1st water change - several questions

[spencka]

Morning!
I'm about to do my first S/W change after having my tank up & running for about 8 weeks. I've been told I may have waited a little too long to do this, but I "thought" I was supposed to wait unti the water parameters deteriorated.
Anyway, her goes the questions.
I'm going too remove nearly half of my 55 gal tanks water. Reason: My tank is on uneven flooring, and I need to shim up one side of the tank (I know, I should have checked with a level much earlier).
Once I've removed the water - which I plan to siphon out into a bathroom sink drain (I hope this is OK?), I'll do some cleaning in the tank, but I'm wondering if I should clean out the inside of my overflow "basin"? It's all brown and cruddy looking.
Next question, I have a 60 gal. tupperare tub, in which I've kept ready mixed s/w, and I've got a powerhead in there just to keep water circulating. Is this water OK to use if it's been in the tub for several weeks? Should I test it? If so for what?
I'm not sure of the term, but I purchased a gravel cleaner, but not sure I should use it on LS. I'ver heard some say "DON't USE" as I will lose some good stuff? Is this tru or not?
BTW, I have a wet/dry sump beneath the tank in my cabinet. I assume I'm supposed to power down the pump and powerheads until I've replensihed the water? (I know very dumb question)!! But as I said this is my first time!
Finally, once replensihed, do I test the tank?
Thanks for all your help!
Steve

 

[spencka]

If the first questions were too much to answer, can anyone tell me the correct SG should be as well as PH, for the new water?

 

[fishieness]

SG should be 1.026. That is what it is in the ocean. pH should be around 8.2. All other levels (amonia, nitrate, nitrate, phosphate) should be 0. Do you have a calcium and ALK test?
It is okay to siphon the water into your sink, this is what i do. although some people with larger tanks do not because the salt apparently isnt good for your septic system.
It is also okay to clean out the overflow. i am assuming it is brown due to diatoms that are common in a new tank. since you dont have a clean up crew in there to get rid of them, it wouldnt hurt to clean them out. I dont think it will help much either but it will look more pleasing to the eye if you were ever to even see it.
Test the water for everything you can. How many GPH do you have going in there?
dont use a gravel vaccum on livesand. Not only will it cause a sandstorm, but it will take away the purpose of the sand. It will remove the bacteria on top possibly and also any creatures that are living in it.
And yes, the water will go below your overflow so your pump will eventualy be pumping air. Not realy a good thing. Just turn your return pump off.
as far as testing your tank, it sure couldnt hurt to know your water parameters.

 

[spencka]

Thanks much fishieness! To answer your questions. No on the calcium tester or alk, but I'll get them before next water change.
I do have a refractometer, dig. therm., Salifert kits for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates and PH.
The water in the tub has a SG of 1.025 (this was also bought from LFS), however I just bought a 5 gal. bucket from LFS two days ago and I just checked it's SG, and it's 1.030. Is this a problem? If so, what should I do?
The SG in the tank itself is 1.026
Steve

 

[fishieness]

1.030 is much too high. When you buy premixed saltwater for your LFS, is it fresh saltwater? or do they syphone it out of their tank?!!! cause that is not a good thing. You are buying the water that they are taking out for a water change. And IMO, are getting jipped. But yes, bring the salinity down to 1.026 in the bucket. to do that, you can add some fresh RO water to the bucket, or you can dump the bucket into the 60 gallon rubbermaid. Since that is 1.025, it might raise it up a little closer to 1.026. No harm done. But you still may need to add some fresh RO water to bring the salinity to the desired place. Do you have an RO unit or DI filter? Or have you just bee buying dirty water form your LFS?

 

[spencka]

Hi!
I wanted to provide an update of my water change. As Fishieness suggested, I mixed the 5 gal. bucket of LFS store mixed water, which had a 1.030 SG with my 60 gal tub of pre-mixed s/w, which was also mixed at the LFS (it had a SG of 1.025). By the way, I had a P/H in the tub at all times.
I began by spihoning out more than 1/2 of the water in my 55 gal. as the water level lowered, I also lowerd the exposed LR, so that it stayed wet. When I was able to lift the tank and cabinet by hand, I carefulloy tapped (with a hammer) two shims under the cabinet base to level out the tank.
I made the shims out of 1/2" x 1/2" square stock. I cut each 3" long, and appx. 2-1/2" of their length were tapered. The process worked great! My tank is now level, and filled with new water. The water was pretty cloudy for several hours, but now looks great!
My Coral Beauty and Tomato Clown seem happy, as do the CB & Cleaner shrimp.
I'll retest he parameters today, and let you know. I did have to make a run to the LFS for 10 more gallons of S/W, but all looks great this morning.
Thanks to all who provided help!!!
Steve

