How to do a proper water change, by reefkprZ
- Thread starter reefkprz
- Start date
acrylic51
Active Member
Good info ReefkprZ!!!!!!! I have to agree with you on that exposing the corals to air does little harm to them....if you actually stop and think depending on the coral species and where they originate from, some are accustomed to this in the wild......
As far as turning lights off in tank I've never done that and hadn't given much thought to it though....I do turn the MH's off, but live my 03's on, because I do actually like to see what's going on while I'm working and don't feel room light or daylight gives me enough light. Worrying about how long it takes the MH's to come back up is stupid IMHO
besides, when you do a proper water change as suggested as ReefkprZ states your MH's will have cooled down long enough and shoudl fire as soon as to flip them back on.
I do agree with the statement made earlier by a couple people that your new water should be mixed at least 24hrs before a change, and that should negate any issues with your PH, and other levels and if there is an issue it gives you plenty of time to make the needed adjustments......
Excellent material!!!!!!!!
As far as turning lights off in tank I've never done that and hadn't given much thought to it though....I do turn the MH's off, but live my 03's on, because I do actually like to see what's going on while I'm working and don't feel room light or daylight gives me enough light. Worrying about how long it takes the MH's to come back up is stupid IMHO
I do agree with the statement made earlier by a couple people that your new water should be mixed at least 24hrs before a change, and that should negate any issues with your PH, and other levels and if there is an issue it gives you plenty of time to make the needed adjustments......
Excellent material!!!!!!!!
acrylic51
Active Member
Originally Posted by dmyers557
http:///forum/post/2737776
I buy my saltwater premixed from my lfs. Is this bad?
IMHO yes....why trust your water quality to someone else??????
You put alot of time, effort, and money into your system....water is something I'd never trust to anyone, but myself.
http:///forum/post/2737776
I buy my saltwater premixed from my lfs. Is this bad?
IMHO yes....why trust your water quality to someone else??????
reefkprz
Active Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
http:///forum/post/2737796
Sorry for the double post, but I do strongly disagree about not turnig the sandbed....I've posted alot about this and I believe it is needed and has been documented extensively. The key is you don't turn the entire sandbed at once though.....
I dont see which post says not to turn your sand bed? did I say that? I usually advise people only turn the top aerobic layers. I know I said not to siphon sand beds as I consider it detrimental to the micro fauna. to which post are you refferring?
and thank you
http:///forum/post/2737796
Sorry for the double post, but I do strongly disagree about not turnig the sandbed....I've posted alot about this and I believe it is needed and has been documented extensively. The key is you don't turn the entire sandbed at once though.....
I dont see which post says not to turn your sand bed? did I say that? I usually advise people only turn the top aerobic layers. I know I said not to siphon sand beds as I consider it detrimental to the micro fauna. to which post are you refferring?
and thank you
reefkprz
Active Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
http:///forum/post/2737798
IMHO yes....why trust your water quality to someone else??????
You put alot of time, effort, and money into your system....water is something I'd never trust to anyone, but myself.
I couldnt agree more.
http:///forum/post/2737798
IMHO yes....why trust your water quality to someone else??????
I couldnt agree more.
aztec reef
Active Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
http:///forum/post/2737794
Good info ReefkprZ!!!!!!! I have to agree with you on that exposing the corals to air does little harm to them....if you actually stop and think depending on the coral species and where they originate from, some are accustomed to this in the wild......
^
Oh really?? let me know when u find an article to back u up ...did u know reefs thrive in stable conditions???
I never seen or heard of corals being exposed to air every couple weeks. without ill effects..
Read this...http://isi.kfupm.edu.sa/summary.aspx?sid=3193
http://www.aquacon.com/chat.html
does this sound familiar:My Fish is Dying, he's laying on the bottom of the bag/sandbed???
No your fish is not dying, he is just reacting to the stress he's under.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/eb/index.php
If you still in the dark, google RTN coral desease.
http:///forum/post/2737794
Good info ReefkprZ!!!!!!! I have to agree with you on that exposing the corals to air does little harm to them....if you actually stop and think depending on the coral species and where they originate from, some are accustomed to this in the wild......
^
Oh really?? let me know when u find an article to back u up ...did u know reefs thrive in stable conditions???
I never seen or heard of corals being exposed to air every couple weeks. without ill effects..
