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#1
04-15-2010, 05:31 PM
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water changes...
so i'm doing my first water change but i added cured live rock so there wasn't an ammonia spike, my nitrates are still pretty low. all i have in my 65 gallons so far is about 40lbs lr 2 damsels and 5 astrea snails. i have my salt water mixed in a bucket and i'm guessing i should wait about 24 hours to be safe? my question is do i have to siphon out the substrate aswell? my substrate is pretty fine so im worried it's gonna siphon some of it out. it's the caribsea brand. should i just leave the sand alone?
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#3
04-16-2010, 12:58 AM
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OncE in a blue moon I vaccuum the sand and if your running a sump you will have to turn it off
__________________
250G DD LED SPS R.I.P. 180G LED SPS 80"x36". 300G custom build Owner of Mountain Ridge Heating and Gas Class A gas fitter, HVAC
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#4
04-16-2010, 03:03 AM
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Salt mixes up right away. Some people like to wait a period of time to let things settle but personally, I take a bucket, fill it water, add salt and then dump a powerhead and heater into the bucket and let it sit while I'm at work. I do this so the water comes up to temperature; no other reason.
You can leave all your pumps and powerheads going depending on where they are. Let's say you're doing 5 gallon change; when you sipho-off 5 gallons, does the water level go the level of the pump intake (or close to it) ? If so, turn everything off. When you add your new water, if you pour it from a bucket, it will stir-up every piece of sediment in your tank. What I do is dump a powerhead into the bucket of new water and put a length of tubing on it and pump the water back into the tank, being careful to aim the hose at the tank wall. When it gets close to the bottom, I remove the pump and gently pour the remainder in. You'll develop a system. Spend some time getting it to work with a minimum of effort because regular water changes are important and the easier (and faster) they are, the more likely you are to do them.
__________________
-Mark 29 Gal Bowfront w/24" LED Lights. DIY HOB Sump (5.4 Gal) MP40. Orange Spotted Watchman Goby, 2 Clownfish and a few hermits.
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#5
04-16-2010, 02:24 PM
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good idea about using the pump to pump the water back in. i was trying to siphon it but since it was so low, as well as my sump, the pressure was crappy. i got fed up and used a bucket to scoop it out... lol
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