water changes?

[shizean]

what is the best way to change water in my 200 gallon tank i have a sump in the bottom. mix water and salt in a bucket and pour it in the top or in the sump, im not sure what the best way is.i also have a siphon that hooks up to the tap but again mixing the salt is my problem....thanks

[Trigger Man]

I would pour the mixed water into the sump where the water from your tank enters. That way it has time to mix with the tank water and keeps the temp more consistant.

[shizean]

wouldnt it overflow the sump?

[Trigger Man]

If you are doing a water change you are taking out water as well as putting in water. If you were just adding water yes it would overflow, but since you are taking out the same amount of water as you are putting in it will not overflow. When I do water changes I take out 1 bucket of water then add in a bucket of water and so on till I've changed the amount of water needed. My sump is only a 33g, so if I were to take out to much water before adding new water my sump pump would end up running dry.

[Kostas]

I have a very small sump!

Since I can’t just take a bucket of water out without the water level dropping to close to my return pump

What I do is have a tube coming out of my main tank siphoning into an empty bucket during my water changes

and as that is happening, I have a fresh bucket of pre mixed saltwater next to my sump and I just add cups full in till the exchange is done.

[fiorano]

i just turn my system off and use an internal pump in my sump to suck water out then put that same pump into my mixing bin and pump that in as i turn the return pump back on

[martym]

If you sump is that small, what happens during a power outage? Would the sump overflow? What I do is shut off the return pump, the sump fill but doesn't over flow. Then I remove a bucket of water out and pump the FSW into the sump using a MJ400. when I'm done I turn the return pump back on.
Just make sure your sump won't overflow during a power outage!!!!!!

[mark]

When I do water changes I siphon mostly from the display and only about 40l from the basement sump and fuge but do know the total amount I'm taking out.

When I'm ready to start adding the water back, I just turn on the return pump to fill the display back up and start adding the known amount of water back to the sump. If it's looking like the sump wouldn't hold all the water, I'll just shut off the transfer pump, and if it looks like the return pump will start to run dry, I'll just shut it off until the transfer pump catches up.

[hummer]

I turn off my system as well. When I turn it off, a few gallons syphon back into the sump. To do my water change I syphon water from the main tank. Then turn my system back on so that it pumps some water back up to the main tank. When the sump water is low enough, I turn off the system again. The sump now has less water and I add new mixed water to it and let it warm up before turning my system on.

[Aquattro]

I shut down, siphon 15g or so, and dump new water into display. This causes everything to get stirred up, then when I turn system back on, the suspended detritus goes down to the filter sock in sump.

[Aquattro]

And, if you remove a bit, add a bit, remove a bit, etc, you're removing some of the new water you just added. Counter-productive in my mind. Remove the full amount you're changing, THEN add the new stuff.

[JDigital]

I shut down, siphon 15g or so, and dump new water into display. This causes everything to get stirred up, then when I turn system back on, the suspended detritus goes down to the filter sock in sump.

Agreed. Same method I will be incorporating.

[mike31154]

And, if you remove a bit, add a bit, remove a bit, etc, you're removing some of the new water you just added. Counter-productive in my mind. Remove the full amount you're changing, THEN add the new stuff.

Hmm, I currently don't have a sump & never thought about this little quirk. I generally do fairly large water changes less frequently in my 75 so a lot of gunk and old water gets siphoned out before I add the fresh water manually. This isn't too much of a hassle since I don't have a hood over the DT making it easy to access.

Something to consider when I set up my 90 with basement sump.... make sure I use a large sump/refugium if the plan is to continue with large water changes. Otherwise I'll need to change to smaller more frequent water changes.... or turn the return pump off and continue with the manual changes in the DT on the new system. That will take considerably more effort since I'm planning the new set up in a room dividing configuration with full hood. Good thing I have a spare 65 kicking around, that should make a dandy sump with plenty of extra capacity. Once the 75 is empty, I might even plumb that into the system too...

[Geofrog]

I shut down, siphon 15g or so, and dump new water into display. This causes everything to get stirred up, then when I turn system back on, the suspended detritus goes down to the filter sock in sump.

I do the same. I mix my new SW a couple of nights before and let it sit with a heater so that it is the same temp as the tank.

[mark]

Hmm, I currently don't have a sump & never thought about this little quirk. I generally do fairly large water changes less frequently in my 75 so a lot of gunk and old water gets siphoned out before I add the fresh water manually. This isn't too much of a hassle since I don't have a hood over the DT making it easy to access.

Something to consider when I set up my 90 with basement sump.... make sure I use a large sump/refugium if the plan is to continue with large water changes. Otherwise I'll need to change to smaller more frequent water changes.... or turn the return pump off and continue with the manual changes in the DT on the new system. That will take considerably more effort since I'm planning the new set up in a room dividing configuration with full hood. Good thing I have a spare 65 kicking around, that should make a dandy sump with plenty of extra capacity. Once the 75 is empty, I might even plumb that into the system too...

Got the room divider upstairs with the basement sump but still during a WC I'll siphon out from the display (~60l) into a container that I'll then just wheel into the main flr bathroom to dump. Rest from the fuge and sump I siphon into a laundry sink I put in for the tank.

[mike31154]

Thanks for that info, I'll most likely end up with a similar routine... Apologies to the original poster for changing the subject, but 'mark' what are you using as a return pump from the basement, how much head pressure & flow is thru your sump? How high off the floor in the basement is your sump?