Read this...http://isi.kfupm.edu.sa/summary.aspx?sid=3193
http://www.aquacon.com/chat.html
does this sound familiar:My Fish is Dying, he's laying on the bottom of the bag/sandbed???
No your fish is not dying, he is just reacting to the stress he's under.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/eb/index.php
If you still in the dark, google RTN coral desease.
aztec reef
Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2709220
all he does is scrape the glass and siphon out water (10 gallons) he doesnt kick up detritus or anything like that. so of course the water change is quick even then it still takes almost 9 minutes to do an inclomplete waterchange
So u agree that the WC process can be as intricate as u please???
and that siphoning water out and replacing it with new water takes less than 2 minutes..??
correct me if im wrong...
http:///forum/post/2709220
all he does is scrape the glass and siphon out water (10 gallons) he doesnt kick up detritus or anything like that. so of course the water change is quick even then it still takes almost 9 minutes to do an inclomplete waterchange
So u agree that the WC process can be as intricate as u please???
and that siphoning water out and replacing it with new water takes less than 2 minutes..??
correct me if im wrong...
reefkprz
Active Member
Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
http:///forum/post/2737839
So u agree that the WC process can be as intricate as u please???
and that siphoning water out and replacing it with new water takes less than 2 minutes..??
correct me if im wrong...
you can do a water change however you like, I have never said otherwise. the first post is how I reccomend doing them. the process as I do it takes far more than 2 minutes especially during the 50% changes. if your content to do an incomplete (as I consider it) waterchange, just scraping your glass and not changing 20-25% of your water, then sure it could take under 2 minutes.
a small tank like a 10 or 12g will probably only take like 5 minutes to do a decent water change. but I have yet to be able to change 45G of water in two minutes.
http:///forum/post/2737839
So u agree that the WC process can be as intricate as u please???
and that siphoning water out and replacing it with new water takes less than 2 minutes..??
correct me if im wrong...
you can do a water change however you like, I have never said otherwise. the first post is how I reccomend doing them. the process as I do it takes far more than 2 minutes especially during the 50% changes. if your content to do an incomplete (as I consider it) waterchange, just scraping your glass and not changing 20-25% of your water, then sure it could take under 2 minutes.
a small tank like a 10 or 12g will probably only take like 5 minutes to do a decent water change. but I have yet to be able to change 45G of water in two minutes.
aztec reef
Active Member
maybe i'm not getting the point accross..
My only concern is how long the corals are being exposed to air.. I rather exposed them to air 2 minutes or less vs. 15-30 min or any longer periods..you dig??
My only concern is how long the corals are being exposed to air.. I rather exposed them to air 2 minutes or less vs. 15-30 min or any longer periods..you dig??
morval
Member
many areas of the great barrier reef are exposed to the air durring spring tides which happen up to 30 times a year, these last from 1-4 hours. heres the story its about the gobies that live in coral but the info is there
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/207/1/33
heres a video of a reef at low tide in fiji
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfOBqEPX6GM
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/207/1/33
heres a video of a reef at low tide in fiji
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfOBqEPX6GM
aztec reef
Active Member
You cannot compare fish to an stationary coral....Plus that article emphasis in hosted corals reaction to air and potentially habitual decline to its hosts..not thy coral.
As for the video, Lol i can see bleaching or RTN taking place already... Is there a present video of this area????
I can tell u that if any of this corals survived is for the most part due to good water chemistry...
To me those corals looked mostly brown and going down hill. But pristine NSW and Natural sunlight go long ways.. So they could easily regenerate.
I would love to see a Now video, also try comparing this corals to thriving ones that don't encounter low tides....Let me know, which look better
As for the video, Lol i can see bleaching or RTN taking place already... Is there a present video of this area????
I can tell u that if any of this corals survived is for the most part due to good water chemistry...
To me those corals looked mostly brown and going down hill. But pristine NSW and Natural sunlight go long ways.. So they could easily regenerate.
I would love to see a Now video, also try comparing this corals to thriving ones that don't encounter low tides....Let me know, which look better
salt210
Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2713772
garbage cans work great for mixing salt water, round ones generally hold up best. spend a couple extra bucks and buy the heavy duty kind instead of the el-cheapo, its worth it.
