Water changes?

[tjr2d2]

Greetings all,
I am a freshwater aquarium hobbyist about to venture for the first time into the realm of Salt Water. I have a 46 gallon bow front tank, presently full of sand, water and salt with 2 penguin bio-wheel filters and a submersible heater set to 75 degrees F. I would like to know if any of you have any suggestions on easy ways to perform water changes. My local fish shop suggested that I do water changes every 4-6 weeks and knowing how much of a chore it is going to be, I was hoping that there are easy ways to get it done. I am very enthusiastic about keeping a salt water tank and would eventually like to mimic the dentist's tank from "Finding Nemo". Thank you in advance.
V/r
TJR2D2

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by TJR2D2
Greetings all,
I am a freshwater aquarium hobbyist about to venture for the first time into the realm of Salt Water. I have a 46 gallon bow front tank, presently full of sand, water and salt with 2 penguin bio-wheel filters and a submersible heater set to 75 degrees F. I would like to know if any of you have any suggestions on easy ways to perform water changes. My local fish shop suggested that I do water changes every 4-6 weeks and knowing how much of a chore it is going to be, I was hoping that there are easy ways to get it done. I am very enthusiastic about keeping a salt water tank and would eventually like to mimic the dentist's tank from "Finding Nemo". Thank you in advance.
V/r
TJR2D2
Water changes should be done on a "per tank" basis, some people do water changes every week, while some every month, it really depends on you tank inhabitants, bio load and filtration, whether it biological or mechanical. Take out whatever you put in usisng 5g containers, so if you take out 5g, you put in 5g..In your 46g 5 or 10g at a time is more than sufficeint. "FINDING NEMO" is a really horrible example of a SW TANK. There was no live rock, live sand, the filtration was far to inadequate, im not sure about all fish compatsbility and Moorish Idols Have a very very poor survival rate in the home aquarium, especially in a tank that small.. You should have seen how many people where on this board a few years ago, "My nemo doesnt look to good, he is in my old goldfish bowl" Ridiculous.

 

[lexluethar]

Welcome to the boards and thw orld of salt water aquriums. I made the same transition myself last year. Water changes are a chore but a necessary in this hobby for multiple reasons. The first is it reduces nitrates (what food and fish waste turn into), and it also (something that you don't hae to worry about in fresh water) replenishes the tanks minerals. This isn't as important if you just have fish, but if you are going to have corals and inverts there are a lot of minterals that are depleted out of your "closed system", opposed to the wild in which these things are naturally returned.
With that said i would suggest 10% water change every week or 15% every 2 weeks. I realize it seems like a chore but you get used to it after a while, and honeslty it isn't bad. It takes me from start to finish 30 min to change my water, and most of that time you don't have to be at the tank b/c gravity will bring the water out of the tank and a pump / power head will draw it in (no need to put the new water higher - just use mechanical means of pumping).
Cycle your tank before adding anything.
Let your saltwater mix 24 hours before adding it to your tank (once you have fish).
I would add some power heads to your tank to circulate the water.
Add about 40 - 50 lbs of live rock.
Let us know if you have any questions, without going too much into anything I will leave it at this.
Good luck!
Mike

 

[reefkprz]

about the dentists tank in finding neemo...... they threw a bunch of incompatible creatures together not to mention the moorish idol wich has an extremly low success rate ibn captivity let alone with a puffer thats going to nip its fins, oh and the puffer would have eaten jaque the shrimp shrimp are one of their favorite foods. while the movie is entertaining the tank set up they show is an impossible one.

 

[1journeyman]

Welcome to the forums.
Bump your tank's temp up a couple of degrees. 78-81 seems to be the preferred range for most aquariums. Not sure why, but I think the average on the reefs throughout the world is 81 or so. Also, by raising the temp up closer to 80 you lessen the risk of a temp swing during our Texas summers, light periods, etc. Temp swings are bad.
How deep is you sand? What type sand?
What kind of tank do you want? As others have said, if you want the "Nemo tank" get a sw screensaver for your computer

It can't be done in reality. Do you want corals? Just fish?
Again, welcome, and thanks for serving our country.

 

[tjr2d2]

Thank you and it is an honor to serve the greatest country in the world!
Well it is sand that was recommended from my local fish dealer, not sure what kind it is. I plan to keep a simple fish only tank to start out my "plunge" into salt water and eventually plunge deeper into a reef tank. Whether it becomes a "nemo" tank or not is just a matter of having my favorite fish from the movie in there. Namely Nemo/Dory/Marlin, just to name a few. I am currently keeping a journal and will hopefully be posting pictures as it progresses!
Thank you all for you replies and for your support, it means a lot to me and my soon to be wife (who will also be a beneficiary of a beautiful aquarium!)

 

[waterlogged]

Read the book "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist". He says to vacuum your substrate. Most people on this forum will tell you not to especially if it is a DSB. On some things you'll have to use your best judgement.

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by TJR2D2
Thank you and it is an honor to serve the greatest country in the world!
Well it is sand that was recommended from my local fish dealer, not sure what kind it is. I plan to keep a simple fish only tank to start out my "plunge" into salt water and eventually plunge deeper into a reef tank. Whether it becomes a "nemo" tank or not is just a matter of having my favorite fish from the movie in there. Namely Nemo/Dory/Marlin, just to name a few. I am currently keeping a journal and will hopefully be posting pictures as it progresses!
Thank you all for you replies and for your support, it means a lot to me and my soon to be wife (who will also be a beneficiary of a beautiful aquarium!)
You will not be able to keep a "dory" (actually called a Hippo Tang) in a tank as small as 46 gallons. They need to be in a 125 or better, or any tank that is at least 6 feet long.

 

[nycbob]

and make sure u top off every few days. i'd recommend water chng every 2 weeks minimum. blue tangs get icks very easy, so make sure u qt or be the 1st fish in there. the most important thing is u gotta enjoy the hobby to be successful, and not look at maintainence as a chore. good luck!

 

[topfins-mj]

I have the same size tank and what the local fish store said about it being done every four weeks is dangerous. You need to every two, or three weeks tops. I know because I experimented twice with the change period and both times things got sick in my tank after not changing the water every two weeks.
With that said, you can get a 20 gallons garbage container and mix ten gallons of water to keep five as reserve and five to change water. It's easy and fun. It gives you a chance to look, clean, and enjoy your critters after the new water is added.
Good luck and have fun.