How to do a reef tank water change

[Myka]

I vacuum the sand on every waterchange. Sucking out all the detritus from everywhere is very important imo otherwise the detritus will break down into phosphate and nitrate causing algae issues. When I was out of town from Jan-July I had a maintenance company do waterchanges and all he did was remove old water, add new water. Now my tank is covered in cyano, and I am having to do a lot of work to get it back in top shape. Imo, sucking the water out and adding new water isn't sufficient.

Here's my method:

1. As soon as I'm done the last water change I fill the water change tub back up with fresh RO/DI water, add salt, add supplements (calcium, potassium, and magnesium) to get them at the right numbers. I use a 20 gallon Rubbermaid tub and a Mag 3 to mix.

2. In 24 hours the water is ready in case of emergency.

3. Unplug return pump, powerheads, and ATO. Leave skimmer running, but take cup off (it will overflow when I refill sump).

4. Siphon the detritus out of the overflow, then use a pump to siphon the detritus out of the sump. This goes into a bucket.

5. Use gravel vacuum to clean all of the sand. Pinch hose every once in awhile to let sand settle out of the tube instead of getting sucked out into the bucket. It is inevitable to suck some sand out. It is usually a full 5 gallon bucket to clean the overflow, the sump, and the sand.

6. Let detritus settle in the bucket, pour off the water into the drain keeping sandy detritus. You can either scoop the detritus out into the garbage (you don't want the bits of sand in your drains) or do what I do which is; refill bucket halfway with tap water, let it settle, and pour it off again. Then refill bucket and pour it all onto the garden plants. You can skip this step.

7. Once the sand has all been cleaned, I setup a drain hose to a floor drain and drain out the rest of the volume. I change 10 gallons every week or 15 gallons every 2 weeks...whichever happens.

8. Hook drain hose to Mag 3 pump that's in the tub of new saltwater. Pump new saltwater into the sump. When the sump is almost full I turn the retun pump back on. The return pump is faster than the Mag 3 so when the sump is empty I unplug it, and let the Mag 3 catch up again. Once it's full the return stays on, and I plug the ATO and powerheads back in. I put the skimmer cup back on.

Voila. 10 minutes.

FWIW, I use vinyl hose.

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by Parker

Yup, I did see it mentioned once that I should probably use one suitable for potable water like those for RV's, but haven't picked one up yet.

ya......you know that funny taste you get when you take a drink from the garden hose?........probably not the best thing to transport water to your tank.....

[Milad]

My water change steps for with my new fish room which is half complete is going to be the following:

Flip a switch to stop water flowing into water change reservoir
Flip a switch to dump reservoir
Dump premade amount of salt into resrvoir
Come back next day and flip switch to let water flow back into reservoir

The only thing I can come up with to make it easier is somehow automate the adding of the salt but I seriously dont have any good ideas for it without making it too complicated and finicky

[apexifd]

Originally Posted by Milad

My water change steps for with my new fish room which is half complete is going to be the following:

Flip a switch to stop water flowing into water change reservoir
Flip a switch to dump reservoir
Dump premade amount of salt into resrvoir
Come back next day and flip switch to let water flow back into reservoir

The only thing I can come up with to make it easier is somehow automate the adding of the salt but I seriously dont have any good ideas for it without making it too complicated and finicky

controller with salinity probe??

[Milad]

Originally Posted by apexifd

controller with salinity probe??

Salinity probes are insanely expensive in my opinion.

[apexifd]

Originally Posted by Milad

Salinity probes are insanely expensive in my opinion.

it's a $300 accessory. but, it can be full automation on your water changing station.