I am going to quote you here reef. a few weekends ago I was mixing my change water in what I thought was a pretty sturdy can only to find out the next morning that it was not. how did I find out? being woke up in the morning by the sound of 50g of water spilling onto the floor of my 3rd floor apartment.
as for the thread thank you reef for the very informative read. I use a rio 2500 to empty and fill the tank back up and it still takes me no less than at least an hour and that is only draining and filling and of course its a 210. I've always done the rest at different times. now I know to do them at the same time.
aztec thank you as well for asking questions and making comments that most of us wouldn't have thought about.
http:///forum/post/2713772
garbage cans work great for mixing salt water, round ones generally hold up best. spend a couple extra bucks and buy the heavy duty kind instead of the el-cheapo, its worth it.
I am going to quote you here reef. a few weekends ago I was mixing my change water in what I thought was a pretty sturdy can only to find out the next morning that it was not. how did I find out? being woke up in the morning by the sound of 50g of water spilling onto the floor of my 3rd floor apartment.
as for the thread thank you reef for the very informative read. I use a rio 2500 to empty and fill the tank back up and it still takes me no less than at least an hour and that is only draining and filling and of course its a 210. I've always done the rest at different times. now I know to do them at the same time.
aztec thank you as well for asking questions and making comments that most of us wouldn't have thought about.
reefkprz
Active Member
Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
http:///forum/post/2737842
maybe i'm not getting the point accross..
My only concern is how long the corals are being exposed to air.. I rather exposed them to air 2 minutes or less vs. 15-30 min or any longer periods..you dig??
I see what your saying. I definatly try to reduce the time they are out of the water but I dont worry if they are exposed for 15 minutes while I siphon and refill. often when I frag corals are out of the water for 1/2 hour at a time. and I dont lose frags. as long as a coral is moist there is no danger to exposing them to air for extended periods. many shippers now "dry ship" coral. thats a zoa frag in a damp paper towel for 24 hours. very successful, saves shipping weight too. if you feel a coral is drying out splash a little water on it. why rush?
aztec reef
Active Member
well theres a difference between Zoas and encrusting stonies, the difference is that zoas retain much more water within and sps don't..
u can tell the difference by feling the tissue composition..or by looking at the physical characteristics..
Any corals that are exposed to air are officially stressed, so why not try to prevent or limit the stress?? As we all know corals have low tolerance towards this stressfull occasions/fluctuations. Too bad corals in natural reefs have no control of this Naturally stressfull ocurrancies.. But in captivity they should have controled stable environments..thats our job..
u can tell the difference by feling the tissue composition..or by looking at the physical characteristics..
Any corals that are exposed to air are officially stressed, so why not try to prevent or limit the stress?? As we all know corals have low tolerance towards this stressfull occasions/fluctuations. Too bad corals in natural reefs have no control of this Naturally stressfull ocurrancies.. But in captivity they should have controled stable environments..thats our job..
acrylic51
Active Member
Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
http:///forum/post/2737838
Oh really?? let me know when u find an article to back u up ...did u know reefs thrive in stable conditions???
I never seen or heard of corals being exposed to air every couple weeks. without ill effects..
Read this...http://isi.kfupm.edu.sa/summary.aspx?sid=3193
http://www.aquacon.com/chat.html
does this sound familiar:My Fish is Dying, he's laying on the bottom of the bag/sandbed???
No your fish is not dying, he is just reacting to the stress he's under.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/eb/index.php
If you still in the dark, google RTN coral desease.
You seem to like to argue....if you go back and do searches on the topic of sand beds I've listed my sources plenty of times.....enough said!!!!!!
http:///forum/post/2737838
Oh really?? let me know when u find an article to back u up ...did u know reefs thrive in stable conditions???
I never seen or heard of corals being exposed to air every couple weeks. without ill effects..
Read this...http://isi.kfupm.edu.sa/summary.aspx?sid=3193
http://www.aquacon.com/chat.html
does this sound familiar:My Fish is Dying, he's laying on the bottom of the bag/sandbed???
No your fish is not dying, he is just reacting to the stress he's under.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/eb/index.php
If you still in the dark, google RTN coral desease.
You seem to like to argue....if you go back and do searches on the topic of sand beds I've listed my sources plenty of times.....enough said!!!!!!
V
vince-1961
Guest
with 250 total gallons, water changes cost a pretty penny just in the salt alone. I hope that, one of these days, I'll get my system so balanced that water changes will be very infrequent.
some day....
some day....
crazy4coral
Member
YES write a book and I will buy it! lol. You are like the all-knowing-reef-keeper! maybe a Video on this would be cool though. ya know?