OP
OP
thetedinator
Active Member
Maybe I'm old school but I do water changes pretty regularly. I thought I would post a few photos of what I do to change 60g of water out of my 240g tank.
I keep between 40 and 70 gallons of salt water on hand. When I did the last water change and how much water I changed last determines how much I change next. Since the last change was 30g, this change is 60g.
I shut the system down, let the water settle and then start siphoning from the tank.
This is two 33 gallon trash cans waiting to be 'filled'. One hose is the siphon hose from the tank. The other hose is connected to a pond pump. Because I have Grape Algae (Caulerpa racemosa) which is banned in California, I set the other end into a sink so the water goes into the sewer system. As a side note, if someone can recommend a fish that will eat Grape Algae, let me know. My Yellow Tangs don't touch it.
This is the water level in the two trash cans after siphoning. You can see they are almost filled. The two trash cans filled to this level is about 60g (today it was 59.4g).
This is what the tank looks like when it is down 60 gallons.
Here are the two barrels of SW ready to go into the DT. I have an RO/DI unit set up in my garage. I 'fill' the barrels and then mix in Reef Crystals. One barrel is 44g and the other is 33g. Both are food safe Brute trash cans. When the salinity is right, I cover the barrels and let them sit until needed. When I want to do a 60g change, I make sure I have about 70g on hand and ready to go (temp and salinity matching the DT). I stick a pump into a barrel and string an RV grade water hose to the DT. The hose has a valve on the end so that I shut off the water. I clamp the hose to the tank and then turn on the pump.
There are lots of benefits to doing water changes but I really like the extra one I get...water changes are the only time that my five Clownfish play nice and swim together.
I keep between 40 and 70 gallons of salt water on hand. When I did the last water change and how much water I changed last determines how much I change next. Since the last change was 30g, this change is 60g.
I shut the system down, let the water settle and then start siphoning from the tank.
This is two 33 gallon trash cans waiting to be 'filled'. One hose is the siphon hose from the tank. The other hose is connected to a pond pump. Because I have Grape Algae (Caulerpa racemosa) which is banned in California, I set the other end into a sink so the water goes into the sewer system. As a side note, if someone can recommend a fish that will eat Grape Algae, let me know. My Yellow Tangs don't touch it.
This is the water level in the two trash cans after siphoning. You can see they are almost filled. The two trash cans filled to this level is about 60g (today it was 59.4g).
This is what the tank looks like when it is down 60 gallons.
Here are the two barrels of SW ready to go into the DT. I have an RO/DI unit set up in my garage. I 'fill' the barrels and then mix in Reef Crystals. One barrel is 44g and the other is 33g. Both are food safe Brute trash cans. When the salinity is right, I cover the barrels and let them sit until needed. When I want to do a 60g change, I make sure I have about 70g on hand and ready to go (temp and salinity matching the DT). I stick a pump into a barrel and string an RV grade water hose to the DT. The hose has a valve on the end so that I shut off the water. I clamp the hose to the tank and then turn on the pump.
There are lots of benefits to doing water changes but I really like the extra one I get...water changes are the only time that my five Clownfish play nice and swim together.
