbermaid that contains freshly mixed saltwater. Freshly mixed saltwater is pumped into the aquarium at the same time oldtank water is pumped out. The old tank water goes up the wall, across the ceiling, then ties into the condensate drain for the furnace/ac.

One of the things I grew to hate w/my last tank was lugging buckets for water changes. Consequently, I wanted to design this tank to be as automated as possible.
 
EnderG60 said:
are you doing 2.5 out then 2.5 in? or the "out" and "in" at the same time, and if so do you have the out and in locations spaced out?
Click to expand...

the way mine is set up, I am pumping in and out at the same time. I do have the new tank water added 'downstream', if that makes sense. You lose a bit of efficiency like this, but it is not significant.
 
I just looked it up. From the manual:

Each pump doses equal amounts 150 times per day
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The pump basically takes the daily dose you select (say 9.46L which is 2.5g) and splits that volume over 150 "doses" per day, evenly spaced. So I pump out .063L 150 times per day, evenly spaced. And I pump in .063L 150 times per day, evenly spaced.
 
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