StevieT's How to do a Weekly Water Change

This one is a little easier but still a good guide for the beginners that like pictures insead of text.

Weekly water changes are the main stay of your reefs health. It replaces trace elements including calcium. It removes nitrates and fish waste, it also makes your water look crisp and clear. I do a change every friday afternoon.

Step One: Gather Supplies

RO water, 5 Gallon bucket (clean) for mixing, Heater, Pump, and Thermometer






Step Two: Filling

Fill bucket to desired % of change. I have a 34 gallon total tank and do around 4 gallons weekly



Step Three: Drop in pump

I am using an old protien skimmer pump, but anything will work for mixing.




Step Four: Suction heater

This is a 50W heater, a larger one will work faster




Step Five: Drop in thermometer Probe

As you can see my water starts off rather cold, in the winter it may start at 52* depending on the location I store the water at. It is very important that you bring your water up to match the tanks temperature.




Step Six: Add salt

I use Red Sea Coral Pro Salt, to get my SG to 1.025 I add 2.5 cups.





Cloudy!


Step Seven: Let it mix and heat up

Still Heating up


Step Eight: Ding, your water is done, Time to check the SG and temp

Water is completly mixed



Temp is up to match the tank



Check SG with a refractor, I keep my reef at 1.025




Step Nine: Cleaning out tank

It is a good idea to blow off your rock every week or every other week with a turkey baster. The rocks will acclumate a lot of junk over time and this is the only good way to get rid of it. Suspend the detritus in the water for it to be sucked up.



hit the photo limit, more to come!

verry nice... high fiveaaa...

Bump for StevieT's water change thread.

Step Ten: Scraping algae and Coralline

Every two to three weeks I need to clean my glass of hard green algae and coralline. I use a razor blade to remove this stuck on algae for pristine viewing.






Step Eleven: Remove water

Using a simple siphon to remove water from the tank, suspended detritus, and coralline/hard algae. You will need a second 5 gallon bucket to do this




Step Twelve: Add freshly mixed salt water back in


I usually try and do this as slowly as possible, avoiding directly hitting corals with the blast of water.



add water back to your previous water level so SG and surface skimming are the same

Step Thirteen: Finishing up

If you have a protein skimmer it is a good time to empty and clean out your cup. Remove any salt creep from lighting covers and tank glass. I wipe down the outside of the tank and stand with Windex for a nice sparkle shine!

Clean out your sponges, change out filter floss. Check equipment for wear. If you have two sponges, it is a good idea to clean the one that was in your tank, put the extra on in, then let the one your rinsed to dry out. This prevents nitrate buildup.

Your water will take a few hours to clear up but when it does it will look better than ever.

Beautiful!

thanks for always being so helpful StevieT.

youre the man now dogg!



nice post.

thanks guys, enjoy!

Add on: For Auto Top Off users (ATO)

My ATO reservoir will last arond 7 days depending on evap. patterns. Drurning your water change check your ATO, it will need to be filled. Use only fresh RO water in your reservoir, never salt, and NEVER tap water


Empty:





Filled:

If you're aiming this at the total newb, is it worth mentioning what you use to clean the bucket? I'm pretty sure it is nothing, but I'm not completely sure.

Otherwise - nice work!

I' wondering how hard it was to get that picture of the refractometer.

-hank

Awesome guide. I would also advise turning off the tank pumps before siphoning the water out of your tank unless you wanna get blasted. Hope that wasn't already stated

Thanks!

good point. yes, TURN OFF ALL YOUR PUMPS NOOBS!!!! B)

all my power gets shut off, switches on the two pumps, i keep the skimmer going since it is always under water, I also shut off my powerstrip that hosts my koralia and ATO.




nice,

I clean after I fill the tank with fresh tap water, then dry and scrub with a paper towel to prevent salt buildup in the bucket and detritus buildup in the siphon bucket.

thanks.

the picture really isn't that hard actually, i just stuck the lense in the hole and put it on macro mode. It does a pretty good job taking those pics. I aimed the refractor at the window so there was a lot of light, took a few adjustment so it wasn't too bright, but it turned out nice.

now would you need to stir up the live sand any during cleanings? i have heard that you do? just a question. im a noob at cleaning my tank. this thread is good tho, it gives me more insite. my problem isnt how to do it, but what to suck up haha.. thanks in advance.

TJ

This is good.

I am going to start the "How Stevie can Look for a Job" thread

You spend way too much work time on this site.

on the sand:

The reason I left that out is because it is up for much debate. At times, I will blow the top layer with the turkey baster, then suck up the junk. Your sand should break down most waste on its own. I have stuck the sipon in there but it does collect sand as well and there lies the problem. I was thinking of shoving some filter floss up in the siphon, to see if it would still suck but prevent sand from coming through.

There is some discusion out there about releasing too much junk when stirring up an old sand bed and crashing the tank.




this was a three week project for me, tanking pictures, writing up text. I just released it today

Very awesome guide!

My only recommendation would be to change the title of Step 12:

Was: Step Twelve: Add fresh water back in

Now: Step Twelve: Add freshly mixed salt water back in

Just in case someone reads it and reaches for the RO water. That'd make for one nasty tank crash.

great catch!!! thank you, change has been made

back to the sand.. when i stir up my sand, i stir up this cloudy green crap. that cant be good can it?

Green usualy = algae. If I stir up the sand I get a browish grey like color of junk. How long ago have you cycled? I still could be algae from that.

Nice StevieT, Very nice.

I vote for a sticky!

Thank You!!



