How to change water?

[entice59]

well, i want to change my water on saturday. Here are the things i heard about changing water
1.Dont change more then 10%
2.After mixing my instant ocean mix in the water, leave it over night
3. Use Baking soda to Buffer the pH
*dont know if these are true* guys got any suggestions?
Ok, here are the questions
4. If i leave the water over night, it will change the temp, i dont have any extra heaters and dont have the $$$ to just buy another one. So can i do this..... Since the water is cold, i will make the salinity a little higher so i can pour in warm water then i will just measure the temp
5. I heard the stuff in the tank will stabilze the pH.. is this even true? Macro/protien will stabilize it...
6. Where should i aim my siffion? and where shouldnt i aim it, look at the list of my stuff
7.That baking soda thing even true?
8.When pouring in the water, should i do it real slow *like trickle it in* and should i aim it in a certain spot?
9. i have a lot of cyno on the macro, should i try to siffion that out of the macro?
10. Is there anything i might lose if i siffion something out, like calcuim and anyother things?
Ok these are a lot of questions, but experts like you will probably know this stuff by instinct
Thanks =)
*pic is on the bottom, the other feather opened up its right next to the yellow gonnipora* and added a large rock behind the gonnaporia*
info is on the bottom of this post

 

[dave espi]

NEVER USE BAKING SODA.
Bad bad bad bad badbbbbbaaaddd.
a good salt mix will buffer it for you.
temp is important.
Use your heater from the tank.
MAKE SURE TO UNPLUG AND LET IT COOL BEFORE placing it in the bucket and LET IT ACCLIMATE before turning it on.
Airate the salt water also wiht a powerhead.
Entice... I dont want to be mean, but GONIOPORA?
AND you are not sure how to change water?
I suggest you slow down and read a little more on the basics.... your tank will thank-you.

 

[broomer5]

I would not suggest using warm tapwater to mix your salt.
Home water heaters are full of crud. You'd be amazed at the sediment and build up in the bottom of most units.
This is another reason that it's a good idea to use cold tapwater if you must. RO or RO/DI is best.
Let the freshwater sit in an open top container in a warm room to come to ambient temp overnight.
The use of a powerhead in the mixing container of freshwater works very well at getting it ready for salt mixing the next day.
If you don't have a heater, and can not afford one yet - I would postpone the water change until you can get one.
If this is a scheduled water change - and not a water change to reduce nitrate levels that are extremely high, like an emergency water change - I would postpone the water change.
It all depends on how cold the water is that you are introducing into your tank.
Shocking the creatures with cooler water - if the temp drops a lot - is far more dangerous than letting the water change go for awhile.
Your specific gravity will not be correct if the new saltwater is not to room temperature. Depends on your hydrometer - but cold water is not going to give you accurate readings for salinity if you use S.G. as your measurement.
If you use decent freshwater that is neutral in pH ( around 7 ) then the saltmix should stabalize near 8.0 to 8.3 after you let it aerate overnight as well. Depends on the saltmix and the freshwater source. I don't use baking soda to trim the pH of new saltwater.
The percent of water you change is up to you - and should be determined on "why" you are doing the water change in the first place.
Is this a standard water change for renewal of trace elements, or is this a water change to dilute excessive nutrient levels ?
The reason why - will determin the percentage in most every case.
10% is safe - but will only reduce any excess levels by 10% of it's reading on the test kit.
Don't use the hot water faucet of your home. Nasty stuff in there - much worse than cold tapwater.
EDITED: You can do anything you want to - it's your tank.
But I would advise thinking twice before turning on the hot water faucet.

 

[entice59]

everyone says it doesnt last long and it dies off within a year, my dad got it, i just came home and found it in the tank... if i was there with him, i would have gotten the name and read about it, but i cant change something that has been done
I know how to change water in a fresh water tank, but never really had enough details on how to change saltwater tanks, asking people on these boards are more helpful then books sometimes because i can tell you guys specifics and you guys can respond
i feel its safer to get info from some of these people i have talked before who has given me good advice in the past like broomer , then some snot nosed teenager/ or some guy who just wants to make a sale and doesnt care if the fish lives as long as he sold it and will NOT let me exchange anything or take anything for store credit ( A lot of places in SF are just like that, i know some good places though)
im not being mean *and not talking about you in anyway Dave* but i hate it when people give me a hard time just because i need to check twice about something i will do and might regret for example - If i just changed the water without asking you guys, the things in my tank will probably die-
anyways
Dave and Broomer thanks for responding so quickly =)
Wow, didnt know about the waterheater thing, i live in san francisco and was told the sf has the best drinking water in the US, not saying it perfect
i have the hydrometer/thermomitor the one you submurge, ok so basically, heres what im going to do
*HEY CAN I USE A BOILED WATER, THAT HAS BEEN COOLED DOWN UNTIL ITS LUKE WARM AND POUR IT IN?* Just wondering, i will have left over water, can i just put away the heater and the powerhead and when i do want to change my water, i'll just add in the heater and powerhead the night before change?
1. I pour in cold water in a bucket, mix the salt
2. after mixing the salt, i'll use a old heater(unless you advise against it) and set the temp
3. add in the powerhead
4. wait overnight? unless i should wait longer...
5. Depending whats wrong, i'll update you guys since i let my friend borrow my test kit since he's cycling his tank for the first time
So i will check soon maybe tomorrow or friday, and keep you guys posted if you guys can reply to my posts
Thanks guys

 

[doe5ia14]

If you don't have any extra heaters you could fill your bath tub with warm/hot water and put the bucket in there and let it get to your desired temp and then you could change your water. And when your done with the you can take a bubble bath.

 

[entice59]

heh doe, i was thinking about doing that except for the bubble bath part . here are the readings, my fish has been pooping lately and i see it on the rocks, i know the poop will cause the amonia to spike up so here it goes,
ph 8.2
amonia .25
nitrate - between 0 and 5 but the tester looks closer to a 0
nitrite- 0
so what do you think, i heard the macro is helping the tank out with the nitrate or was it nitrite, so should i change the water??
oh i do have a cyno problem =( but its actually clearing off the sand now and its going on the macro leaves....

 

[danrw84]

ive just been adding room temp water....
i get ocean water from the scripps aquairum institute...its in jugs and its semi cold. colder then 78, thats for sure... when the water change is finished, them temp is like 76... does it make a huge differnce to bring the new water up to temperature..or is it okay to add at like 73 degres or higher. Now that i think about it, i need another heater, right?
thanks
dan

 

[entice59]

hey dan those are nice pics you posted in another thread, is frogspawns and open brains easy to raise? like do i need a better light for them and do they grow big?

 

[flydan]

Hey,
In the past, when I was in a hurry, I took some of my RO water and nuked it the microwave and then mixed it with cooler water and then added my salt mix. I got the temp within a couple of degrees that way.
I also read somewhere that you could fill a bucket with water and then set it in a tub filled with hot water to warm the bucket.
It's a whole lot easier to buy an extra heater but if you can't do that....
HTH,
Dan'l

 

[dave espi]

boiled water has no disolved O2 content. you MUST airate it before use.

 

[entice59]

i do have an old air pump dave, will that work ? =)
did you guys read my readings? its on the old thread, should i chnage my water?

 

[entice59]

heres what i did, i poured the salt into the bucket turned on the powerhead and will leave it there for 2 nights.... ok this is a stupid question, but do i have to stir the salt or does the powerhead do the job, im just assuming that powerhead was supposed to stir up the salt ....... and i'll just put the bucket in a pool of hot water to raise the temp and then slowly pour in the water after i siphon the water out of the tank..
any comments? i dont if this is the proper way...