water change/top off question

[bustedadam]

I have been searching for the answer to this (very simple) question, and have yet to find it, so if this is a duplicate thread, I appologize.
Can someone walk me through the easiest way to do a water change (30%)? What equipment and methods are the best?
also, when topping off the tank, it is not neccesary to mix in more salt water correct? because it shouldn't be evaporating...thats my understanding anyways. (With water changes you would need more salt mix but not with top-offs)
thanks!
Adam

 

[reefreak29]

lets just say 30 percent for u is 10 gallons
1. use ten gallons of ro water
2. with a refractometer add salt to the water until its at 1.025 for a reef tank
3. mix water with a powerhead and heat water with a heater til the water is at tank temp leave overnight whyll still mixing
4. test sg again and make adjustments as needed then do your water change
top off does not need salt

 

[24aqua]

make sure your top off water is checked too usually from my lfs the ph is always low so i buffer the ro top off water

 

[kmc]

I don't think you ned to do 30% unless you are having a big problem. I usually stick with between 5 and 10%. I turn off the pump. Let the water level settle down. Use my mag float as a marker for where the water level was when I started. Siphon the water out into a bucket and then replace with premixed preheated water as stated above. I have the end of the siphon hose that goes into the tank attached to a wooden dowel with a rubberband. That way I can guide the end of the hose around and vacum off the LR if it needs it Don't forget to turn the pump back on and make sure the water level returns to normal.

 

[f14peter]

Here's how I do waterchanges (probably more info than you need to know) . . .
-- With a 90g tank and a 10%-ish change, I'll mix up 12g of saltwater (I use 12g because I transfer water out of my RO/DI bucket using 5g buckets which can only practically hold 4g, so three of those), allow it to agitate for at least 24 hours and get the temp and SG to match the tank.
-- If the sides of the tank need a scrubbing, I do it now so that some of the algea is suspended in the water and some will get removed during the change. Now's also when I remove/clean the foam on the PH intakes. I usually allow the tank to keep running for a while so that some of the suspended particles will get caught in the mechanical filtration in the sump, which I'll clean during the change.
-- I turn off the return pump, PHs and heaters (They're all hooked to switched GFI boxes, so I just turn off the boxes). I wait around 20-30 minutes to allow the one heater that gets partially exposed to air time to cool a bit.
-- I have a siphon hose with a valve in it, so I take a 5g bucket and start siphoning into that, shutting off the valve when I need to empty the bucket (That maintains the siphon for the next bucket load), usually removing around 11g total.
-- Using an extra PH, I transfer the mixed water into a 5g bucket, then use another extra PH to pump that water into the tank.
-- The reason I mix up 12g and replace 11g is that allows me to check the SG afterwards and have a spare gallon of ready-to-go saltwater in case I end up a tad low in the tank (If SG too high, I can add some fresh water). Seems like 99 times out of 100 I don't need to make any adjustments, but nice to be able to right away if I have to.
And yes you are correct, periodic top-offs to replace evaporated water should be with fresh water.
Not sure if I understand what you're saying, but water-change water should not have "more salt", it should have the same salinity/SG as the tank.

 

[dogstar]

Originally Posted by 24aqua
make sure your top off water is checked too usually from my lfs the ph is always low so i buffer the ro top off water
Should not need to buffer top off water.