[adviner]

I've had a 50 gallon tank with 30lbs of live rack and live sand. Its time to do a partial water change. I've been trying to find out how but not sure. I know how to remove the water with a siphon. But how do i add the water back. To i mix the water and salt in a bucket and then throw it in the tank. I have an anemone, fire shrimp, snails and crabs and worried that it may kill them. Please help

Thanks

[Ross87]

Fresly mixed saltwater can be toxic for your fish.

First, I recommend buying a large trash-can or barrel to mix the water and salt in. (do not use an old one)

Once you have your trash can, buy your new water. (Purified by Distillation or R/O)
(NOT SPRING WATER!!!)

(((I prefer the 2.5 gal jugs of distilled water, which makes a 15% water change easy for my 29 gal tank.)))

Pour all your water into the trash can and begin to mix your salt in until your salinity is right.

once you've mixed the salt-water, use a tube to siphon the water from the trash can back into the jugs you bought the water in.

Wahlaa, depending on how big the mixing barrel you bought is, you have enough salt-water to change the water (5,6,7,8,9,10) times without having to mix every time you want to do a water change and worry about the toxicity of the freshly mixed salt-water.

if you want to siphon the water into the tank you have two options

1) Place the water higher than the fish tank and siphon

2) Buy a small sump pump to fight the forces of gravity

Or since you have the saltwater already placed into easily managable 2.5gal jugs, simply pour the water in slowly.

[Ross87]

Never mix salt in a tank that already has living organisms in it!!!!!!!!!!!!

[adviner]

when you say distiller water, is that
the same as the water bought in
a grocery store? How come I can't
use tap water with de-chlorinated solution?

Sorry if this seems trivial buy
I'm very new to this and want
to do it right bc this is an expensive
hobby

[Ross87]

Tap water that has been de-chlorinated is fine, as long as your absolutly sure the water is free of chloromine. Tap water in cities has chloromine (not chlorine) which cannot be removed easily from the water ( it will not evaporate and when boiled, it will settle to the bottom)

Hold on I have more to say! lol

[Ross87]

Distilled water is the absolute best water you can use for you fish tank.

If you decide to purchase distilled water, MAKE SURE it has the magic label "Purified by distillation" or "Purified by reverse osmosis"

Water labled "Spring Water" could very well be out of the stores garden hose in the back.

Unless you know for sure that your tap water has treated to a safe level, your taking a risk every time you expose your fish to a water-change

[Ross87]

Well, distilled water is the best unless the ocean is nearby where you can get the real thing.

[adviner]

wow you weren't kidding. Well I guess I will
get distilled water and play it safe.
I will make sure to choose the right
water. Out of curiosity do you know
off the top of your head a brand of distilled
water that I can buy at the local store
that meets those requirements

[adviner]

or is buying an ro more cost effective?

[Ross87]

in the long run, buying a R/O is more effective.

as far as a brand for water.... Meijer, Walmart, Target, whatever. As long as it says "Purified by Distillation" or "Purified by Reverse Osmosis" Clearlry labled on the bottle

[jimw369]

Hey Eric! Wish you would have hooked up here at RB sooner!

An RO/DI unit is the way to go. Especially for a tank your size or larger. More than likely you will be doing daily top offs and water changes every once in a while. A good RO unit will only run you $100. While tap water in some cases is usable as a water source it is not recommended. Treated or untreated Water from a the tap can lead to all sorts of problems down the road.

Water from the ocean is not recommended either as it is full of cantaminants (sp) you will not want to introduce to your tank. Ocean water is used by some and even marketed by some stores. Hopefully it is collected several miles from shore reducing the risk of contamination.

Your make up water needs to be mixed with the salt for at least a day. This will ensure the salt is fully dissolved. You might also need another day to get the make up water the same as your tank water. Adding other trace elements, buffering, same SG and temp are all things people "tweek" to get as close to their tank water as possible. Letting a small powerhead run in the container you use for mixing make up water also helps add oxygen to the water that just stirring by hand does not.

[Ross87]

The powerhead in the mixing sounds like a brilliant idea!

Sorry I forgot to mention if you use saltwater - it has to be collected offshore.

[bnhaus]

If you have a sump you can add it there.

Adding the saltwater slowly is always best. This hobby always requires patience.

Get an RO unit to save you money in the long run.

Good luck

[adviner]

thanks alloy for the great information.
now that I learned some great information
here I do have one more question.
Since my local store never told me about
this information, am I permenatelly
doomed bc my original water is from the
tap? Going forward I will use either
distilled or buy an ro. But since my
original was tap, I'm now concerned
that I may always have problems when
adding sensitive corals/fish etc.
Or should I just wait a bit longer
instead and do a few more partial
water changes before I add anything?


Going forward I'm definetly asking/searching
here before doing anything.

