[Tom K]

Sounds like a stupid question??? I have had FW tanks all my life & I siphon Water with a vacuum from the gravel. I Realize this is not how to do it in a reef. Should I siphon from the sump?? Does anyone have any good Idaes how to pump / siphon water out of my tank / sump for easy or automated draining of water from my tank. Just setting up my first reef & want to do it right. 90 gal tank, 30 gal sump.

[Deanos]

Water Changes in Reef Aquaria

[reefkprZ]

ok there are obviously several ways to do a water change. not all of them are correct or even safe for your tanks. listed here will be simple step by step instructions on what I consider a proper water change. there are of course other methods that work just as well and are just as proper, dont think I am saying this is the only way.

Step 1: gather every thing you are going to need including, mixing container (IMO this container should be capable of mixing at least 20% of your total water volume), powerhead, heater, thermometer, salt, refractometer (or hydrometer), tubing for siphoning or pumping water. bucket/s or other container/s for dirty water, towels on floor to catch potential spills and maybe even one over your shoulder.

Step 2:
add water, powerhead and, heater (set to the same temperature as your tank) to your mixing container, de-chlorinate if needed. add salt per however many gallons is in your mixing container go on the low end you can always add more. after adding the salt wait until the water temperature matches that of your tank then check your SG (specific gravity) against that of your display. if the temperatures are different, the SG reading will be skewed, though both display and mixing tank may say the same SG, they will not be once the temperatures match. SG is affected by temperature. if your temperatures are the same and your SG is low add more salt. if the temps match and the SG is higher than your display ad more fresh water. once you get the SG as close as possible (this may take several attempts make sure any additional salt is dissolved before checking again) allow to circulate for 12-24 hours. the longer the better for oxygen balance and chemical stabilization.

Step 3: prepare to drain water. double check your mixed water for SG and temp. Get your buckets ready. now for the steps a lot of people dont know about.

3 A clean your glass (inside the tank) scrape, mag float, razor, what ever method is appropriate (dont use a razor if you have an acrylic tank)

3 B grab your handy dandy powerhead stick it in your display and pressure wash whatever rocks you can (without blasting your corals or fish of course) use the powerhead to blow detritus out of potential dead spots behind the rocks too (with out blasting your sand bed apart) now your tank should really look bad, all that detritus, YUM! dont worry you wont have to look at it long.
doing this will allow you to siphon out more detritus than just removing water alone (this will help reduce the return rate of nitrates if you have them)

3 C turn your lights off. as well as your sump return pump or any other equipment that may be exposed during the water change. (you can remove water from both the display and sump if needed, I do this all the time)

turning your lights off does a couple things that I find important.
1 it prevents light shock from your depth of water therefore your light intensity changing dramatically during the water change.
2 it also lessens the chance of upper Coraline bleaching due to (you guessed it) light shock and excessive drying caused by your lights or heat from your lights.
3 makes your intrusion less stressful on the fish, now that you have kicked up all kinds of stuff waving a powerhead around, scraping your glass, I think that's enough trauma for one day

if you dont have a sump. just turn off your lights, you'll go crazy looking for the nonexistent return pump if you dont have a sump.

step 4: siphon out some water (enough to rinse any sponges or other mechanical filtration media you may have running in your system) then.... thoroughly rinse the sponges or media in the tank water to remove any trapped waste, using tank water to rinse them will keep any beneficial bacteria alive that is living on the sponge.

step 5: remove the rest of the water volume for the change through either pumping it out or siphoning it. this is a good time to suck out any detritus that may have accumulated in the corners or crannies of your sump, (I usually have some around behind the back of my skimmer in an semi dead spot in my sump)

Step 6: replace the removed water with your new water, via pump, siphon, Dixie cup, or whatever method you prefer.

step 7: turn your equipment back on. (you may want to leave your lights off for a little while because your tank probably still looks like crap from all the detritus you kicked up ) no worries though its free coral/filter feeder food.
keep an eye on your protien skimmer if you have one, sometimes kicking up that much stuff and adding new water (especially if you used dechlorinator) can make them go a little nuts.

that's pretty much it. Nothing makes a fish tank look worse than giving it a proper cleaning

[reefkprZ]

Oh an added step that I didnt add into this write up on the day I created it. is if you grow cheatomorpha algae in your sump you can pull this out and rinse it in a bucket of old tank water too you will be suprised at the amount of detritus you get out rinsing it as it tends to build up stuff in the clumps over time.