And yes, can we have this stickied so I'll be able to find it once I have my tank?

a year and a half. its like grainy. like green sand. i doubt i can get a pic of it, but i'll try and post later if possible.

+1! A sticky would be great! You rock StevieT!!!

Great thread StevieT

Stevie you're the best!!!!!! I have a few things that I do differently tho, I keep my return pump on and remove the lock-line and just stick the hose in the bulkhead so I don't get all that nasty sw in my mouth. Alos if you've got an aio you could just dump the water in the back chambers (must have return pump on or major overflow) so it doesn't creat a mess in the tank by stiring up the sand. i must say tho that this stirs up a ton of detrius but it then gets pumped into the tank and gets caught in the filter floss.

exactly, stiring up all the junk in the tank is not a bad thing at all! I will run floss directly after doing a change and it collects all the junk. The water just looks amazing the following day after a WC

Oh, don't suck so hard next time ; all you need to do is get it going, the rest will come on it's own, i have never gotten any in my mouth. I like the mechanized way of how you do it


Good move, I was unsure if it should be in the beginners or general

Great guide StevieT....may I also suggest a mention on how to use powerhead/tubing to get the water from your bucket up into the tank. Noob here couldn't hoist the 5g bucket 5 ft over into my tank and was bailing it in using smaller buckets till got the info on using powerhead and tubing to get the new water back into the tank. I have my tubing going into the back chamber (I've got an AP) so it won't disturb the sandbed & corals. Just a thought for those who like me, had no clue one could use a powerhead to send the new salt water back in.
Ellen

nice thread stevie!

now i know how to do a waterchange

edit: u guys suck on the tube to start the syphen? ewwwww i just fill my hose with tapwater about half full them one end into the tank and let the other end drop into the bucket. no sucking envolved.

I have little white bugs on my glass. Is that bad?

yes kill them all they eat your corlz

bleach will take care of them real quick

Oh, OK, thanks. I'm pouring some in now.... When do I stop?

when u see the bottles empty or the bugs start to die. whichever comes first.

So the fish look like they are all sleeping... Is that normal?

















Sorry StevieT, I had to. I just couldn't help myself.

yes because they r dead. but look on the bright side no more water changes

im sorry also stevie but ray started it

EVERYONE THAT IS THINKING ABOUT PUTTING BLEACH IN UR TANK. THIS IS JUST A JOKE. DO NOT PUT BLEACH IN UR TANK UNLESS U WANT EVERYTHING DEAD.

does anyone aerate their water before changing? i don't but i know many others do for 24 hours or so.

also, i microwave some freshwater when it's cold and add it to the rest in order to increase temperature. you can also do it stovetop (probably faster) but make sure there's no oil or that the pot isn't made of copper.

also, can we emphasize the importance of refractometers for noobs? i used a swing arm for the longest and it was completely worthless.

Good job StevieT!! This is why you're my mentor!

That's exactly what i do too ! i dont suck! haha!

StevieT i would have left this hobby a long time ago if it wasn't for you.

+1 reefer of the year (new thing, go with it)

you guys are too funny!!!! You can eat the bugs, or put in a shark, that should take care of them.



To the rest... there are a lot of different ways of doing a water change, this is a general guide of how I do them. You can hook up a powerhead to pump the water back in if you can not lift a few gallons of water, or go to the gym and work on building up those arms!

The pump I use was from a skimmer, so often before I start the change I will open up the air valve and let it do it's magic getting good gas exchange into the water. Not super necessary but helpful if you have something available.

Fish do not sleep dummy, they drink too may red bulls.

I feel so stupid and humiliated.

my work here is done

Not sure how you guys feel about this but I do this for my pico... I take the tube from my ATO jug and stick in the bucket of fresh salt water to refill my tank. Takes a while but in case their are any difference between the existing water and new water, it's not introduced too quickly... and mostly.. I'm lazy.

Not lack of muscles but not everyone's tank is low enough to easily pour water into, lol. Let alone the fact that you'd have a huge sandstorm if one poured the contents of said 5g bucket into the tank at one go, its not like you can lean it on the rim, lol. . Just had meant that not everyone does 1 to 2 gallon water changes to their tanks. For sure the powerhead method is the fastest and cleanest way to go about it. I sure can't heft about 40+ pounds of water in a home depot bucket up and over into my tan, standing over 4 ft tall. But yes there are a few ways to go about it, not all of us reefers are body builders.

Love the thread & hope it attains "stickihood"

It already has.

I aerate my saltwater as well. Usually, I let it sit for 24 hrs to let the saltwater stabilize.

I'm in the process of just flipping a switch to change water, and then in about 2 weeks, I'm going to add a timer to flip the switch for me.

I would just like to say a massive thankyou to stevie t as a complete newbie (have the water cycling as we speak and just researching) it is wonderful to have this kind of info on hand cheers. And thanks nanoreef.com

Great post + 1 for the sticky idea.

Cheers

In addition to unplugging my pumps I have found it is also helpful to unplug my heater when I do my WC in my NC6 otherwise I start a really nice steam effect. I suppose in larger tanks this isn't a problem as you have enough water to that your levels don't lower that much.


Just be sure not to boil your tank / crack your heater.

I have a question about this. I have been told by multiple people that you shouldn't ever use windex glass cleaner even on the exterior of an aquarium because the ammonia it contains will eventually leak through the glass and contaminate your water and kill your livestock. Is this remotely true? I've always taken this with a gram of salt because some people say you shouldn't use windex on computer monitors or cds because its a harsh abrasive but I've used it for years and years on both for cleaning purposes and never had a single problem. I do keep the windex away from my 58" panasonic plasma though