[dinor2]

For my weekly water changes, I buy 6 gallons of distilled/ro water from walmart (which tests negative for everything and is best since it has no metals in it like tap usually does) and mix each gallon with salt in a pitcher which I then pour back into the gallon jug. (Left over salt water in the picture i add to another empty, clean gallon jug) I do this two - three days before my water changes to ensure the temperature and ph stabalize in the freshly mixed saltwater. For the water change, I syphon half a gallon from my overflow box, after turrning all powerheads off, and then syphon any hair algae off rocks and then place the syphon close to the sand, but not on the sand. This allows most of the waste to be syphoned out and usually, the water towards the bottom of any tank will be less clean than the water towards the surface. You'll notice the difference if you do one gallon from the bottom and one, syphoning near the top, the water in the jug from the bottom of the tank will look dirtier than the water in the jug from the top of the tank. I do not have a sump so I just slowly pour the 6 gallons of clean saltwater back into the top of the tank. Turn on the powerheads (after cleaning them, I clean them before taking water out of the tank btw) and that's it! But, wow, that was a lot I just typed, just thought I'd let you know what is working for my tank.

[adviner]

Again thank for the tip. Nice to see a very friendly forum.
One thing I hate is I wish I found it sooner

[DEWAYNE]

I feel you on that one, I wish I would have found this site alot sooner, I have had a fish only tank for over ten years, not much to look at, but I am slowly but surely converting over to a reef, good luck my friend. tank size 110g.

[Arnold40]

You should also try to heat the water to the temperature of your tank. This way there won't be a big temperature drop.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by adviner

thanks alloy for the great information.
now that I learned some great information
here I do have one more question.
Since my local store never told me about
this information, am I permenatelly
doomed bc my original water is from the
tap? Going forward I will use either
distilled or buy an ro. But since my
original was tap, I'm now concerned
that I may always have problems when
adding sensitive corals/fish etc.
Or should I just wait a bit longer
instead and do a few more partial
water changes before I add anything?


Going forward I'm definetly asking/searching
here before doing anything.

Doomed...no, but you have created more work for yourself. Your tap water more than likely has things that contribute greatly to the growth of pest algaes. The addition of tap water is probably one of the most common mistakes (IMO) new people to the hobby make.

Dont know what stage your tank is in or if any critters are in there yet. If just cycling I would pull out the tap water and put in new RO water and be done with it. There are those that will cringe at this Im sure as they feel its wasted money and will tell you to do little water changes yada yada yada...If you got critters in there then do it slowly as not to stress them out.

It would be a good read for you to check out the tank set up stickys at the top of this forum. In think its at the top of this one. Good luck and keep us posted.

[boba40]

hey guys,about what percent of water should be removed from the tank for the very first water change?

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by boba40

hey guys,about what percent of water should be removed from the tank for the very first water change?

Is your tank cycled yet? Have you put in a CUC (clean up crew) yet? What kind of tank? Tank parameters? Sorry but I dont know these things if you have already posted them.

I would wait till my CUC is working good and all the crap and stuff they chew and knock off the LR lands on the substrate. You know that green algae, hairy stuff you get at the end of a tank cycle. They eat most of it but they also cut it and let it lay on the substrate. This would be a good time to do a water change and syphon out as much of the detritus as possible. Whatever amount of water I syphon out trying to clean the tank substrate is the amount of water I would add back in. I dont think I would pass the 15% mark with a new tank as you are also trying to start the anerobic process and much good bacteria is still growing.

[IceMan]

Originally Posted by Ross87

Tap water that has been de-chlorinated is fine, as long as your absolutly sure the water is free of chloromine. Tap water in cities has chloromine (not chlorine) which cannot be removed easily from the water ( it will not evaporate and when boiled, it will settle to the bottom)

Hold on I have more to say! lol

tap water is not fine!!! be carefull of water you use, either get a r/o filter or buy your water. even then be sure of the water as many bottled waters are nothing more than bottled tap water

[Marine1]

I have a 55 gal tank and do 7 gal weekly. If you're like me where I don't have room for a trash can for my mixed water go to Wal-Mart and buy a plastic container. I bought a 7 gal plastic drinking water jug (like you see at sporting events with a spout to pour water in a cup) and I bought a RO/DI system. I mix the water in the jug a few days before water changing day to get the salt to dissolve and for the water to get warmer (in winter months water from RO/DI is freezing cold). I put a powerhead in the container for a little while the day before water changing and a heater if necessary to bring water close to DT temps. When it comes time to put the water in I hold the jug on my shoulder and open the valve to empty water gradually into the tank. This has worked well for me and I have been doing it this way for a while. Hope this helps.

Here's a site for reasonable prices on RO/DI system - customer service is exceptional. I ordered mine from here and I had a question (emailed) and the guy called me right back with knowledgeable answers to all my questions.

http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/sh...ry=167&Sub=166

[Ross87]

Originally Posted by Ross87

Unless you know for sure that your tap water has treated to a safe level, your taking a risk every time you expose your fish to a water-change

i know tap water isn't good!