Water Changes

[Ximat]

As I said in a previous post Im pretty new to SW keeping. My next question is regarding water changes. I have a 75 gallon tank that is now 6 weeks old. I've done one water change, but at that time I only had damsels in there. Now that I have no damsels and 1 goby and 1 firefish I want to know what a proper method of water change is.

How do you prepare your water and such? What routine do you do?

I've been told I should do 10gallons of water per change, so I was thinking of preping two 5 gal buckets a day in advance, and putting a powerhead in the bucket to stir up the water to make sure my SG is proper. Is this a good technique? Also I was thinking of doing water changes on the 1st and 15th of the month. those are paydays so i can get new filters

Input?

 

[lando]

Water changes should be done on a regular basis. Try 1ogal every two to three weeks. I just fill up a rubbermaid tub with the SW I mixed. Put in a heater, a powerhead and an airstone. I just let it set for 24-48hrs (or until I get around to doing a water change). That is about it. Just make sure you are doing occasional top-offs with FW to make up for evaporation. Are you using tap water or RO/DI water?

 

[Ximat]

Tap water. RO/DI is out of my league right now. I have topped off a couple times with FW to keep the salinity right.

What purpose does the airstone serve in your tub? I understand the powerhead for circulation.

 

[frogiii]

Do not use Tapwater to do a water change. Tap water has ammonia and your tank still be high with ammonia now. If you can't get a ro water buy yourself with r/o filter machine.(you'll need them if you want to keep your tank) And do your water change every 2weeks about 10gal is fine. I need to know what you have in your tank?? lr? ls? any coral??

 

[IfoundNemo]

Some lfs let you get RO water for free to bring in customers. Check lfs around your area.

 

[lando]

Some lfs let you get RO water for free to bring in customers. Check lfs around your area

That is a great point. If they do not give it to you, I am sure they would sell it. Most LFS will sell anything to make a buck.

 

[Ximat]

as for livestock, all i have is whats on my sig 15lbs Live Rock, 1 Goby, 1 Firefish.

As for tapwater i've run several amonia checks on my tap water and its allways been 0.

I do daily checks on my tank and its at 0.

as for LFS no dice on the RO/DI from them, anywhere else I may find some?

 

[steve-s]

As for tapwater i've run several amonia checks on my tap water and its allways been 0.

I do daily checks on my tank and its at 0.

But it does contain, chlorine, chloramines, possible flourines and a host of metal contaminates. An RO/DI is highly recommended. If it's not in the budget right now I would suggest saving for one. In the meantime try looking around as others have suggested as well as the local grocers.

If nothing else, make sure your tap water is treated with a water conditioner before using it in the aquarium. I highly recommend Prime by Seachem but be sure whatever you choose, it is not an aloe based product.

Cheers
Steve

 

[xahx]

agreed Ro/DI is a must, the chlorinated and polluted tap water is yucky...
I bought the RO system from costco for $170

You can tell the water quality is MUCH better than tap just from the TASTE!!!! if it is that noticeable to me, imagine what a difference it is for the fishies!

 

[klam]

Here is a tip on making WC water. It's easier to add fresh water to lower the salinty than to add salt to raise salinity.
When I make saltwater I always add less freshwater in the start. After 24-48hr I check the salinity and It's usually around 1.030-.035(little high). Much easier and faster to add freshwater to drive the salinity down vs. adding salt to raise it because it takes time for the salt to disolve. And it's hard to measure how much salt you need just to bring up the salinty a little bit.

 

[Ximat]

Howabout Distilled water? I'll ask arround and see if I can't fing somewhere that sells or gives out RO/DI water. I know the LFS doesn't cuz i do some computer work for them.

Thanks KLAM for the advice on making adjustments on the WC water.

 

[Joemama16341]

I set up 2 10 gallon tanks for my water changes I premix water in one 10 gallon tank and let it sit for a day or two with a heater and power head. Then I wheel my cart over to my display tank and siphon out 10 gallons into the other tank. I would seriously recommend a ro/di system I had serious algae problems until I got mine.

 

[klam]

No problem, we here to help.
Distilled water in a jug will work but it is IMO expensive to purchase per gallon at a grocery store. Some grocery stores and walmart have these water RO/DI(not sure if its DI also)dispensing machines that only cost around $0.25 per gallon and you have to bring your own water container. Only issues with these machines is that you really don't know when the last time the machine has been serviced. I would definately do some water test for phosphates.

 

[Ximat]

Well I talked to the owner of my LFS and they are installing a RO/DI system tonight (because of me ) I bought a couple 7 gallon water jugs from Walmart (in the camping isle) so i'll have enough water on hand for a water change and top offs between water changes.

I also got a couple more 5 gallon buckets that i'll use to mix the salt with the water a couple days prior to the water change.

I hope this plan works.

 

[frogiii]

If you can get your self with ro water system go ahead get one. Like i said earlier, you'll need this system for your tank. At the end you'll be paying off ro system if you buy at the lfs by gallon.

 

[srgetz]

FYI, buying R/O water from the lfs adds up fast after a few months - you can get a decent R/O unit that is easy to install under the sink for about $80 on ebay. It will pay for itself in a year, or even sooner if you are buying bottled water at home also.