water changes? evaporation?

[mindytoy]

my 90 gal is evaporating like 5 gallons every week or so... thats alot of water!

so do i still do waterchanges? i mean if i wait a week or so i only add more ro/di water....

the tank is still cycling though but when its done...

do i take out another 5 gallons, or do i just let the evaporation remove water and then i just add more?

my water is very clear, only thing is when the lights are on i can see thousands of little molecules like salt or something

 

[chuggy]

shouldnt be able to see salt molecules sure there not microbubbles? You should still do water changes there min erals in the new salt that are good for the tank.

 

[mindytoy]

so then when im done cycling take off like 5 gallons and add 5?

also, idk if they are micro bubbles these are tiny floating things that my powerheads shoot out

 

[António Vitor]

what evaporates is pure water, the other stuff stays in the aquarium...
dissolved organics, minerals, toxic stuff...

so you must change the water to prevent bad stuff happening in the future...

several elements disapear, but that is when there are something "eating" those elements...like calcium.

If you had pure water (the close you get is with a reverse osmosis water), and you put that water ...replacing the space the other "pure water" left...
then...it's the same...with or without eaporation...there are no implications...

of course there is no pure water avaiably to us...even with osmosis you are putting more than what went out...

 

[osprey3883]

Hello,
You have two scenarios, for the top off of evaporated water you can use regular (RO or RODI) water. RODI is recommended.
For your water changes you will want to remove a volume of water and replace it with saltwater. (RODI plus salt mix) It is best to prepare the replacement saltwater ahead to time to make sure it is well mixed and at the appropriate SG.

Hope this helps,
Matt

 

[António Vitor]

you must prepare the water with time...

even if you can dissolve all the salt, there are still chemical reactions...that might endure for hours

for instance...

sodium bicarbonate, it will DROP your pH, after some time it will increase your water pH but only after some time...


you can test this with with RODI water...
it's better with this water because there are not that many co2 in there. only after some time...

this swings are not good ...so only after some rest and strong aeration you can throw thw new water in there...
sorry about my english...-

 

[inachu]

I did this and just added new water(salted) and what happend was my salinty went up a lot...

Make you take in effect as water evaporate the salinty go up.

So adding more salt water makes it go up even more.

 

[mindytoy]

yeah...

well before adding the rodi water i first check the salinity. if its above .025 then i only mix like a spoon of salt, and then add it..

just to try to level things out...

also we should never add salt without premixing right????

and how often is a water change needed? and i can easily do them with the gravel siphon for my fresh water tank...

 

[Playa-1]

my 90 gal is evaporating like 5 gallons every week or so... thats alot of water!
That's a normal amount of evaporation for a tank that size. Many people use an Auto Top-off (ATO) device to eliminate the daily top-off chore.

so do i still do waterchanges? i mean if i wait a week or so i only add more ro/di water....
Yes, you will still do regular water changes after you complete the cycle. You will need to top-off evaporation daily and a 10% water change every two weeks is usually recommended. Some people do regular water changes during the cycle and some don't. That's a different story.

do i take out another 5 gallons, or do i just let the evaporation remove water and then i just add more?
Your tank should always be topped off to keep Salinity in line. If you were to add mixed salt water to replace evaporation then your salinity would rise. So when your ready to do a water change then remove 10% and replace 10%.

my water is very clear, only thing is when the lights are on i can see thousands of little molecules like salt or something
Maybe the powerheads or fish are stirring up the sand?
Sometimes a filter sock will help with the tiny particulates in the water.
It could also be micro-bubbles. You could test for micro bubbles by turning off pumps and powerheads to see if they dissipate.

 

[Billybeau1]

Replace all of your evaporation with fresh water.

Depending on your husbandry schedule, try to replace 20% of the tank water every two weeks. 10% weekly is better if you have the time.

Some even perform small daily automated water changes.

If it were my 90 gal tank, I would add 1 gallon or so of fresh water daily and do a 20% water change every two weeks.

20% of 90 is about 18 gallons.

Here's what I do for my 75 gal.

I have a 20 gallon brute container. My ro/di unit is hooked up to my brute with a float shut off valve. I have the level set for 15 gallons. I add fresh ro/di whenever the level in my sump gets low. Usually every other day. I do water changes ebery two weeks. The day before a water change I mix the salt and put my pump and heater in the brute. The next day I remove 15 gal of water (siphoning out gunk) and replace it with 15 gal of newly mixed salt water. Then I fill the container up again with fresh water for weekly evaporation.

Works for me.

 

[mindytoy]

well since the tank is cycling i didnt want to remove water cuz i need that bacteria and all...

its about a week away my nitrates are at .025 so they are almost gone...

i dont have any fish only LR, LS, feather dusters, etc...

so i should turn off all the pumps and see if the molecules go away?

 

[mindytoy]

those things are bubbles from the protein skimmer. they get tiny and float around everywhere.

how do i get rid of them? my skimmers been on for a month

 

[crvz]

there's no risk to bacteria levels if you change the water, the majority of it is on the rocks and substrate. I feel doing water changes is useful during this period.

and, as mentioned earlier, you're not seeing molecules. those can't be seen by the naked eye. you've either got micro-bubbles or particulate in the water column. If you kill the pumps, that may make them settle in the tank or float to the surface, but it won't solve the problem.

 

[Billybeau1]

Check all of your connections and make sure you are not sucking air in from anywhere. This is usually the cause for microbubbles.

 

[mindytoy]

the micro bubbles are coming in from the protein skimmer!
the water that pours down carries bubles when they hit the sand they get tiny and float around..