water changes and technique

[Dactyl]

I have a 60 gallon tank with no sump. Ive had my tank for quite a few years now but I'm not sure I'm changing my water correctly or I'm wondering if there aren't easier ways of doing it.

I basically go to those water dispensor machines, fill up a few of those 5 gal white jugs and lug them home in my car.

Then i get a 5 gal bucket, pour in some salt and add the RO water with the hydrometer floating in it and a maxijet 600 mixing it up and then top it off with salt as necessary until its at the right level.

then i go to my tank after the water is ready, i shut off the maxijet/ cpr hang-on skimmer and use some plastic tubing and suck into the tube and siphon the water into another 5 gal jug which i dump down the toilet.

i then get the water in the 5 gal bucket and dump it into the top of the tank and turn all the powerheads/skimmer back on.

how do people do this with larger tanks? Ive heard of people using large trash cans but ive never been around to see anyone do it. also its not like you can lift a large trashcan full of water to dump into your tank after you siphon out the water. what kind of pump do you use?

anyone else have other techniques or have i been doing this all wrong for years? i would imagine theres gotta be an easier way someones thought up.

 

[hipertec]

Would love to know other ideas also. I been buying my water but now will be mixing mine own...
Previously, I have been just pouring it from the top using the 5 gallon bucket, but I noticed that is stresses my fishes...
Looking for a better technique.

 

[integlikewhoa]

There is tons of ways of doing it. Most people like myself that have big tanks tho have their own R/O DI unit. I have mine plummed to fill a 50 gallon drum in my garage (its also set to auto top off the tank water in the sump). I have that plastic drum fitted with a pump that sucks water from the bottom and puts back in at the top so its always turning water over. It also has a valve to open that leads to a water spicket and a vlave to shut off the water going back into the drum. I turn the R/O on when the drum gets low and fill it up then add salt mix it and leave it ready for the water change. When i do a water change i syphon the water form the tank down into a 5 gallon buck or out the door with a longer hose if im doing alot of water. (which is never) most times i do 15 gallons. I also cleaning the sand while im syphoning out water. After that is done i can either hook my 25ft garden hose (special hose for my tank only) to the spicket on the drum and open the valve putting the water in the sump on the tank or i can fill the 5 gallon bucket, set it on a chair and syphon the water into the sump since its in the stand lower then the chair. It takes about 5-10 min max as there is alwasy water ready in the drum in the garage. I only use around 15 gallons when i do it. My sump is big enought that i can do that without haveing to turn off any of the pumps. I just shut off my auto top off so it doesnt try to refill it when the level goes down. (not like it could put much freshwater in to the tank in 5min anyways) The garden hose i used mostly when i had to fill the tank the first time. I mostly just use the buckets.

 

[reefshadow]

I use two large rubbermaid trash totes w/ wheels to do changes on my 240. My ro unit pure water line fills it up, I mix the salt in it using an old mag5, make sure s.g. and temp are good. I then wheel the empty trash tote over to the tank, syphon out the same amount of water i'm changing, wheel the full tote over to the front door, and spill it down the steps right outside into the driveway. That's the fun part though my neighbors probably think i'm crazy.

Then I wheel the tote with new water over to the tank, attach the mag5 to my syphon hose, and pump the new water right in.
it's very easy and ensures that I can always do a water change very quickly- takes about 10 minutes.

A few caveats though. My house is a single level ranch so it has an open floor plan and no stairs. I have a very out of the way nook in my washroom that fits both totes, and water supply for the R.O..

Don't dump saltwater anywhere near ornamental plants!