Poll: How long does a water change take you?

[scarf_ace1981]

it takes me two days. day one: fill 6g bucket w/ ro water. put powerhead and leave overnight. day two: dump water into sump

 

[masterswimmer]

it takes me two days. day one: fill 6g bucket w/ ro water. put powerhead and leave overnight. day two: dump water into sump

Wow, that's a nuisance. Knowing that, how often do you do your w/c's?

master

 

[DevIouS]

Not taking into account the time spent making saltwater......

Yep....

I don't understand how you can mix salt thorougly & test salinity, etc., match the temperature, dump & refill in 5 minutes:scratch:
Put me on to the technique..

Once my salt mix is correct, it only takes me a couple of minutes to dump & re-fill. The longest part is mixing, testing & getting the temperature right.

 

[masterswimmer]

Yep....

I don't understand how you can mix salt thorougly & test salinity, etc., match the temperature, dump & refill in 5 minutes:scratch:
Put me on to the technique..

Once my salt mix is correct, it only takes me a couple of minutes to dump & re-fill. The longest part is mixing, testing & getting the temperature right.

Phil, I keep a 45 gallon tub filled with SW ready to go at a moments notice. It is mixed and ready ALL THE TIME. So when I am ready to do a w/c it is smooth and painless. The heater in the tub keeps the water at a constant 78 degrees, a powerhead is constantly mixing it. It's easy as 1-2-3.

master

 

[DevIouS]

So you have a head start.....
It's actually longer thank 5 minutes:tongue1:

:teeth:

 

[jhale]

I guess you have to define "water change".

the amount of time it takes you to suck out old water and put in new,

123 go

 

[jhale]

Russ do you drain the water out of your overflows when you do the 100% changes?

 

[masterswimmer]

So you have a head start.....
It's actually longer thank 5 minutes:tongue1:

:teeth:

Nope. I said water change, not how long does it take you to make your saltwater mix. :inlove:

I guess you have to define "water change".

the amount of time it takes you to suck out old water and put in new,

123 go

See above :biggrin:

Also, I'd say that everyone who voted under 30 minutes interpreted it the same way I meant it. So if you say what you mean, and mean what you say, it's under 5 minutes!! :lol:

Russ

 

[masterswimmer]

Russ do you drain the water out of your overflows when you do the 100% changes?

Hell no. But I dehydrate my fish in a dehydrator to make sure I get that ammonia out! :thrash: :eek1:

masta

 

[DevIouS]

Ummmm....what good is a water change without fresh saltwater?:lol:
:fishhit:

I guess you have to define "water change".

the amount of time it takes you to suck out old water and put in new,

123 go

Can I change my answer to 5 minutes....:teeth:

 

[masterswimmer]

Can I change my answer to 5 minutes....:teeth:

Philly,
You can change your attitude
You can change your underwear
You can change your spouse or g/f even
You can change jobs
You can even change phone #'s

But under no circumstances can you change your vote to under 5 minutes :smash: .

master

 

[DevIouS]

:biglaugh:


AAAAwwwww man...
Now I'll be known as MR's slowest water changer.:headache:

 

[bad coffee]

There was a thread on RC and Randy chimed in. Someone was saying a 5% change every other day or so was better than a 25% change every week.
It isnt.

Lets say the impurities are 1(%) of the total water column:
For five 5% water changes: (.95 is the amount of the impurities left in the water.)
1* .95 * .95 * .95 *. 95* .95 = 0.81450625

For one 25% change
1 *.75 =.75

So one bigger change is better than 5 smaller.

I think a continous change would be a big waste unless you're getting clean NSW.


I do a 5 gallon out, five in in about 10 minutes.

JHale. If you're going to drain 50% of your tank and not your sump, I'd add the new water to the sump. It will mix with the older water and make the shock of any param that's off a bit softer. And by the time it gets to the tank it will be less likely to stress the tank.

B

 

[masterswimmer]

Brett, I agree with your math. However, I'm not doing two w/c's per week for the sole purpose of exporting nutrients. I don't dose anything, nothing, nada, zilch. So my w/c's serve the dual purpose of nutrient export AND the replenishment of trace elements.

Russ

 

[Sean]

I have one client that has two 200 gallon vats. One on top of the other. one has RO water the other has mixed saltwater. It takes him about 10 or 15 min. to do a 200 gallon water change.

I hardly see him. I show up every 2 or 3 month to "check up" on the system. so far it's a sweet system

 

[masterswimmer]

That's amazing Sean. How big is his system that he can change 200 gallons without running dry? Any pix?

Russ

 

[Tonyscoots84]

wat waterchange??? hmmm lolz jus kiddin when i siphon the crapola out on the bottom and add new saltwater no more then 5 min.. thats the only time i do a small water change...

 

[Sean]

Here's some pictures of it from a while ago when it was first hooked up.

 

[jhale]

okay now you did it, you can't just post pics like that and think you can walk away.
when you have time can you give us some specs on that, and any more pics of the plumbing etc.

what's going on in the second picture, with the bottom tank with all the plumbing going into and out of it, what the heck is that, ahh, now your making me crazy.

also I can't believe you installed a tank while the carpenters and painters were still working, that took some balls, one wrong swing of a board and what a mess it would be. unless that's just the tank they were framing, I was thinking the house was not completed yet.

 

[jhale]

Brett I would be draining the sump, plus more than half the tank, I'm thinking I can do a 100 gallon change on the system at once. I definitely would let the water age for a while before doing it. I figure after a week of mixing it should be okay.