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by spencka
Hi!
I wanted to provide an update of my water change. As Fishieness suggested, I mixed the 5 gal. bucket of LFS store mixed water, which had a 1.030 SG with my 60 gal tub of pre-mixed s/w, which was also mixed at the LFS (it had a SG of 1.025). By the way, I had a P/H in the tub at all times.
I began by spihoning out more than 1/2 of the water in my 55 gal. as the water level lowered, I also lowerd the exposed LR, so that it stayed wet. When I was able to lift the tank and cabinet by hand, I carefulloy tapped (with a hammer) two shims under the cabinet base to level out the tank.
I made the shims out of 1/2" x 1/2" square stock. I cut each 3" long, and appx. 2-1/2" of their length were tapered. The process worked great! My tank is now level, and filled with new water. The water was pretty cloudy for several hours, but now looks great!
My Coral Beauty and Tomato Clown seem happy, as do the CB & Cleaner shrimp.
I'll retest he parameters today, and let you know. I did have to make a run to the LFS for 10 more gallons of S/W, but all looks great this morning.
Thanks to all who provided help!!!
Steve

1.030?? What the ......... Even mixing it with the 1.025 wouldn't that be way to high S.G.? You are trying to achieve like 1.024-1.026 IMO is good.

 

[fishieness]

the salt water you are buying: is it premixed from their tanks?!!! or is it fresh saltwater? dont buy it if it is right from their tanks. Buy a DI or an RO unit and some salt.
removing half of the water is a lot to do at once too....

 

[hot883]

I also missed this the 1st 2 times I read: You changed 1/2 of the 55 all at once. Wwoooww. I think it is recommended to change 1/2 over the course of a couple of DAYS. Not all at once. Have you checked the S.G. today? Also, it shouldn't be cloudy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fishieness]

did you check the SG of the two when you mixed them like i said?? Was it too high? did you add any fresh water?
DID you also test the water before adding that much of it to your tank?!!

 

[spencka]

No it's fresh RO/DI water that they mix right there - then test before giving to me. I'm able to watch the whole process. The LFS owner has actually come to my house on several ocassions, when I had a couple problems. We've become pretty good friends - he's even taken care of the system while I was on vacation!
I did have one problem where a new employee mixed the water, and I got it with a high SG. When I mentioned this to the owner (yesterday), the new employee was re-trained immediately.
Thanks for your help Fishieness!

 

[spencka]

Oh yeah! All tests were good, but the SG was still a little high - 1.027 - so I added a bit of just RO water and it came down to 1.025.

 

[fishieness]

phew. when you didnt mention that it did have me a little worried. although changing half of your water at once is a lot. it seems that i didnt catch that you were doing that much at first.
BTW: you should let your mixed-water sit for at least 24 hours with a powerhead to airate and become stabliized.

 

[spencka]

I just tested again and the SG appears to be between 1.024 & 1.025 (with refractometer). I'll do remaining test later this morning.

 

[spencka]

I did have a P/H in the 60 gal. tub, and it's been in there since I added the water to the tub. I didn't wait a day however when I added the 5 gal. of 1.030, or the 10 gal. I had to get late yesterday.
The lesson learned here is check level during initial set up, not after you've added the water!!!!
I don't plan to have to go through this again for a long, long time!
Thanks again! BTW - when should I plan on my next "normal" water change, and how much should I plan to remove for a 55 gal.?
Steve

 

[fishieness]

always a good thing to do tests. the other day i did some tests and found out i have a sudden amonia spike of like .5 in my reef

a 5 gallon water change has brought it down a good deal, but another one is still needed.

 

[fishieness]

many people do 10% every week. you might want to wait a week and a half or so just because you did so much.

 

[spencka]

Sounds good!
Can you recommend a lighting schedule? I bought a timer, but have yet to set it up. I have Power Compact lights with 220 Watts and 10,000K daylight and includes a set of blue actintic lights.
I just went through a mess with brown algae (I think a Diatom Bloom), that I believe was caused by having lights on way too long throughout the day (about 15 hours, during and just after my initial cycle).

 

[fishieness]

10-12 hours is a good one IMO. diatoms were probably caused from just having a new tank. Even with the new lights, i would wait for a few more months on corals.
turn on just your actinics and hour before and then turn them off and hour after the daylights. I got a huuuuuuuuuge algae bloom last spring cause of my shcedual. i didnt have a timer and i had normal school from 7 am until noon, then the academy of the arts until 415, then i had the musical there until at least 730, then an hour drive home. then during tech week we wouldnt get out until close to 12. then the ride home....... i was going on like 20 hour days. For some reason my brother wouldnt turn the lights off....... you couldnt see 3 inches into the tank.

 

[rstiles]

15% every other wk seems to work for me ,the way I do it 2nd Sat or Sun of the month water changes and routine cleaning - skimmers -inside glass ect, 4th Sat or Sun change water,all filter meda,clean skimmers,power heads ,wipe down glass on covers,clean the glass on the bottem of the lighs so on.I keep my salt at 1023,1026 is high it has not effected any of my inverts as thay keep growing .(the anemones keep splitting)so it must be right.bty I have 10 tanks 30 to 90 gallons by doing it this way for 3 years I've never had a problem.