Water Changes

bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
Two parts to this.....
1. When you do your water changes, wat do u do? how much earlier do you mix the batch of salt before putting it in your tank. i have a big tubbaware tub (about 15 gallons i think) and i mix about 10 gallons for when i do my 30%. I mix it about a week before.
2. Today when i was preparing for the change i dumped a 25 gallon mix into the 10 gallons of water. i dont no wat to do. its time for me to do the water change, but i dont no how to do it. suggestions?
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by bjoe23
Two parts to this.....
1. When you do your water changes, wat do u do? how much earlier do you mix the batch of salt before putting it in your tank. i have a big tubbaware tub (about 15 gallons i think) and i mix about 10 gallons for when i do my 30%. I mix it about a week before.
I think I covered this in the previous post
2. Today when i was preparing for the change i dumped a 25 gallon mix into the 10 gallons of water. i dont no wat to do. its time for me to do the water change, but i dont no how to do it. suggestions? this part I dont understand. a 25g mix in ten g of water would mean you should add about 15g more water before proceeding with your water change, depending on your relevant salinity..... maybe pull some water out of the bin into a 5g bucket then add more fresh water to the bin and so on, until you have your salinity figured.
I answered in red (I think, I'm a couple sheets to the wind and the quote unquote thing has me confused)
 
bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
i have 10g of water in a 15g tub. and i thought i bought a 10 gallon mix, when i really bought a 25 gallon mix. so i have 25 gallons worth of salt in 10g of water. and the tub only holds 15 gallons so i cant just add more water
 
K

kat74

Guest
For my weekly water changes, I use Nutri-Seawater, which is already mixed. It says that the salinity is supposed to be 1.027, but it's not always. I use my refractometer to check each and every time and sometimes have to adjust the salinity by adding some R/O water to it because lately, it's been consistently at 1.030.

They come in 2.2 and 4.4 gallons and the day before I do my water change, I put one of my heaters in the jug to match the temperature in my tank. When it's time for my water change, I take my magnet, algae scraper and turkey baster and clean away before I siphon it all up and replace it with the Nutri-Seawater! To me, this makes my water changes a whole lot easier than trying to mix it on my own.
 
H

homerj

Guest
i would get another container small or big using a salinity measurer add water to your batch to get proper salinity level.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by homerj
i would get another container small or big using a salinity measurer add water to your batch to get proper salinity level.
I agree here. You will have to pull some water out into a clean container and remix for 24hrs until you have the proper salinity.
 
landlocked

landlocked

New Member
I am really glad to see this thread since I am about to decide the hobby has gotten the best of me! I read the water change thread from above and it sounds like I am in the right place to ask about my situation.
Here is what I have:
4 year old tank (about) FOWLR 75 gal 48" with crushed coral base
(No aspirations to progress to reef keeping as I am not diligent enough, but really love having a marine setup)
Fish: pair clowns, six line wrasse, chocolate chip star, various snails & hermit crabs with bristle worms & a few tube worm/fan things that came on the rock
sg=1.021 pH=8.2 Amm=0 Nitrites=0 Temp=78-79
Protein skimmer and carbon pack in the sump
PROBLEM---Nitrates=60-80 in past 3 weeks, then lost yellow tang (2 happy years) 2 weeks ago. I have done 4-5 gallon water change every 2-3 days for past week with no improvement. Test kit is new API, not a dipstick.
Recent changes: 6 months ago removed all bio balls (I know, I know) and added 30 pounds more cured live rock to total 75 pounds. Also removed the large sponge from my tower and put in a return system bought at my LFS.
1 month ago switched from conditioned tap water (I know-finally!) to RO water with new RO/DI unit. I am using conditioner (stresscoat) and instant ocean salt. Prior losses were over a year ago I lost a royal gramma with some sort of lock-jaw, mouth stuck open weird thing. Along the way I have lost assorted snails and portion of clean-up crew, but nothing unusual.
Am reading now a lot about 'old tank syndrome' and thinking maybe CC base needs to come out. I have never been super diligent about vacuuming and now am worried that if I do a massive cleaning, I will just make things worse!
Questions:
1. Best way to decrease Nitrates? (massive water change vs. product to add)
2. Most likely source of Nitrate spike? (Largest fish/bioload gone now)
3. Any value to removing CC base & if so, gradual or sudden? Assuming replace with sand?
4. Will aggressive cleaning of CC make problem worse?
5. Are coral skeleton/barnacles as decorations producing a problem?
Any help would be appreciated, I am now committed to getting this right since I went to RO water thinking that would be better!
Thanks in advance!
 
bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
Originally Posted by LandLocked
I am really glad to see this thread since I am about to decide the hobby has gotten the best of me! I read the water change thread from above and it sounds like I am in the right place to ask about my situation.
Here is what I have:
4 year old tank (about) FOWLR 75 gal 48" with crushed coral base
(No aspirations to progress to reef keeping as I am not diligent enough, but really love having a marine setup)
Fish: pair clowns, six line wrasse, chocolate chip star, various snails & hermit crabs with bristle worms & a few tube worm/fan things that came on the rock
sg=1.021 pH=8.2 Amm=0 Nitrites=0 Temp=78-79
Protein skimmer and carbon pack in the sump
PROBLEM---Nitrates=60-80 in past 3 weeks, then lost yellow tang (2 happy years) 2 weeks ago. I have done 4-5 gallon water change every 2-3 days for past week with no improvement. Test kit is new API, not a dipstick.
Recent changes: 6 months ago removed all bio balls (I know, I know) and added 30 pounds more cured live rock to total 75 pounds. Also removed the large sponge from my tower and put in a return system bought at my LFS.
1 month ago switched from conditioned tap water (I know-finally!) to RO water with new RO/DI unit. I am using conditioner (stresscoat) and instant ocean salt. Prior losses were over a year ago I lost a royal gramma with some sort of lock-jaw, mouth stuck open weird thing. Along the way I have lost assorted snails and portion of clean-up crew, but nothing unusual.
Am reading now a lot about 'old tank syndrome' and thinking maybe CC base needs to come out. I have never been super diligent about vacuuming and now am worried that if I do a massive cleaning, I will just make things worse!
Questions:
1. Best way to decrease Nitrates? (massive water change vs. product to add)
2. Most likely source of Nitrate spike? (Largest fish/bioload gone now)
3. Any value to removing CC base & if so, gradual or sudden? Assuming replace with sand?
4. Will aggressive cleaning of CC make problem worse?
5. Are coral skeleton/barnacles as decorations producing a problem?
Any help would be appreciated, I am now committed to getting this right since I went to RO water thinking that would be better!
Thanks in advance!
if you have been waiting so bad for a water change thread why didnt u just post yout own instead of asking a long question on somebody elses? ull get alot more answers too.

and to answer ur questions
nitartes could decrease if u add Live sand.
take as much CC out as u can then add LS
maybe u could add some LS on the CC? not sure on that tho

and with a 75 gallon taking 4 or 5 gallons out for a couple will do nothing, instead try doin a 25 gallon change once
its like taking a little bit out of a bottle of coke and replacin it with water. u cant really taste a differnce. but if u took 1/3 of it out and replaced that with water u can taste it. long story short, i dont think a bunch of little water changes are affective as 1 big one
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by bjoe23
if you have been waiting so bad for a water change thread why didnt u just post yout own instead of asking a long question on somebody elses? ull get alot more answers too.

and to answer ur questions
nitartes could decrease if u add Live sand.
take as much CC out as u can then add LS
maybe u could add some LS on the CC? not sure on that tho

and with a 75 gallon taking 4 or 5 gallons out for a couple will do nothing, instead try doin a 25 gallon change once
its like taking a little bit out of a bottle of coke and replacin it with water. u cant really taste a differnce. but if u took 1/3 of it out and replaced that with water u can taste it. long story short, i dont think a bunch of little water changes are affective as 1 big one
He is mostly correct. Don't pull a ton of CC out at once though. Please just start your own thread. We can help you directly and without disrupting the original thread. We are happy to help you, but it is unfair to the original poster of this thread for us to address our posts to you. Please just start your own thread about this
Just noiced that the original poster was bjoe23. It is his thread. If he doesn't mind then I don't mind. You will get more attention on this in your own thread though.
 
seamandrew

seamandrew

Member
Originally Posted by KAT74
For my weekly water changes, I use Nutri-Seawater, which is already mixed. It says that the salinity is supposed to be 1.027, but it's not always. I use my refractometer to check each and every time and sometimes have to adjust the salinity by adding some R/O water to it because lately, it's been consistently at 1.030.

They come in 2.2 and 4.4 gallons and the day before I do my water change, I put one of my heaters in the jug to match the temperature in my tank. When it's time for my water change, I take my magnet, algae scraper and turkey baster and clean away before I siphon it all up and replace it with the Nutri-Seawater! To me, this makes my water changes a whole lot easier than trying to mix it on my own.

I use the same water or buy R/O Salt water from a LFS that doesn't sell the Nutri-Seawater (though the salinity there is often 1.023 and too low). It saves the hassle of mixing the water a week/days in advance but it is more expensive. Also, the nutri-seawater which is the most expensive option is ideal for a beginner tank, but afterwards it's a waste because you don't need the bacteria and many supplements in it. On the other hand, it's not hurting the tank so.... If you can afford it, I would switch to this option. Perhaps it will get other companies to sell them and prices will drop a bit.
 
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